There's also talk of a UK screening on this date, too. I will be putting my weight behind this effort shortly.

gossi | April 21, 04:45 CET

Yeah! If this isn't the most fabulous thing I've seen all day! How inspirational!

*Ponders if little Prescott Valley would go for it...*

Willowy | April 21, 04:58 CET

A little bit of additional info, with more to come later. First, things are picking up the last two weeks, with more cities coming on board.

As of today, four cities are officially confirmed and scheduled -- Albany NY, Boston MA, Los Angeles CA, and Minneapolis MN. We might have a number of others in the next few days.

There's a link off the linked site to our Yahoo! group, for those so gung-ho (you ARE gung-ho, aren't you?) that you want to get cracking with all of your exciting and pressing questions, so you can get started ASAP.

For existing organizers, a reminder: If there's a "more info" link I've missed that should go next toy our event, please let me know either via the contact link on the CSTS website, or via our Yahoo! group.

More later.

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2006-04-21 03:06 ]

The One True b!X | April 21, 05:05 CET

I just told a new fan about it and he is very excited at the chance to see it on the big screen. Good luck to all of us trying to pull this off.

Lioness | April 21, 05:29 CET

I am so excited - there's a Minneapolis event! I finally get to meet some MN flans! (Did I use the term "flans" right? I'm still pretty new here.)

Still - Woo Hoo let's raise some money and awareness for a great cause.

best_hair_ever | April 21, 05:46 CET

Great news, and a great way to do good in lots of ways! Well done, everyone! :-)

er, shouldn't "Equality Now" also be a tag for this thread?

billz | April 21, 06:08 CET

Here's something you all can do in the near-term. Either on your website (if you have one) or in your signature on discussion forums, you can include this banner ad:

http://www.speakeasy.org/~theonetruebix/sn_en_banner.jpg

Link it to the http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/ website and you're good to go.

On systems which recognize BBCode, the syntax would be as follows:

[url=http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/]
[img]
http://www.speakeasy.org/~theonetruebix/sn_en_banner.jpg
[/img]
[/url]

Although without the linebreaks, which I included in order to try to avoid breaking the layout here with long lines.

The One True b!X | April 21, 06:33 CET

anyone planning on going to the Boston show?

Miss Kitty Fantastico | April 21, 06:46 CET

Hello Kitty- I just bought two tickets to the Boston show...kill me now- have a horse show I have to get up for at 4:00am the next morning!
But I am so hoping to meet some area flans and who knows where that will lead...adventures aplenty out in this world I 'spect

Ceslas | April 21, 07:33 CET

Hey don't leave out San Francisco. We are doing our best to find a venue. Seeing Serenity on the big screen with fellow Browncoats? Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Livewire | April 21, 08:37 CET

YEah, this is awesome. We just confirmed the theater in Pasadena, CA, right outsite Los Angeles. :)

Shoogagoogagunga | April 21, 08:46 CET

Sorry, I don't recall getting an official "we're planning" message from SF.

Which isn't to say one wasn't sent, cos I very easily could have just missed it.

The One True b!X | April 21, 08:46 CET

"4 countries and 3 continents"...

I can only find screenings in USA, Canada and Autralia. To me, that makes 3 contries and 2 continents. Is the UK (which does not seem to be in the 22 countries anyhow) the 4th country? Then again, as I remember my geography lessons, UK is not a continent by itself...

So... screenings in Antartica? :P

Le Comité | April 21, 09:38 CET

Four countries: USA, Canada, the UK, Australia.

Three continents: North America, Europe, Australia.

On edit: Oh, yeah, well, the UK ones I don't yet have enough information on to put them in the main list. They are in the paragraph below the list.

I need to change the "22 Cities" to "22+ Cities" so that the "+" encompasses the paragraph below the listing.

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2006-04-21 07:51 ]

The One True b!X | April 21, 09:45 CET

Five countries: USA, Canada, the UK, Australia (YAY!), the Netherlands.

There's going to be one in Melbourne!

buffy_kitten | April 21, 14:58 CET

Hmm...I can sense that this would be way too expensive for me.

Could someone, um, please please please organize an event in Akron, OH? Or Cleveland? Pleeeease?

UnpluggedCrazy | April 21, 18:56 CET

Could someone, um, please please please organize an event in Akron, OH? Or Cleveland? Pleeeease?

You do it!

