Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing audiences will receive a first, captioned, view of Paramount Pictures theatrical releases across the UK, it has been announced this week. 

 In collaboration with the UK Cinema Association (UKCA), Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) and the British Deaf Association (BDA), Paramount Pictures are seeking to further improve the relationship between cinema and the around 18 million people in the UK recognised as deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing.

The aim of the partnership is to increase the number of captioned screenings, ensuring they are scheduled at different times throughout the week, while also raising deaf awareness among front-of-house cinema staff, including offering introductory British Sign Language (BSL) training. Training sessions are already taking place across the country with cinema staff, delivered by BDA’s experienced trainers, and Yvonne Cobb, Celebrity Ambassador for BDA. Yvonne is a TV cook and presenter who is best known from BBC One’s Morning Live.

In addition, beginning with the upcoming Paramount release Transformers One, participating cinemas will be given an exclusive preview screening on 10 October 2024 with captions, a day ahead of the film’s national release.

Paramount Pictures will also offer similar ‘caption only’ previews for subsequent releases: Gladiator II, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and into next year with The Smurfs Movie.

Welcoming this initiative, Phil Clapp, Chief Executive, of the UKCA said:

‘Our joint goal is to make the cinema experience even more accessible for deaf audiences, from the moment guests enter the cinema to the moment they leave, and for all cinemas to be a place that the deaf community knows it can rely on.’

Andy Leyshon, Chief Executive, FDA commented:

‘We should all be striving to improve accessibility and enhance the audience experience in cinemas, and this initiative from Paramount is a great further step forward that will hopefully lead to a much better offer in this area as we progress. We also know that there is a general increase in audiences choosing to watch captioned content either on mobile devices or at home watching TV/PVOD or SVOD content – 61 percent of 18–24-year-olds and 13 percent of 50–64-year-olds, equating to over a quarter of the population – suggesting that captioned shows are now more likely to be accepted by general audiences, not just the deaf community.’

John Fletcher, VP & Managing Director, Paramount Pictures UK said:

‘We know that cinemas are already working to improve the experience for their deaf community, which is fantastic, but we wanted to work with our exhibitor partners to do more.’ 

Yvonne Cobb added:

‘The deaf community wants to enjoy the cinema, wants to trust this environment, and wants to enjoy new cinema releases. All we need to do is make a few simple changes to accommodate them.’

Jaz Mann, Head of Community for BDA, who led on the initiative with Paramount said:

‘It’s such a rarity for us to be first to see films, before hearing people! Congratulations to Paramount on leading by example – hopefully other distributors will follow their lead!’

In-person training for front of house staff took place across the country on the following dates:

  • 13 September – Queens Film Theatre, Belfast
  • 16 September – Odeon Luxe Birmingham Broadway Plaza
  • 17 September – Vue Manchester Printworks
  • 18 September – Vue Edinburgh Omni
  • 24 September – Showcase Bristol
  • 25 September – The Light, Sheffield
  • 30 September – Everyman Kings Cross
  • 1 October – Vue West End
  • 2 October – Cineworld Leicester Square

The full press notice can be found here.