insideKENT Magazine Issue 52 - July 2016 | Page 154

BUSINESS BUSINESS PROFILE: insideKENT talks to Zachary Cooke of The Open Air Cinema How did The Open Air Cinema come about? In 2007, a group of friends thought it would be a nice thing to hold a free open air screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We were surprised at the uptake and since then we have held numerous open-air and drive-in screenings. Tell us about the team behind it. The Open Air Cinema is made up has a number of sessional technicians and front of house staff selected from the local community. All will have received training to deliver the best service possible service to visitors attending our drivein or our picnic style open-air cinema events. What is the Open Air Cinema’s focus for 2016/17? This year and next we are focused on delivering a better cinematic experience with even greater value for money. Visitors who buy tickets in advance for Open Air Cinema events will pay a maximum of £9.99 for two tickets. On the night tickets will be £12.50 each. We see this as excellent value and will no doubt be very popular. We advise customers to subscribe to our mailing list as we hope that events sell out quickly. Corporate and individual customers who wish to hold their own open air or drive-in cinema events, then prices start at just £250. We provide all of the equipment and technical staff required to hold a safe and efficient event at their chosen location. Emailing the Open Air Cinema is the fastest way to find out more and get the key dates you need. The Open Air Cinema has the pleasure of working with forward thinking local authorities and great charities throughout this summer and early 2017. Similar organisations wanting to secure our great rates should email us as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Cost will go up in December 2016. On the day tickets to Open Air Cinema organised events will be £12.50 each. We accept debit and credit card payments. What separates us from our competitors? What happens at an Open Air Cinema event? There are some great companies delivering openair screenings throughout the country. Many have some great add-ons too. All presenting a wide range of customer choice. The Open Air Cinema has been delivering grass roots screenings for over seven years. We are all about accessibility for all. Not just physically, but financially too. We feel that a quality experience, a sense of fun and good honest value will hold us in a good position for another seven years. We are very focused on continuing strong links with our customers and those that with us. These are the people that tell me what they want and this helps shape what the Open Air Cinema delivers. We deliver small to medium sized events for up to 500 visitors at a time. Any bigger we feel losses some of the magic for both customers and staff. Let us remember we live in England. So even in our hottest of summers we still have to wrap up in the evening. Bring along blankets, or even a blow up bed for your comfort. For those who need to bring chairs, feel free to. However, we ask chair users to take direction of where to sit and for everyone to be considerate. Open Air Cinema events may be rescheduled due to bad weather that would make screening unsafe for staff and visitors. Providing full details such as email and mobile numbers means you are always kept up to speed. In seven years we have rescheduled two events. Great news for smokers and users of vaporisers and e-cigarettes, we have a dedicated space for you to smoke freely (local by-laws may apply). We always have a first aider and information point on site and we are always happy to assist visitors in anyway we can. The Open Air Cinema welcomes all who love film and have a cheery disposition. What events do we have for the summer? We have some great screenings for 2016/2017. For many are events we have been hired to deliver on behalf or charities and local authorities. In these cases we will not be responsible for ticket sales etc. To find out exact details of what you can buy tickets for, we advise potential visitors to subscribe to our mailing list. Details are never passed on to third parties and we have a no spam policy. Subscribers have access to tickets first, which are sold via our website. Advance tickets are £9.99 for two. 154 www.theopenaircinema.com [email protected] London & Surrey 02070999516 Kent 01622 410188 Sussex 01273 803506