ICU Cinema awarded compensation for Friday night Union losses

A paper by ICU Cinema which has been passed by Imperial College Union’s Executive Committee, the policy-executing branch of the Union, requested compensation for £94.50 in predicted losses from showings during the Film Festival, running from 10 January until 20 January, due to entry charges to enter the Union building.

It is common knowledge that the Union charge for access to Union facilities (namely the bars and Metric) on Wednesday and Friday nights, with access to other rooms (such as the basements) permitted without charge. However, on 13 January, the night of a Stooshe event in Metric, the entry barrier was being enforced “so tightly” that access to the Union Concert Hall, the venue of ICU Cinema productions, was not permitted without paying.

The extra charge of £3.50 required by the Union thus raised the cost of seeing a film at ICU Cinema to £6.50 or £7.50, depending on membership status. ICU Cinema also noted that they were not aware of this restricted access until “one of our committee members was refused entry without paying”.

Reduction in attendance due to the additional charge has resulted in losses for the society, which resulted in the paper requesting “compensation from the Steward and Ents team for lost ticket sales totalling[sic] £94.50”, a figure described as “conservative” by the paper.

ICU Cinema told Felix in a statement that “ICU Cinema were happy that the union exec committee acknowledged the difficulties encountered by our event by approving our compensation request. While a long term solution to the problem of access to club and society events in the union building on Wednesday and Friday evenings has not yet been reached, we hope one will be found and implemented soon.”

A Union steward, who was not on duty on the 17th, and also wished to remain anonymous, told Felix that there is a form that societies should submit when an event is held within the Union building, to allow access without charging. When someone attempts to access such an event, the senior steward checks the paperwork to see if the event really is being held. He continued to say that the form may “not have been filled out correctly” or “may have been lost, or filed in the wrong folder”, so causing the issue.

In addition to the approval of compensation, alternatives to the current arrangement of the entry barrier were discussed – it is partially required to ensure that the rooms are not filled beyond legal capacity. It was, however, acknowledged that this issue was a one-off, with a lack of communication from both parties being part of the issue. The union also wishes to support societies such as Cinema, especially as they want to provide entertainment and activities for students who do not wish to drink.

A loss of over £90 is significant for the society, who is experiencing a “financial deficit”. Running a film currently costs the society £120, making the compensation, which was given, a large proportion of their running costs.