Fog City works with a number of clients every year to produce successful outdoor movie events. Whether it’s a city, county, parks department, police department, apartment complex or school, they all want the same thing: a great turnout!
In this post, we explore what the 5 keys are to generating the big turnout you want from your outdoor movie.
- Do a Series of Outdoor Movies
Repetition is key to building an audience for your outdoor movies. Do a series of 3 or more movies in June, July and August builds word of mouth marketing.
- Do a Theme
When you build in a theme you generate a lot more excitement than just playing the latest Pixar flick. We’ve seen highly successful classic movies done with costume contests, such as with the Wizard of Oz. Pier 39 did a theme a few years ago where San Francisco’s location played a major role (Big Hero 6, Princess Diaries, Mrs. Doubtfire, etc.)
- Advertise Early and Everywhere
An obvious one, but get your event out on social media and keep reminding your community that its coming up. One idea that a few of clients employ is to do a pre-roll before each movie, where the next movie in the outdoor movie series is advertised.
- Promotions
You can not only advertise the next movie on your pre-roll, but get various sponsors to advertise to your captive audience. Then get those sponsors to advertise to their customers.
- Give Away some Swag
While not appropriate for all outdoor movie events, giving away some swag is a great way to build an audience. This can be a tie-in to your theme, or maybe something from a local business sponsor. A popular give away with a few of our clients is fleece blankets, a perfect giveaway for those cold nights out on the bay.
Give the outdoor movie rental experts at Fog City a call to discuss your next movie event. We have a ton of experience helping clients host outdoor movie events, whether it’s for do-it-yourself backyard movie, or large scale movie-in-the-park event.
