TISH - Audience Development
THE BRIEF: Audience Development + Partnerships
Tish Murtha was a pioneering photographer who chronicled working-class communities from her hometown in Newcastle to the streets of Soho in the 70s and 80s. TISH opened the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival in 2023. Mustard Studio worked with the distributor Modern Films on partnerships, engagement and outreach.
As with any film, we started with the positioning and themes to reach the audience. Tish’s whole body of work, her very DNA, was committed to showing where she came from and the people she grew up with. We knew that the arts and cultural audience would largely be reached by the work of the fantastic PR agency Margaret and the cinemas. Still, our role was to go wider and genuinely create community engagement.
We conceived and wrote the BFI application, which was about public funding support to create gateways into communities, including discounted tickets for those under 30, partnerships with photography studios and galleries, and commissioning editorial to support the release that could be placed on cinema blogs and across social media to platform working-class voices. One of the video essays we worked on was ‘breaking down’ a social realist photograph, showing its meaning and uncovering the layers.
Our biggest partnership was with the British Culture Archive, a photography platform and non-profit organisation showcasing 20th-century working-class history and popular culture. We collaborated on a nationwide digital project, ‘Document Your Community’ (DYC), inviting people to submit photos of their community and why the image resonated with them. The project aimed for people to connect with Tish's work and to capture something of their own world; she broke down barriers because she was from the community that she photographed, making her work so relevant and alive even after decades. With over 800 entries, the project has taken on a life of its own, and BCA may bring back DYC in the future.
We identified a breadth of arts, cultural and community venues for photography workshops or a Q+A, as the filmmakers committed to an extensive nationwide tour to support the film.
Panel Event with filmmakers for TISH at BFI Southbank, London.
Despite a modest advertising budget, the film has grossed over £100K at the UK box office, achieved largely through the PR and grassroots campaign.
Build Hollywood TISH Campaign.
Duration: 16 Weeks
Services: Bid writing, Project Management, Marketing, Distribution
TISH is available to watch on TVOD platforms, BFI Player, and Curzon Home Cinema.
