Church FAQs

When will the play be available?

The licence allows the performance to be streamed at any time between 15 March and 15 April 2021.

How does the licence work?

Riding Lights has a sliding scale for individual churches based on their regular size. Once purchased, you may share the performance as widely as you like, adhering to the licence terms. You may invite others outside your church to watch it as outreach, or offer it to your church family to enjoy together as part of your Easter celebrations. You may offer it for free, or sell tickets (see tickets question below).

Who is ‘Breaking Day’ suitable for?

It is a play for adults and has a guidance rating of 11+.  Under 16s should watch it with an adult.

How will we share the play with our community?

You will be able to add it as an unlisted video to your church YouTube channel. This means it won’t appear publicly on your YouTube channel, but can be accessed using the direct URL link.

To encourage that sense of participating together, we recommend you set a time to watch it together (with the option for people to catch-up afterwards), but you may also offer it for people to watch in their own time.

Alternatively, you can share the film on the Riding Lights YouTube channel if you don’t have your own.

To comply with the requirements of the licence and protect the intellectual property rights of Riding Lights it must be an unlisted video. After 15 April the video should be removed from your platform.

Can church members share the link?

Yes. Churches are asked to keep some kind of record of how widely their unlisted link is shared by a simple sign up form, if sharing outside of the regular mailing list.

Can we intersperse with reflections or prayers?

Yes.  Riding Lights will provide short reflections for a member of your community to lead before, after and in between the acts. If you would like to use these, the film will be provided to download in three parts with instructions about how to insert your reflections to make one video file, which can then be used online or at in person screenings under the same conditions outlined above. Do take into account that this will make the run time of the play longer.

Can I share it via Zoom?

The licence allows you to watch it together on Zoom or other video calling software, but not through screen sharing. This is to ensure the best possible quality depending on local connectivity.

You can send the link to everyone in advance of the video call, asking them to open it in a web browser to begin watching at the same time. Your group can then watch it all the way through, coming back to the Zoom at the end, or pausing at the end of each act to take part in a reflection on the Zoom call. They can stay on Zoom whilst watching the play but everyone should be muted.

How do we manage the reflections on Zoom?

The breaks between acts will be marked with a few seconds of blank screen. We will provide the length of each act in the YouTube description so your viewers know when to pause their viewing if returning to a Zoom for a reflection.

Viewers will finish each section at slightly different times. You can ask the group to turn their cameras off while watching, then put them back on to signify when they have finished a section. Alternatively the group might use a reaction button to indicate they’ve finished, or write in the chat.

The person leading the reflection can use this indication to know when to unmute themselves and begin. This will ensure that those still watching are not disturbed by people beginning to talk on the Zoom.

What if I have a technical problem?

Please test access to the film in advance during our company office hours (Monday to Friday 10.30 -4.30pm) to allow time to rectify any problems or issues before you wish to use the links, particularly if you are using them on a weekend.

An emergency number will be supplied if there are problems on the day but we are a small team and cannot guarantee instant help, particularly on Good Friday when most churches will be accessing the film. Please help us minimise these technical issues by doing a test run in advance.

What happens if my in-person screenings are cancelled due to a change in government guidelines?

Please contact Riding Lights as soon as you can. We can help you transfer the event into an online screening or extend the licence terms to allow for a postponement.

I want to sell tickets. How does that work?

Standard ticket price is £10 per household for access over the licence period. Any variance in this pricing must be agreed with Riding Lights.

The church will be responsible for their own box office arrangements. The church will keep 100% of the ticket income up to the equivalent of the booking fee. Any additional income will be split 40:60 between the church and Riding Lights.

It is the responsibility of the venue to run a box office, keep accurate records, and report ticket sales to Riding Lights. On receipt of accurate box office records, Riding Lights will invoice the venue for 60% of the profit.

Can you help with marketing?

Riding Lights will provide images, a trailer, and a description for church notices, as well as a simple press release for your local press. There will also be a programme for people attending your screening.

We also encourage you to share any of the company’s social media posts in connection with ‘Breaking Day’.

Can I see a preview?

We are unable to arrange free previews. It would be normal for film companies to complete their work many months before distribution. The constraints of the pandemic mean that our filming timeline has been very short indeed so the work will not be available to watch until 15 March. When we tour a play we often provide a trailer to give a flavour of the whole piece. This is very similar even though it’s a filmed play rather than a live performance. We will release a trailer in the first week of March.

Once you have ordered the film, you will be able to see it from 15 March.