How Can My Community Host an Outdoor Movie Night?

Sunday, 20 September 2009 09:47

Over the past five years there has been an increase in the number of professionally run outdoor cinemas in major cities but what has been really interesting in the last two years is the sudden increase of smaller locally run outdoor movie events. The professionally run cinemas have huge budgets and need big crowds to make a profit every summer but the smaller community run movie nights, which are popping up in all sorts of locations, can be put on for an audience as little as 100 people.

Smaller scale cinema events can cost less than $1000 through a small number of outdoor event hire companies which ensures even community groups or schools with a limited budget can host a film night on their local field.

Communities who have embraced the outdoor movie night have not looked back and even after their first event are starting to host 2 or even 3 events the following year. This may also have been influenced by the fact that they have discovered a brilliant way to fundraise whilst keeping the audience entertained.

Searching the internet for an event company to assist you with your outdoor movie night is your initial step. Though there are only a few companies that offer this service they seem to have already secured a large percentage of the market as almost all groups that are using them have booked another event with the same company for the following year.

So what equipment will you need for your outdoor movie night? A huge inflatable screen and AV equipment makes up most of the equipment and all this will be supplied by the outdoor event hire company who will deliver, set up, run the night and pack the equipment away after the event. Leaving only a few tasks for you as the event organiser ensuring that your focus is on either the audience or fundraising.

Once you have decided that you would like to host an Outdoor Movie night you need to make a booking. Below are some simple steps to consider:

1. Where will the movie night be held

2. The area chosen must be large enough for both equipment and your crowd.

3. Obtain permission for the area

4. Contact an Outdoor Events company that specialises in Outdoor Movies

5. Choose a film

6. Publicize your event

All the technical issues like; the size of the screen, strength of the projector, how loud should the audio system be and all OHS requirements will be sorted out by the outdoor events company you hire.

Lastly, the weather is also a big consideration when choosing when to host an Outdoor Cinema night. The best time of year for Outdoor Movies is between September and May as this will ensure your audience does not freeze and the number of people willing to sit outside on a warm night is much larger. Rain is forever an issue but one advantage of our dry climate in Australia is the chances of getting rained out is not high, but you could also consider an indoor alternative just in case mother nature does not want to play nice.