How to Host Business of Being Born Screening

[UrbanCrunchyMama]

I've been trying to contact BOBB for weeks now, and they finally got back to me last night, saying that they had technical difficulties with their incoming emails. I was really hoping to host a screening in October to avoid the holiday madness of November and December, but this is obviously no longer possible.

Right now, I'm putting this screening on almost single-handedly. A couple of people I've met online (who also live in our city) have agreed to help out with coordinating this event, but I still feel a bit overwhelmed. BOBB will debut here in January, so I really need to host this screening right away.

- Where did you host your screening? (I think I really need to find a church or similar space to keep costs low.)

- How did you fund this project? And were you able to break even?

- How many people attended your screening? Above or below your projected estimate? (I'm thinking about the film rental rates involved here. YIKES!)

- How many volunteers did you need the day of the screening to pull it all off?

- Any other words of wisdom?

I would tap into the birthing community here, but I'm going for speed. I'm afraid that if I try to get organizations involved, it'll really slow things down. Or am I crazy not to partner with an established org?

As you can tell, my head is swimming (as I just got off the phone with several venues, inquiring about rental terms). :

Thanks,
Lydia

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Originally Posted by UrbanCrunchyMama

- Where did you host your screening? (I think I really need to find a church or similar space to keep costs low.)

- How did you fund this project? And were you able to break even?

- How many people attended your screening? Above or below your projected estimate? (I'm thinking about the film rental rates involved here. YIKES!)

- How many volunteers did you need the day of the screening to pull it all off?

- Any other words of wisdom?

We're doing our screening at the local chiropractic school. I have a very small business, childbirth education, and we used our marketing money to pay. The production company let us make payments on the movie. We are in the black (yay) so we're happy that we won't have a loss. That would stink! It's in the contract that any proceeds be donated to a birth related non-profit.

Our screening is Nov 1. We've sold about 110 tickets. For every ticket sold over 100 you have to pay another $2 to the production company. There are 3 of us working on this. Hopefully it'll be enough because it's all we've got!

[UrbanCrunchyMama]

SublimeBirthGirl -- Where/how did you sell your tickets in advance? What do your physical tickets look like/made of? (Then again, I guess this isn't an event where you really have to worry about people making fake copies of the tickets and ripping you off.) But still, I'm curious about these little logistical details. Thanks.

[turtlewomyn]

:
Since it won't be available where I am at until the netflix comes out in March, I am trying to get a screening in January to benefit my local ICAN chapter. There are several Florida chapters of ICAN who are working with this (in conjunction with the Florida Friends of Midwives in some areas). I know that some people have had great luck in contacting the Women studies department of their local universities, and were able to get a room/area in the University, for FREE. I will be doing this, and my other possibilities are a yoga studio, and a couple of kind of artsy areas that have a theater that will do movies.
I have a couple of people interested in helping out, through my ICAN chapter.

[UrbanCrunchyMama]

turtlewomyn -- A women's studies department...excellent idea! thanks.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Originally Posted by UrbanCrunchyMama

SublimeBirthGirl -- Where/how did you sell your tickets in advance? What do your physical tickets look like/made of? (Then again, I guess this isn't an event where you really have to worry about people making fake copies of the tickets and ripping you off.) But still, I'm curious about these little logistical details. Thanks.

One of my partners is a design goddess She made us a ticket in Publisher. We put numbers on the tickets (102, 103...), convert to PDF, and email. We're keeping a list of #s and names, and will check them off at the door. We have done some physical tickets, which say "complimentary" instead of a number. We have a list for those as well, and on the back hand-wrote the name of the person. Mostly they're our "partners" on our website and we know who they are.