Video Screenings for Fun and Fame

Okay, your ten-minute parody, Terminator XXXIV is a truly fine video. Your spouse is impressed; your parents and in-laws have lavished praise; your kids sat through it four times.

Now what? Fact is, you've plumb run out of audience. You can enter your show in contests and festivals, but you have to wait weeks or months for feedback and those events are, well, kind of remote. What you want is home-town appreciation. What you want is a public screening.

Wait a minute: a ten minute public screening? Way too short to draw an audience, even with free punch and cookies. The solution is to make your epic the centerpiece of a whole program of short videos gleaned from your video-making friends, your local user group or just an informal network of video producers. (If you don't belong to a user group, check the sidebar for hints on finding or forming one.)

The obvious reason for a public screening is to show off your pride and joy. But public screenings can deliver other benefits, too, because they serve as magnets for everyone in the area with a more than casual interest in this intriguing medium.

Public screenings provide a potential venue for you and your friends who produce videos, and an advertised screening can attract other media mavens who have not yet connected with your group. This gives them a chance to show their work, too, and it also serves as a recruiting office to enlist helpers. As you know: serious video requires collaboration among several people, and what better way to locate potential crew members with the skills and interests you need?

Finally, there's a synergy about these events that increases public awareness of video as a serious medium and community resource. You may even find new clients who want to pay you to produce their video.

Of course you need a venue. You could rent the local Knights of Excalibur clubhouse, but you'll do better with a restaurant, coffee house or a local pub. They'll sell food and drinks to your audience, relieving you of that hassle. Additionally, they often have a layout ready-made for a screening, such as chairs and maybe even a stage or a big screen TV.

Carefully consider the establishment's location. Who wants to drive all the way out to West Beanbag to watch videos? Hunt for a popular, central location where people typically come for some dining and casual recreation.

To sell a restaurant or coffee house manager on your plan, use these tips:

• Ask about slow nights and times. Many a joint would rather have 100 videophiles at 8:30 PM on Tuesday than the 15 customers they normally average in that time slot. Alternatively, shoot for, say, Saturday at 3 p.m., when they'd ordinarily be closed anyway.
• Advertise sales by your host. You don't have to announce a Video Dinner at $50 a plate, but your publicity should stress that attendees can eat and drink. Show the prospective host suggested lines in your publicity, e.g. "Watch exciting videos while drinking the best latte in the Tri-state area."