GATHR TOOL KIT
Thousands of people throughout the country have experienced BEFORE YOU KNOW IT at film festivals, universities and special events. Now you can bring the film to your community by hosting a screening.
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT is working with Gathr Films, a Theatrical On Demand service, to help bring our film to audiences nationwide. With Gathr, individuals and organizations can host screenings at no cost and share the film with their communities.
Below we’ve provided a step-by-step guide to hosting a successful screening. We’ve also included links to our screening checklist, a social media tip sheet, marketing and promotion templates and other resources that will help you plan your event.
If you have any questions along the way, PLEASE don’t hesitate to email us at info@beforeyouknowitfilm.com.
And thank you for hosting a screening of BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!
Now, let’s get started…
Step 1: Set up & Launch your screening on Gathr
Go to the BEFORE YOU KNOW IT Gathr page or click the Gathr It button on our tool bar, and fill out the online request form to host a screening. Gathr refers to hosts as screening Captains! Gathr will do its best to accommodate your date, time and venue request. If you have any questions about the form, check out Gathr’s FAQ
It can take Gathr between 24 hours and 2 weeks to confirm your screening with a theater in your area and launch your personalized screening page.
Gathr recommends selecting a date at least 30 days out from your request date. This will give them enough time to properly schedule the screening and you plenty of time to share and promote the screening so the minimum ticket requirement is met in time.
As Captain, you can put as little or as much effort into hosting and promoting the screening as you’d like. Just remember, a screening will only be confirmed if you reserve a designated number of tickets. The more you can do to promote the event, the higher chances of your success.
Step 2: Get the Word Out!
Once you’ve received your personalized screening page from Gathr, you can begin to promote your event and get tickets reserved before the deadline.
Start by promoting your BEFORE YOU KNOW IT screening with friends and family. Then you can reach out to organizations in your community (such as senior and/or lgbtq centers, film societies, churches and student groups). We’ve created some resources to help you:
- Letter Template to Friends and Family
- Letter Template to Community Organizations
- Gathr Social Media Tool Kit
- Engage Your Audience
- #BeforeYouKnowIt Hashtag Campaign
- Poster (coming soon) & Customizable Flyers
- Press Release Template (coming soon)
- Press Kit
Let us know about your screening by sending an email with all of the event details to: info@beforeyouknowitfilm.com, and we will add your screening to our webpage and promote it on our social media.
Step 3: Prepare for the Big Day!
We’ve created this simple Gathr Event Checklist for BEFORE YOU KNOW IT screening captains to help you promote and prepare for your event.
Engage your supporters. We’ve created a Engage Your Audience handout with ideas on how to make your event unique by collaborating with local organizations and other individuals passionate about the film and issues facing our lgbtq elders.
Step 4: The Day of the Screening
We recommend sharing a short introduction just before the event begins. Take a look at our Sample Introductory Remarks for ideas on what to include during your introduction prior to the screening.
If you’ve partnered with any local organizations, you will want to recognize and include them to say a few words before the screening begins.
If you’d like, hand out surveys to collect the contact info and opinions of the attendees or use our Newsletter Signup Form. Scan and email the information you’ve collected to info@beforeyouknowitfilm.com, and we will be sure to send every attendee at THANK YOU from the BEFORE YOU KNOW IT team.
Take photos! Pictures of you and audience members at the screening, by the poster, with a #BeforeYouKnowIt Hashtag Campaign, and at a related panel or Q&A are all great ways to share and celebrate the event. Make sure to share with us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram by tagging the photo with #beforeyouknowit & @B4YouKnowIt.
And last but not least, remember to sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
