This is our second year of movie nights. We used Box Tops money and purchased a movie projector and a DVD player with surround sound speakers. We hold our movies in the gym and we use a king sized sheet and pin it to the curtain on our stage. We purchased an inexpensive popcorn machine ($189, new on ebay) and we get popcorn packs from a local vendor. We also get a year long movie license. Don't be fooled, most schools and or school districts do not have a license. Makes you wonder how they show movies...... Our movie nights are free to our families. We send out a flier a week before with what is expected of the families, what we supply and what we don't supply. We supply free popcorn but everyone must bring our own drinks. We caution tape the water coolers to prevent children from running in and out. We also caution tape all hallway areas out of the gym and leave only the exit and bathrooms available. If I find unruly kids and the parents not stepping up, I do not hesitate to tell them to quiet down, get back to your seats, etc. etc. You have to maintain control or you will loose the audience that you do have. At the end of the night as the lights are coming on, I remind everyone to pick up after themselves and ask for volunteers to clean-up. We have never had a shortage.
We start the movies in October (September is to early) and we go through March. After March, attendance goes way down due to Spring sports. Although this year with the flu epidemic, we have been finding that all of our free family events attendance is way, way down. Because November was so bad, we decided to concentrate on our holiday events and skip the December movie. I spend a lot of time with the PTO and believe me, if the Board of Directors can't get volunteers, or people leave without cleaning up, it is brought to their attention. There is only so much you can do! If we find people aren't stepping up, we do not hesitate to cancel an event. There is only so much that the same volunteers can do time after time.