Hosting A Screening
Through the generosity of film and TV producers and distributors, Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers have access to share several films and TV shows with your local communities. Follow the steps below to plan your group’s event.
Virtual Screening Considerations
For guidance on online film screenings, watch this short interview with CCL Hawaii's leaders for an example of how CCL chapters are effectively organizing. In short, leverage your local connections, identify locally relevant topics and trusted experts to pair for a panel with your screening, assign tech support roles, practice with team and plan for back-up. If you're feeling bold, invite your member of Congress/staff and other organizations to join your event! For additional ideas see CCL's Blog: CCL Hawaii draws a crowd for virtual movie screening & panel and their Preparing a Screening for "The Burden" Drive files.
Find a venue and screening
- Check out our Film Screening Guides: all recommended films, or tailor your event to a particular audience, policy area, or time available.
- Note: All of these films are available to screen for free or a nominal price. Coordinate with The Membership & Field Development Department at membership@citizensclimate.org for more information.
- A screening may be held in any private home or venue. See the specific film or show guidelines. All you need is an area that will hold your expected attendees and a way to watch the film or show.
- Looking for a bigger venue? Sometimes a theater will have a night of the week that isn’t particularly busy and will offer you a good price or even comp the space to your local chapter.
Invite guests
- Make sure all the members of your chapter know about the screening and ask them to commit to inviting a few more people they think might be interested.
- Send email invitations early — at least three weeks before the event.
- Create a Facebook event or use an online invitation service like EventBrite.
- Include details about when the event will start, whether food and drinks will be provided, what time the screening will begin, and when you expect to wrap things up.
- Consider coupling the festival with a panel. Panels can feature other speakers from local environmental organizations and important organizations.
- Get creative in how local organizations can help out: ask if any of your members have the capability to produce local graphics and ads.
Schedule some social time
When you gather is up to you. One possibility would be to begin an hour early and socialize with snacks and drinks until it’s time for the screening and end by offering your attendees the chance to get more involved by taking one of a few simple actions.
Whenever you choose to start, please make a priority of having all your guests feel welcome (name tags are a great help) and encourage newcomers to sign in with their names and email addresses. This is a great opportunity for recruitment.
Include an action
After the film, if you feel comfortable, show one of CCL's "About Us" videos before the films and ask attendees "who is familiar with CCL?" as a perfect entry point to include a brief pitch about CCL’s work locally and nationally.
- Consider beginning to go paperless with your chapters' calls to actions for engaging people at your event. See the Paper Grassroots Outreach training for recommendations on how to get started and the actions to feature.
- Register with CCL. We need new members for the work ahead!
- Ask your congressperson to take action at cclusa.org/action
- Make a donation. Support our work through a tax-deductible donation to the nonprofit Citizens’ Climate Education.
Share your Success!
- Log the event and include attendees in the Action Tracker, under 'Grassroots Outreach.'
- Post any photos taken to your social media accounts.
Consider finding ways to fundraise
If your chapter is interested, find ways to feature the opportunity for local sponsors to be acknowledged:
- Don’t be afraid to ask for sponsorships in exchange for recognition in your event advertising, outreach, on screen and in the film program (some groups raise a considerable amount of money from sponsorships from local nonprofits, businesses and community organizations).
- One great way to get the word out is with community partners. These nonprofits, local organizations and businesses agree to promote your event to their membership or customers (via emails, their own social media, social networks, etc.)
- In return, recognize your sponsors as community partners on the event publicity material, website, at the beginning of the event, on screen, and in the film program itself (printing a program allows you to engage more with the audience and provide your sponsors with a way to touch the audience).
- If you collect in-kind donations such as gift certificates, consider using them as a raffle prize which give the audience the chance to fill out their name and contact information.
- Consider setting up a local bank account for your chapter so that you can benefit from the money you raise. Many sponsors do not require additional tax ID information to donate and for those that do, you can send their donations to CCL HQ for national fundraising.
Past film festival organizing success: Wild and Scenic
- If your chapter is interested in putting in the time (often 100 volunteer hours) and hard work behind coordinating a bigger film event, the CCL CA Alameda County and CO Durango chapters have collaborated with the Wild & Scenic Film Festival to host an event of their own and found them to be a great opportunity to raise local awareness of CCL, partner with other organizations and local businesses, and raise money for the local chapter.
- 2024 Information: WSFF On Tour Host Deck Presenting the Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour (youtube.com)
- Questions about Wild & Scenic at a local chapter? Click here to watch the video of Elyce Klein above for a more thorough interview and for any CCL chapters that want to take advantage of the opportunity to “host” the Wild and Scenic Film Festival for Earth Day 2022 feel free to contact CCL CA Alameda County's Elyce Klein at: elyceklein@gmail.com, This is a terrific opportunity to participate in Earth Day 2022, raise funds for your chapter, and to outreach to your community!
- (0:00) Intro & Agenda
- (3:23) Why Host A Screening and Resources
- (6:27) Setting Up The Venue & Social Actions
- (15:03) Introducing The Week
- (24:45) Introducing True False Hot Cold
- Todd Elvins
- Brett Cease
- John Hasan Yildiz
- Ben Stillerman
- View the Google Slides
- Download the Hosting A Film Screening video.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
- (0:00) Intro & Agenda
- (3:23) Why Host A Screening and Resources
- (6:27) Setting Up The Venue & Social Actions
- (15:03) Introducing The Week
- (24:45) Introducing True False Hot Cold
- Todd Elvins
- Brett Cease
- John Hasan Yildiz
- Ben Stillerman
- Film Screening Guides (CCL provided)
- Host A Wild & Scenic Film Festival (external link)
- The resources above are specific to this training, see all resources associated with Grassroots Outreach.