*sniff*. Takes me back to last year when we were doing the coverage of the screenings and being exceedingly jealous of any US poster that managed to get a ticket. Good times.

Course the waiting and anticipation to find out which US cities would show the movie was cool as well.

Simon | June 23, 22:04 CET

Yeah, reminds me of being in front of the old computer madly refreshing and getting emails/IMs/txt msgs from folks about the latest news. Also the fun of breaking down site layouts to find out what the link would be when stuff did go on sale :) Good times!

ETA - plus there was the drive to Chicago and deciding who to take with and who to give that extra ticket to :) Now I'm getting all nostalgic!

zeitgeist | June 23, 22:06 CET

If anyone has screening reports they want to post here, I'll monitor this thread (oh, like I wouldn't be anyway?) and try to get them added to that reports page.

theonetruebix | June 23, 22:07 CET

*grins at bix* Of course you would, sir! :)

p.s. - good on you and all of the organizers. Take a bow, all of you!

zeitgeist | June 23, 22:08 CET

By this time last year I was hardly working at all - I was so anticipating the advance screening that night - and our shindig before hand.
Now, I'm just printing out extra tickets in case an unexpectedly large number of people buy tickets at the theatre.
And one great Browncoat has bought 2 DVDs for Serenity Day and donated them to us as Door Prizes.
Generosity upon generosity.

Lioness | June 23, 22:09 CET

FYI, you might hit some server chunkage, manifesting as the occasional very very slow pageload. There's a limit I need to up, but I think it means recompiling Apache. I'm working on it.

theonetruebix | June 23, 22:16 CET

Going to a screening tomorrow. I can't describe the excitement. If it's anything like when i saw it opening day, it'll be great. The attendance of any movie has never gotten as emotional a reaction sitting as sitting in the theater that night, surrounded by fellow fans, having waited countless months for the BDM to premiere, and watching it all unfold. That was something.

Ryan-RB | June 23, 23:15 CET

I went to the Cleveland screening last night (but unfortunately left my camera at home)!

It was quite a bit of fun, and I got to meet several nice Browncoats. I really wished that I had dressed up for the costume contest, as only three people had, and since the costume that I had worn last year for Halloween was extremely detailed, I could've had a fair chance of winning. In the end, though, all three costumes were pretty darn good and they all got to pick a prize since there were so few competitors. After that, there was a raffle, and I even won a prize, a complete set of Firefly trading cards.

And, after all of that, the movie finally began...as always, it was a fantastic, exciting, hilarious, and emotional experience. Three of the people traveling with me had already seen and loved the movie (though one of them has still yet to see Firefly), and the person that I brought who had never seen the flick loved it to pieces by the end. Since I had loaned her my Firefly DVDs, she told me that her plan for the day after was to force all of her family to sit down an watch them with her.

Afterwards, I checked out the merchandise tables. I really must say that, whoever was running the thing--I didn't find out his name, but he was the guy that had announced the costume contest and the raffle prizes--was extremely nice and generous. I was going to buy an XL Serenity Now/Equality Now T-shirt, but as I was standing there waiting to buy one they sold the very last XL. So, generous as he was, he said that I could have the 2XL shirt that he had been saving for himself. Despite much protestation on my part, he still gave it to me, and assured me that he'd be able to get a shirt elsewhere. It's this kind of kindness and generosity that really sets apart and makes me love our Browncoat fandom.

After that, I managed to snap up a promotional Serenity trading card, as well as a red wristband promoting SN/EN that I will now wear wherever I go. I've never had more fun supporting a good, humane cause! Gender equality is really a very weighty and important issue, and to be able to support it like this is terrific.

This was also the first fan-run event that I've been to--last year's pre-screenings were, of course, organized by Universal--and I must say that it was truly very wonderful, and I can't wait to meet more of my fellow Browncoats.

UnpluggedCrazy | June 23, 23:33 CET

Do we need to get tickets in advance for the screening or can we get them at the door? (We may go to the Philly show.)

[ edited by Nebula1400 on 2006-06-23 21:42 ]

Nebula1400 | June 23, 23:37 CET

Looks like Philly still has tickets Nebula, but there's no guarantee they still will at midnight. We're waffling about going to that one too... we wouldn't get back home until after 3am and I have to be back on the road again tomorrow before it's decent to be awake. Hmmm... I'd really like to contribute to the local showing's tally, so perhaps if we don't go, we'll try to buy tickets online at five past twelve..?

