Full moon experience
Stuart Renfrew tells Access why he turned his back on a succesful career in the film and TV industry to launch an outdoor events business in the middle of a global pandemic .
Following an impressive 30-
year career in the film and TV production industry , that has seen him work on the likes of Game of Thrones , Spooks , Dirty Pretty Things and Bridget Jones ’ Diary , Stuart Renfrew has plunged himself headlong into the outdoor events industry at an incredibly challenging time .
Founded by Renfrew , film producer Tracy Adam and property developer David Warwicker , Strawberry Moon Cinema ’ s first drive-in film seasons was due to start at Royal Windsor Racecourse on 19 December but had to be postponed because of the Tier 4 measures announced the same day .
Nonetheless , Renfrew is talking a long-term view and plans remain to roll out the concept to other racecourses and showgrounds including Chepstow Racecourse , Hickstead , Newmarket Racecourse , Newbury Showground and Fontwell Park .
“ This is going to be my career now ,” says Renfrew . “ I ’ m looking at a five-year plan at least . The idea is to get the first site up and running , which is obviously a baptism of fire , and then open 10 sites in 2021 and another 10 and 2022 .”
Renfrew , whose work as assistant director on The Queen saw him nominated by the Director ’ s Guild of America , has chosen a tough time to forge a new career path in an industry ravaged by the impact of Covid-19 , but he is not going it alone – event safety specialist Symphotech has played a key role in the event ’ s planning .
Unlike the vast majority of drive-in cinema set ups , Renfrew ’ s is not only interested in screening catalogue films .
“ A key part of the business model is to show new films as they come out , which
Words : Christopher Barrett
Stuart Renfrew , Strawberry Moon Cinema
Will Hodgson , Symphotech ’ s MD
you can ’ t if you are screening in LED because of distributor regulations . We can do it because we are projecting the films ,” he says .
With that in mind , plans are afoot to screen the next Bond film , No Time To Die , when it is released in April . However , it is not just high-quality screened content that Renfrew is focused on delivering as part of the Strawberry Moon experience .
He says , “ Our focus is not to just offer films and basic food , we want to make it a really enjoyable evening out that involves waitress service , great food and drinks , and immersive themed activity . When the Covid situation calms down we can build on the experience and let people to get out of their cars .”
“ When the Covid situation calms down we can build on the experience and let people to get out of their cars .”
There are already plans in place to stage themed film weekends with genres such as Bollywood and Sci-fi , and Renfrew is talking to automobile clubs about partnering on dedicated events .
When conceptualising Strawberry Moon , Renfrew says racecourses were the obvious venues of choice : “ We looked at all sorts of different types of venues around the country and we discovered that showgrounds and racecourses are ideal because they ’ ve got a massive amount of space and they don ’ t have a seven-days-a-week itinerary of events .”
He says the partnership with Symphotech has been vitally important , not least when dealing with Safety Advisory Group ( SAG ) meetings with local authorities : “ Will [ Hodgson ] has been fabulous , he has a huge knowledge of events . We had our first SAG meeting scheduled in November but suddenly we had a full lockdown , so that put everything on hold but Will had done such good paperwork that they gave us permission as soon as the lockdown was lifted .”
Hodgson , who is Symphotech ’ s MD , says the fact racecourses are being used is a major advantage : “ It means you don ’ t need a major traffic plan in place because you are fitting 100 cars into a site designed to accommodate thousands . It is about explaining how low key the events are and the fact there is plenty of provision for social distancing .”
Another advantage of the concept is that each car is provided with a sound box that not only provides the audio experience but can be used to order food and beverages . Hodgson says the boxes also enable the event team to monitor the amount of alcoholic drinks being delivered to vehicles , and they can also be used to deliver safety messages .
With drive-ins allowed in Tier 3 regions , they are one of the most Covidproof forms of outdoor entertainment , and demand for Strawberry Moon is proving strong – with half of all tickets for the December shows selling out within two days .
The former Hollywood film director says the team want to bring a little cheer to an otherwise gloomy time for many : “ We are not looking for films with complicated stories or dialogue , we are showing fun , high-energy , films that are easy to watch and provide some colour .”
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