by Kirby Lindsay, posted 5 July 2013
This year, the Fremont Outdoor Movies turns 21! Twenty-one years ago Jon Hegeman predicted people would willingly spread out their blankets over the concrete (building ‘urban campsites,) to watch a favorite old film or a popular new movie projected on the side of a commercial building.
To the shock of many, he was very, very right!
Over 21 years, Fremont has changed. The parking lots have changed, and the Outdoor Movies have moved four times. The audience has aged, with their kids – and maybe even grandkids – now populating the parking lot. The film projection format has changed. Even the movies have changed, although not very much…
What has not changed at all is the amazing popularity of this annual summer tradition – setting out lawn chairs on the pavement to watch a movie (in true Fremont style – often with costumes, community heckling of the screen, and games/live entertainment before the film rolls,) under the stars.
Sustain The Spirit
“I was dragged along there,” recalled Ryan Reiter-Hegeman, “I would hang out in the projection booth. We did 16 millimeter back then.” Like at the Fremont Sunday Market, launched by his parents Candace Reiter and Jon Hegeman, Reiter-Hegeman grew up at these enterprises – he was 13 years old during the first season of the Fremont Outdoor Movies. Now, as Artistic Director for the summer film fest, he calls this, “a family tradition,” that he and his staff, with help from his parents, sustain, “to keep this neighborhood true to its spirit. It’s a labor of love.”
It has also been a bit of a moving target as Fremont grew up. Hegeman, and another local business woman Charlotte Buchanan, first staged the Cinema screenings on a parking lot between the Red Door and the Michaelvania woodshop (on the same lot where the Sunday Market began.) Today, the Epi Center/PCC stand there.
From there, the Outdoor Movies temporarily decamped to a grassy knoll next to the Adobe campus – nice, but tiny. Also, eventually, it became the site of the 837 N 34th St building (where Anytime Fitness, Tableau, and Groundspeak are located.)
Next, Hegeman shifted to another parking lot – on Stone Way – where Subway (on N 34th St) and Gasworks Park Kite Shop (on N 35th St) used to be. That lot has also, recently, gone away to be replaced by the 3400 Stone development – the future headquarters for Brooks Sports.
Hegeman, and then partners Jet City Improv, willingly shifted from Stone Way to the U-Park lot at N 35th St & Phinney Ave N, where they project the movies on the side of the Fremont Studios building. After all, this site that better accommodates any potential overflow crowds (the evenings predictably get 500 – 900 people, but some shows do draw more,) with adjacent sidewalks, or viewing spots across the street at Theo Chocolate, Brower’s Café, or another U-Park lot.
In addition to changing locations, “the audience has evolved too,” Reiter-Hegeman observed, “We’re not the only show in town.” He won’t claim the Fremont Outdoor Movies as the oldest event of its kind in the U.S., but this once was the only outdoor screening held in Seattle. The city now has a dozen or so series and single-show summer outdoor movies – as compiled in a recent Seattle Met magazine article. The vast selection could thin out the crowd – or remove the non-Fremonsters – particularly when (for a second time,) the Fremont Outdoor Movies has scheduled the same movie (‘The Avengers’) on the same night (August 10th) as other screenings – this time the West Seattle Outdoor Movies and the Carillon Point Outdoor Movie Nights.
Fun & Games
In celebration of its 21st year, Reiter-Hegeman has also arranged to host three 21+ shows – evenings exclusively for an adult crowd, with, “all three are charity based events.” Two nights will be special-audience films: ‘The Big Lebowski’ at the center of Dude Fest, and a growing phenomenon with the hip-hopera by R. Kelly called ‘Trapped In The Closet.’ (About ‘Trapped,’ Reiter-Hegeman explained, “this is something we wanted to do because it was wacky and fun.”) The third 21+ evening will be standard Hollywood R-rated fare – the always popular ‘Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy.’
“This year is all about bringing the fun and games back,” Reiter-Hegeman reported. “We try to put movies in that are more of an experience,” he explained, to create more of an event than a movie you could watch at home. “We celebrate movie culture,” he explained, “pop culture.”
However, he’s also planned a shorter season – with only eight screenings:
- July 13th – Dumb And Dumber
- July 20th – Superbad
- July 27th – Forgetting Sarah Marshall
- Aug 2nd – Risky Business
- Aug 3rd – (21+) Alamo Drafthouse Presents ‘Trapped In The Closet’ Sing-A-Long
- Aug 10th – The Avengers
- Aug 17th – (21+) Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, with live music
- Aug 24th – (21+) The Dude Fest: ‘The Big Lebowski’ party
“I wish we could do more Friday night, cult move nights,” Reiter-Hegeman mused about traditions past, “costs are so high!” And cult movies don’t always pull in the crowds. “If we have 500 people at the show, we break even,” he explained.
Sponsorships Anyone?
The Outdoor Movies must run on the cheap. The first years, the organizers decided, “it had to be free, because the studios charged rates based on entry fees.” Eventually, they charged audiences $5 just to keep the shows going, as the studios shifted to a flat fee, or 50% of ticket sales. The rates do still vary depending on the age/popularity of the movie. ‘The Avengers’ will cost $500 (or 50%,) while something like ‘The Breakfast Club’ could be more like $275.
The entry fee also needs to pay for other things. The Outdoor Cinema staff have modest improvements planned for this year, with illuminated aisle ways and patio heaters for the back bar. They’ve switched entirely to Blu-Ray (digital) projection, and booked two food trucks for each movie night – one selling sweet items, and the other savory. Also, they’ll screen a NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth) short film each night, ‘before our feature presentation…’
Each Outdoor Movie costs about $2,500 per evening to run, and the shortened season this year is due to a lack of sponsorship funds. “Sponsorships have changed,” Reiter-Hegeman observed, “we have a lot of in-kind sponsors this year. Not as many over-all sponsors.” It means audience giveaways, like the Car2Go sunglasses campaign during ‘Risky Business,’ but fewer movies.
“If we got an overall sponsor,” Reiter-Hegeman explained, at about $25,000 for the year, “we could expand the season to 10 or 12 nights.” With more cult nights, more double weekends – Friday and Saturday night shows – and more opportunities for sitting under the stars and watching the screen. “We have this great audience,” he explained, and he’d love to see a local Fremont business get their name out in front of the crowds, while funding evenings of films and fun.
To stay up-to-date on news about the Fremont Outdoor Movies, check the website. However, the Outdoor Movies Facebook page often is more accurate about last-minute news on rain, and additions to the games and entertainment.
So, break out that blanket, gather up the gang, and lets all head out for an evening of major fun, for the 21st year!
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©2013 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.