Davis Arts Council’s Free Friday Film Festival Centers on Fun
This summer, the Davis Arts Council expanded their event entertainment beyond just feature films to include some really spectacular activities. Read on to see how their creative events might inspire a few pre-show activities of your own.
Kym Ridl, marketing and development coordinator for the Davis Arts Council explained how she came up with ideas to enhance their movie screenings, stating, “I really wanted to build up the program this year so we added some fun pre-movie events.” As for the activities she planned, she pulled out all the stops.
“For ‘Back to the Future,’ I found someone local who owns a DeLorean," Kym explained. "He came to our movie, parked his car right on stage, and placed all kinds of memorabilia from the movie, like Marty’s video camera and vest, around and inside the car. Everyone loved it!” For “Ghostbusters,” the Davis Arts Council hired someone to dress as the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man to entertain everyone at the venue – a huge hit for the crowd.
And the summer fun didn’t stop at just three movies. “For ‘Cool Runnings,’ we were able to get a few Summer Bobsled Experience passes donated from the Utah Olympic Park”, Kym explained. “We had a prize wheel with prizes for everyone like candy, tickets to our concerts and more, but the bobsled was the biggest and most exciting prize we had to give away.”
In terms of attracting sponsors for their events, one of their biggest supporters is Lifetime Products, a premium manufacturer of residential basketball hoops, folding tables and chairs. For the showing of “Space Jam,” they donated a basketball standard to give away at the event. How did the Davis Arts Council creatively tie this giveaway into the event? “We decided to run a giveaway for all kids ages 5-17 and we chose a winner at the end of the movie. Our board member who works for Lifetime dressed up in Michael Jordan’s Tune Squad jersey from the movie and drew a winner,” explained Kym.
Since the summer is not yet over, the Davis Arts Council still has a lot of fun activities planned including face painting for “The Lion King,” a treasure hunt for their screening of “National Treasure,” and balloon swords and crowns for an evening showing of “Enchanted.” With so many cool events planned this summer, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!
Do you have a fun movie event or activity planned you’d like to share? Is so, contact us and you might see your idea on our website!