Free weekly film magazine Take1 to launch in London

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 01-Sep-05, 11:00

LONDON – A new free weekly magazine for London filmgoers is being launched on September 9 by a publishing start-up, and will take on Time Out and the Evening Standard through distribution in the West End.

Take1 will offer complete film listings for cinemas within the M25 as well as reviews and features, led by the week's biggest new films but also including current and arthouse releases.

Produced in a glossy A5 format, it is billed as "London's handiest weekly film guide" and will be available in the West End.

Thirty-thousand copies will be distributed outside West End Tube stations, in the foyers of a handful of cinemas including four UCI cinemas and some independents, and in around 300 West End shops and bars.

The magazine is the brainchild of Elizabeth Hackford, a former financial headhunter who set up a company called Take Media to produce the magazine. Take Media has received backing from a venture capital firm and a number of private investors. The company's chairman is Richard Flaye, the founder of Quantum Business Media and non-executive director of Pageant Media.

It is edited by Rebecca Martin, who has led the launches of Conde Nast's GQ Active as managing editor and Mollin Publishing's Jump teen magazine.

Editorial contributors include Ivan Waterman and Carol Allen, who have written for The Sunday Times Culture section, The Independent, Cosmopolitan and the Virgin Encyclopedia of the Movies between them.

It has researched its market by sampling a pilot issue in June, and is aiming at a 55/45 split between female and male readers with an average age of 32.

According to Hackford, the key focus will be on the hard copy magazine, with an online presence earmarked for next year.

The aim is to get ABC certification for the magazine in the next auditing period, based on its circulation over its first three months.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.