I would check with the librarian, as FoxMom says. A sheet will work; you might be able to borrow a projection screen from the school district. We have a laptop with a DVD drive, and we hook it up to an LCD projector. Our school has the projector; lots of companies have them for meetings, you might be able to borrow one.

You may or may not be able to hook the laptop directly into the gym speakers; one year, someone held the microphone next to the laptop's little speakers. This year, I did buy a 50' cable that had a standard headphone plug on one end and RCA plugs on the other, because our sound system has RCA inputs. Microphone inputs typically have extra amplification, so you may not be able to plug in there, and if you do, watch the volume.

A license is $75 from Public Performance License for Movies | Servicing Schools & Libraries Worldwide As I understand it, you may charge admission to cover the cost of the license. We did a canned food drive instead.

You need a projector and a dvd player--- that's how you play the movie onto a screen or wall-- if you have a portable screen-- your can set that up in the gym or hang a white sheet on the wall-- either way-- talk to your librarian-- most schools have most of this equipment...-- now onto audio... again ask the librarian or the music instructor how they project over the sound system- they should be able to help you out... and remember you can not charge an entrance fee to watch a movie unless you add something to the night-- say $$$XX -- gets you a raffle ticket for a chance to win XXX prize and stay for the showing of XXXX-- you also need a movie license--- again for this check with your school district-- if you are showing the movie at the school, a lot of times they have already purchased a movie license for the year. Set up a concession stand as well-- candy popcorn, pop, juice, water-- all could be under 1.00 each --- we do .25 candy-- .50 popcorn, pop, water.
Good luck!

Hello,

I have a question. How do you all do movies in your gym? What kind of set up do you have? I have read that you can project the movie onto a white sheet, which takes care of the worry of everyone being able to see.

However, how do you hook up the audio so the whole gym can hear? I assume it has to be hooked up to the gym's speakers that they use for basketball games, etc., but how do they all hook together?

How do you get a DVD to play on the wall? What sort of apparatus do you hook the DVD player up to?

We would like to have a movie night, but are a group of tech-challenged ladies. Thanks for your help.