Host Your Own Screening of Made in L.A.!

Hundreds of community organizations, faith-based organizations and grassroots and student groups have screened Made in L.A. in order to put a human face on the issues of immigration, to explore the impact of globalization on low wage workers and consumerism, and to shed light on the benefits of labor organizing and women's empowerment. You can too! On this page you'll find everything you need to host a successful screening of Made in L.A. in your community! Reactions to screening events are extremely powerful and positive both for the audience and for event organizers, and it's so easy to make this happen in your community!

There are seven simple steps to host your own screening (for a more detailed guide, download our Event Planning Toolkit):

1. Identify your objectives and target audiences

Do you want to raise awareness about the issues? Educate immigrant workers about their rights? Engage general audiences to be more conscious consumers? Or highlight your organization's current work? Who is your audience? We encourage you to download & read our Event Planning Toolkit to help answer these questions!


2. Select a location and event format

Where will your event be held? In a church? In a living room? At a community center? And what will happen after the screening? Do you want to have an informal discussion? Do you want to invite professors, local organizers, union members, or workers to speak and help connect the film to issues in your community? Other special guests? (Note that the filmmakers are sometimes available to attend screening events - contact us for more information.) Our Event Planning Toolkit has many additional suggestions and ideas.


3. Order a Community Screening Kit that "pays for itself"

We want it to be easy for community groups to do screenings of Made in L.A. and we deeply understand the financial constraints of small organizations. With this in mind, we have created a special screening kit that is essentially free and that contains everything you need for a great event (posters, DVDs, postcards). Here's how it works: while you do have to pay to order a kit, the kit "pays for itself" because it includes enough extra DVDs to sell at the screening to cover the cost of the kit, so the ultimate cost is nearly zero (and selling DVDs should be easy as they are very popular at screenings!) The kits are described in detail on the right. All proceeds help us continue our outreach and education efforts!

Special note on paid admission: These kits are not designed for events where you charge admission, although of course we understand that you may want to pass a hat or request a voluntary donation to cover event costs. If you want to do a screening with paid admission, contact us.

Special note for educators, librarians and student groups: These kits are licensed for community screenings. Classroom and library use requires the educational- licensed DVD. Student groups, however, can normally use screening kits for extra-curricular screenings but need the educational version for academically sponsored events (click here for details).


4. Get the word out and publicize the event!

Successful publicity helps to get people to attend your event, and also raises awareness even for those who aren't able to attend! You may want to do online/viral outreach, work with partner organizations, send press releases to local media, and put posters and flyers up in your community. (The Event Planning Toolkit outlines in detail different great suggestions and strategies!) In addition to the posters that you'll receive as part of your screening kit, we've created a number of templates that may be useful:

Template Flyer (Horizontal) in English
Template Flyer (Horizontal) in Spanish
Template Flyer (Vertical) in English
Template Flyer (Vertical) in Spanish
Bilingual Flyer English/Spanish (ideal to post as-is, or to photocopy on back and front and then cut in half to create small bilingual flyers)

Mini-Poster in English (Requires legal size paper: 8.5"x14")
Mini-Poster in Spanish (Requires legal size paper: 8.5"x14")

Template press release in English
Template press release in Spanish (coming soon)

Sign-up sheet (Bilingual English/Spanish)


5. Let us know about the event!

Please send us information about your event so we can post it on our Screenings page. This way we help advertise it and share it with the Made in L.A. community!


6. Be prepared with the right materials.

In addition to the postcards that you'll receive in your screening kit, you'll want to have flyers with useful information at the event. Download and photocopy our Things You Can Do and Shop with a Conscience flyers, and bring along other information about specific actions that people can take in your community.


7. The event itself!

Double check the "Event Planning Checklist" on the last page of our Event Planning Toolkit to be sure that you haven't forgotten anything. Test your equipment ahead of time to be sure that everything works properly. We suggest giving a brief introduction before the screening begins to let people know to stick around for the post-screening discussion.

After the screening, but before the discussion begins, you'll want to pass out the postcards that came with your screening kit (there should be enough for each person to take two) and to distribute any other materials, as some people may leave before the end of the discussion. You should also announce that you'll be selling the DVDs that came with your screening kit so that audience members know that they can buy the film and also so that you can recover the cost of the screening kit. It's best if you can have someone stationed with the DVDs at a table at the back of the room as soon as the discussion starts, so that people will walk by that table as they leave.

Take the time to review the Event Planning Toolkit's sound advice about managing the post-screening discussion. Be sure to leave enough time for the discussion, as this will be your opportunity to connect Made in L.A. to issues in your communinity and to encourage people to take action!

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Good luck with your event!!! Let us know how it goes and please feel free to send us a testimonial or any feedback or advice that you'd like to share it with us and with the Made in L.A. community.