Despite the recent spates of riots in London, a new film exhibition from the stable of event organisers Clarion welcomed both A-list celebrities and event visitors to the The 02 in London this month.
 
Empire presents Big Screen, a joint collaboration between Clarion and UK-based film magazine Empire, is hoping to release an audited visiting number of around 30,000 later this week.
 
“There was a point where we had to consider cancellation, but thankfully the situation calmed down when it did,” group show director of Clarion Events Nicola Gunstone told EN. “It would’ve been a huge disappointment to the public and devastating to everyone who worked on the event.”
 
Across 11-14 August, the event hosted three major film premieres, as well as numerous seminars with film industry personalities and a standard exhibition area with attractions and exhibiting companies.
 
“On the Sunday, we hosted premieres of Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night within an hour and a half of each other,” Gunstone added. “Managing the flow of celebrities, visitors and staff in that time frame provided the biggest challenge of the weekend.”
 
The idea for the event was borne out of the desire of Empire to grow its annual Movie-Con event normally held at the British Film Institute.
 
“Both company MDs worked closely together to expand the original Movie-Con event and the combination of our organising experience and Empire’s film knowledge made for an easy transition,” she added.
 
Click the link to view pictures from the inaugural Empire presents Big Screen.
 
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