The Official Movie Event Checklist

1. Determine goals and develop a theme: What do you want your movie program to accomplish? Will this program correspond with a national or local event?
2. Fundraising partnerships/sponsors: Sometimes extra help is required for funding. Ask local businesses and your congregation for fun refreshments, equipment or donations.
3. Choose the movie, ask questions and get a quote: Check out our online search tool to find the perfect movie, contact us with any questions, and request a quote to get the proper licensing.
4. Coordinate staff and volunteers: How many people do you need to help with your event? Make sure to obtain contact information from each volunteer. Are there community groups or businesses that can share the program’s goals and can assist or partner in the event?
5. Plan a related activity or craft: Crafts, games, trivia and other activities can boost participation before or after the movie.
6. Promote your event: Spreading the word about your movie event is the best way to ensure a big turnout. Use the search bar to find your movie, head to the movie synopsis page, then customize and download complimentary promotional materials like bulletin board posters, flyers, tickets and more to use as promotional items for your event. Be sure to review our advertising guidelines before you start promoting.
7. Test everything: A few days before your showing, stage a mock setup of your movie event to test the video playback, sound quality, PA system and other technical details.

1. Create your registration station: This is the place where people can fill out a quick contact form or find more information about your church. If you’re giving away prizes, have a stack of small blank cards with spots for names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and answers to the question “How did you hear about this event?” that can be pulled out of a hat for a door prize drawing.
2. Play Some music: Playing music over the speakers before your movie is a great way to liven up the crowd, just make sure it’s family-friendly. Choose music that’s easy to listen to, modern and recognizable.
3. Make announcements regularly: Whether you’re advertising concessions, thanking sponsors, asking for cleanup help or announcing the winners of the door prizes, these are event details that your audience may be looking for. After the event, be sure to mention your next event and thank your audience for attending, your sponsors for their donations or assistance, and all of your volunteers for helping make the event a success.
4. Shut down any pre-movie activities: To prevent your audience from being distracted when the movie starts, aim to shut down any activities unrelated to the film about ten minutes before the movie starts. This includes any games, crafts and pre-show entertainment.
5. Enter all of your information during the movie: If you enter all of your information into an Excel spreadsheet during the movie, you can quickly send out “thank you for attending” emails as soon as the show is over.

Interested in more tips on hosting an amazing event? Check out our resources, contact us or call us at 1-800-876-5577.