Hosting A Screening

No Image Description
Description
This training walks through how CCL chapters have used screenings to attract their community for discussions on climate and clean energy solutions. 
Breadcrumb
/topics/additional-grassroots-outreach-opportunities
TOC and Guide Section
 

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 information 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 (2022)
  • 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.  
  • Questions about Wild & Scenic 2022? 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!
  • Background: Over the past five years, the CCL Alameda County, CA has raised thousands of dollars for their local chapter by hosting the Wild and Scenic Film Festival (WSFF), the nation’s premier environmental film festival.  The Wild & Scenic Film Festival “On Tour,” partners with a diverse array of environmental nonprofits, schools, museums, and businesses, to create unique film to raise funds, reach new contacts, and raise awareness of local and global issues. Last year, after the festival was offered online for the first time, several California chapters decided to co-host the festival and did quite well in terms of fundraising. This year the Alameda County Chapter is offering this opportunity to other CCL chapters nationwide that are interested! To get your chapter excited and find out more about the energy that WSFF provides, watch this short 90-second trailer for the festival here. For more information go to CCL’s 2022 Wild and Scenic Film Festival on tour here.

    The good news:  The CCL CA Alameda County Chapter is covering the cost to host and other chapters will be able to keep most of the proceeds from the ticket sales they generated. 
    The even better news: You will be provided with all of the marketing materials including graphics specific to your chapter as well as a $5 discount on tickets to your members and strategic partners.

    The theme of this year's festival is "A Current of Hope".  The flagship festival featured many films about water issues, a few of which we included.  However, if you take a look at the films in the CCL Alameda sponsored program on-tour program, a wide variety of issues are addressed in the films.

    Live Festival Details:

    There will be a live event at The David Brower Center in Berkeley on Friday, April 22, Earth Day.  Doors (virtual and actual) open at 6:30 PM. Local viewers can purchase a ticket for the live event which includes access to the films on-demand from April 22 at 10 PM PST until 11:59 PM on April 27 PST.

     If you purchase a live virtual ticket, you can attend the live virtual event at the same time as the LIVE event (6:30 PST, 9:30 EST). This means that you can participate in the live chat starting at 6:30 PST

    At 10 PM PST (1 AM on April 23 EST), after the live virtual event, the program becomes available on-demand until April 27 at 11:59 PM PST (not EST) with no live chat.

    While viewing the on-demand program and you can skip films, rewatch films.  You will be able to view the entire live virtual event without live chat being available.

Length
Press play to start the video (36m 27s)
Video Outline
To skip ahead to the next video, click the right arrow at the top of the video screen
  • (0:00) Intro & Agenda
  • (4:46) Setting up the Venue & Guests
  • (8:55) Asian Pacific Action Team Example
  • (12:34) Social Time, Actions, & Sharing Your Success!
  • (16:39) CCL Michigan Chapter Experience
  • (23:25) Fundraising Options
  • (28:45) Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Instructor(s)
  • Brett Cease
  • Elyce Klein
  • Nicola Philpott
  • Nadine Wang
Downloads
Download the Presentation
Broadening Support With Veterans & National Security AudiencesBroadening Support With Veterans & National Security Audiences(.pptx)25942 KB
Audio length
Press play to start the audio (36m 27s)
Audio embed code
Audio Outline
To skip ahead to the next video, click the right arrow at the top of the video screen
  • (0:00) Intro & Agenda
  • (4:46) Setting up the Venue & Guests
  • (8:55) Asian Pacific Action Team Example
  • (12:34) Social Time, Actions, & Sharing Your Success!
  • (16:39) CCL Michigan Chapter Experience
  • (23:25) Fundraising Options
  • (28:45) Wild & Scenic Film Festival
 
Instructor(s)
  • Nicola Philpott
  • Nadine Wang
  • Elyce Klein
  • Brett Cease
     
Downloads
Have you completed this training?
Let us know if you've completed this training! Your progress will be logged in the Action Tracker so you can reference a list of trainings that you've completed.
Log your training
Discussion Topic
To Print
Category
Training
Topics
Grassroots Outreach
Format
Audio / Video
File Type
Google Slides, PowerPoint (.pptx)
Training Resources