Seriously, that's the only way any of these are happening at all. Non-professional organizers on the ground having the motivation and the sheer gall to believe they can make it happen.

Kind of the Browncoat way, don't you think? ;)

As a starting point, have you checked in with the Firefly Ohio group on Yahoo?

The One True b!X | April 21, 20:45 CET

UnpluggedCrazy - if you can't get a venue - do it at a community centre or someone's house and forward any donations to Equality Now...

redfern | April 21, 20:49 CET

Oh, one other important thing: If you're skeptical as to whether or not there might be a market for such a screening, start with our FAQ which lists the 35 cities which had special advance screenings of Serenity last June 23.

If your city is on that list, there's a fair chance that there's a market there for one of these charity screenings -- all the moreso because some of the cities organizing such screenings are not amongst those from last June 23.

If markets which Universal did not to sell out special advance screenings can pull off one of these charity screenings, then surely markets which they did tap should be able to do so as well.

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2006-04-21 18:54 ]

The One True b!X | April 21, 20:53 CET

I just spoke with one venue who expressed doubt that anyone would come out to see it now that it was on DVD. I pointed out that it was Sci-Fi and really designed for the big screen and that there were lots of fans who only have seen it on DVD. He was convinced. (But still wanted to charge $900.00 for rental!)

Lioness | April 21, 21:18 CET

Lioness, as far as the venue rental goes, I know that several organizers have been talking to other local businesses about sponsorships for the event, to help defray some of those costs. You might look into that.

Also, on the above comment about if you can't get a venue. Again, check our FAQ -- if you happen to be in an area served by Regal Cinemas, we now have a contact in corporate there who knows what we're up to and wants to help if she can. The FAQ answer on that links to a post on our Yahoo! group (you don't need to join to read it) with her contact information.

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2006-04-21 19:23 ]

The One True b!X | April 21, 21:21 CET

The thing is to see a market for a screening based on the advanced screenings is a bit misleading. There is the problem that not everyone are hardcore fans, and that if people have the dvd(which is out), they dont feel the need to see the movie in a theatre, even if its a good cause. I think we will be able to fill a theatre(small one 100 -130), but to expect to get the same audiance size as the advanced screenings or the preview screenings in early September(which we got in Montreal), is a bit difficult.

Also, if you are organizing this, get help if you can. Do not be afraid to approach people or to post announcements on all the appropriate forums, yahoo groups etc. For myself I couldnt organize this alone, because there is alot of work besides just contacting the theatre and booking the venue. Especially if you want to promote the screening and sell as many tickets as possible, it requires a good amount of time. I am very very lucky... that I have a co-manager(shout out to Sebastian), someone taking charge of the raffle prizes(and getting sponsors for that), and other people helping me.

[ edited by kurya on 2006-04-21 22:33 ]

[ edited by kurya on 2006-04-21 22:33 ]

kurya | April 22, 00:23 CET

I'm not saying there's a one-to-one correlation between the advance screenings and these. But there's a reason Universal picked specific markets for those advance screenings -- it wasn't just some sort of blind stab in the dark.

Also not saying advance screening attendance = charity screening attendance. That said, however, all the advance screenings sold out, mostly with the hardcore, who are precisely the sorts of people who would see it even though they have the DVD. Factor in that there are new fans who have NEVER seen it on the big screen, plus semi-unrelated markets of people who would want to support Equality Now...

...well, I think there are a lot of people who don't think their city would support a charity screening who are, in fact, likely wrong.

The One True b!X | April 22, 01:07 CET

People who are having trouble finding a venue might try talking to their local public library. Many have projectors and sizable screens and have bought licensing rights to show movies. Not as good as a theater, but better than nothing. And depending on the library's policies or the restricitons on their license, you might not be able to "charge" for the screening, but you could probably do a suggested donation. There are a lot of Whedonites in library land.

GoblinQueen | April 22, 03:25 CET

See, the thing is, I would organize a screening if I had any kind of money. I don't even have a job right now.

The only money I spend is every Wednesday at the comics shop and every Friday at the movies, which results in $50 or less every week.

UnpluggedCrazy | April 22, 21:30 CET

UnpluggedCrazy, the path to take, then, is to check in with various Ohio groups of other Browncoats and see if any plans are already in play, or if you can nudge them. I think I linked one above somewhere.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly-ohio/

The One True b!X | April 22, 23:02 CET