Showing Movies In Our Venue

[gmff]

We are setting up some of our first events for our revitilized Opera House. We would like to do a family film series in July/August. I am baffled about the licensing and authorization to show films. I have heard many wild stories from "just show the **** film" to "it cost thousands of dollars to arrange to show films to the public". I think the truth rest somewhere between those two statments but I don't know where. Is there anyone out there that could give me some directions on how to do this and where to start. Thanks!!

 

[shayward]

There is a company named Swank Motion Pictures, who will be able to help with licensing. I once did a year longs license to show movies at school and it was around $500 for the year....but we new that we were on the up&up.

Swank Motion Pictures Inc | Obtain a Public Performance License to Show Movies Legally

 

[FACTplayers]

I second Swank. I'm the president of a film club at my University and we sometimes show films. The license per film is typically between $250-$500. It all just depends on the film. You can find some older ones for much less. If you are a non-profit, you can also try contacting a local rep from a film company (Sony, Paramount, etc) and they may be able to send you a film, merch, etc. I was told by one rep when we were doing a huge promotional event for a rather large film (I won't mention the name) that I could show a film if I had the DVD. But that that with a grain of salt as it wasn't a public showing.

Copyright laws for the US state that you must have authorization (license or written approval) to show a film to the public. Private gathers do not have such a requirement. However, it sounds like you have a public showing. Question is: is it worth the risk?