About the Phoenix > The Staff

The Board of the Phoenix Cinema Trust employs a team of professionals to run the cinema on its behalf:

Cinema Management

The Phoenix has a small management team, led by the Chief Executive Paul Homer and Cinema Manager Cassie Birtwistle, who look after the staff, building maintenance, marketing and publicity, organising special events, fundraising and handling all general administration.  We employ a part-time Education Manager, Ellie Groom, who runs the Kids Club, sets up film-making workshops for local young people and communicates with lots of local schools.  There are two part-time Duty Managers who are responsible for the smooth running of the cinema when it is open for screenings. We also have a new full-time Heritage Officer, Eleanor Sier, who will take charge of the heritage activities involved with our Centenary Restoration Project including creating workshops for schools, organising exhibitions and just generally promoting the heritage of this unique site.

Our Front of House staff are what makes the Phoenix different, all our staff are passionate about film and knowledgeable about art, music, culture, politics and many other subjects.  They are drawn from varied backgrounds; many of them students as well as young film-makers, artists, writers and actors.

The Cinema Programmer

For over fifteen years, the Phoenix has been programmed by Clare Binns. A Board member of Film London and one of the most respected figures in independent cinema in the UK, Clare is now Director of Programming at City Screen, owners of the Picturehouse Cinemas. Having started out as an usher at the Ritzy in Brixton a good 25 years ago, Clare knows the business inside out; she is responsible for programming over 50 independent screens across the country including the Ritzy itself, the Gate in Notting Hill, FACT in Liverpool, York City Screen, the Cameo in Edinburgh and our old sister cinema: The Phoenix in Oxford.  

Programming is much more complicated than simply choosing the films we'd like to show. It involves a lot of juggling of dates, number crunching and negotiation with film distributors, apart from watching an awful lot of films (good and bad).

Cinema Projection Team

The Phoenix's most famous figure is without a doubt Peter Bayley MBE, our chief projectionist.  Having started off as a trainee at the Gaumont North Finchley in 1953, Peter joined the Phoenix in 1960, taking over as Chief shortly after. In 2002, he was awarded an MBE for his services to the UK film industry - the first projectionist and person from film exhibition to receive an Honour.  Peter is a walking-talking history not only of the Phoenix, but of cinema itself.

Richard Crompton is the Phoenix’s technical manager, handling all aspects of our digital projection facilities, sound and external projection work.

Peter and Richard are joined by Paul Stanley, who has seen over 25 years at the Phoenix, Will Martin, Jamie Palmer and Tim Hale.

The technical team is not only in charge of showing the films, but for the maintenance of the equipment, as well as electrical installations and heating in the building.

Showing the films on 35mm involves ensuring that all prints are delivered on time and in good enough condition to present. They are made up for projection - standard prints arrive boxed up on 6-8 small reels and are put together for the projector's large spools capable of holding up to 2 ½ hours worth of film - and broken down again at the end. The projectionist also operates house lighting and plays the interval music.

Digital films arrive on external hard-drives, they are then uploaded onto our server before being tested so they are ready for a public performance.

The Phoenix projection team prides itself on its presentation, checking the picture and sound quality of each single screening from the floor.

Cinema Accountant/Treasurer

Mike Adam of Mike Adam Production Management has been the Phoenix's accountant and treasurer since he was asked to help with the set-up of the Trust in 1985. He has patiently and diligently been juggling figures, invoices and unravelling receipts ever since.