When does your council application have to be sent?
Councils take one to four months to classify a film, and the screenings that fall over are the ones that found this out late. Enter the council and the date and the deadlines are worked backwards from there.
Your screening
Five fields. The dates below are worked backwards from the council’s own quoted lead time.
Six councils are covered in detail so far. If yours is not here, pick the closest comparable one for the timings and confirm the fee directly.
Before you get to the council
Classification is the last gate, not the first. Most of a programme happens before it: collecting the films, keeping the credits attached, sequencing them, and getting one watchable piece out the other end. That is what the rest of Screening Studio does, and a private screening needs no council at all.
Council fees, lead times and policies change, and some councils have stopped classifying films altogether. Confirm the current process with the licensing team before relying on any figure here. This is a planning aid, not legal advice.
Council data is summarised from the Film Hub South East guide “Local Licensing and Certification” by Ellie Hales.