Alternately, does anyone know if they ever worked out a WheCode to use when donating directly to Equality Now so that the donation is noted as part of this effort?

ETA: Well, how cool is that?

[ edited by barest_smidgen on 2006-06-23 22:32 ]

barest_smidgen | June 23, 23:55 CET

First, re: Philly, please go. The organizer there has been nervous since she started all this. If there are "maybe I'll go" people out there, become "I'll go" people instead.

Alternately, does anyone know if they ever worked out a WheCode to use when donating directly to Equality Now so that the donation is noted as part of this effort?

Well, if you want to be affiliated with a given city that you couldn't get to see these codes. Otherwise, if you contribute to EN online, put "SNEN' in the box which asks where you heard about Equality Now.

I guess I should add that general "SNEN" option on that page. Heh.

theonetruebix | June 24, 00:00 CET

I'm about to head for our screening in LA. Unfortunately, I had to work in the Palm Springs area today, so it's a 150 mile drive! We have 15 tickets left and they will be available as soon as we have our table set up at about 8 PM.

If you need any more details, check out or site and yahoo group.

site
group

Thanks to all of you who have/are/will be participating in this amazing worldwide event!

And I'll probably say it many more times, but a GIANT THANK YOU to our local Browncoat, Brian, for organizing our screening. He has done amazing work, as I'm sure all the organizers have in each city.

danregal | June 24, 01:16 CET

FWIW, Portland, birthplace of Can't Stop The Serenity and Serenity Now/Equality Now, is 62 tickets away from a 500-seat sell out.

theonetruebix | June 24, 01:22 CET

Boston, which sold out once and got bumped to larger capacity, is 40 away from selling out.

theonetruebix | June 24, 01:48 CET

FYI, updates to the CSTS site may be spotty for awhile, since in an hour or two I need to head over to northwest Portland before our screening. I'll have my laptop with me, and hunting for wifi spots, so hopefully it will only be during immediate pre-show and during the show that I'll be incommunicado.

theonetruebix | June 24, 02:52 CET

Was at the Melbourne Screening last night. It was great and lots of shiny prizes were won! We raised, what I considered a suprising amount, so huzzah!

escapist_dream | June 24, 05:32 CET

Portland is sold out.

theonetruebix | June 24, 06:48 CET

UnpluggedCrazy and other screening goers, it sounds like a great time -- yay Serenity Now/Equality Now! And yay to the always humble bix for helping this idea come true! :-)

billz | June 24, 07:23 CET

*wild applause*

killinj | June 24, 07:33 CET

Just got back from the Alexandria, VA screening. It was sold out and utterly fabulous!

Thanks to all the organisers for these screenings! I had a great time!

JettDelirium | June 24, 08:53 CET

Yes, billz, I must agree, a great big yay to the one...the only...theonetruebix!

UnpluggedCrazy | June 24, 10:42 CET

Just got back from the packed NYC screening. My Whedon newbie friend and I had a great time. She absolutely loved Serenity. She was blown away and ready to buy the DVD so her husband could see it. I will be loaning her my Firefly DVD's starting Monday.

The NYC organizers did a great job. Everything worked out really well. Great preshow, nice theater, good time for all.

Thanks NYC organizers, theonetruebix and his minions.

newcj | June 24, 11:51 CET

Went to the Arlington screening but I don't know how much was collected. I know they had a few fruity oaty bars for people who donated a certain amount, but I think those sold out pretty fast too. The screening was sold out, btw.

[ edited by Browncoat on 2006-06-24 09:58 ]

CaffeinatedSquint | June 24, 11:57 CET

Back from the Pasadena (L.A.) screening. A fabulous time was had by all and the prizes were fantastic! I believe they said that $4000 was raised at this screening tonight.

Mal'sGal | June 24, 12:17 CET

Screening's over! Still out having fun. Will have the full tally tomorrow but so far looks like we've raised about $2000 AU.
SYDNEY ROCKS!!!!!

nixygirl | June 24, 12:36 CET

Just got back from the post-Serenity shindig. Wow. Tonight was FABULOUS! Portland rocks on so many levels. We sold out, and even had to turn people away at the door!

I am so proud of this fandom. So far, the screenings have raised almost $21,000 for Equality Now! And that's just preliminary estimates for the first screenings. There are still more screenings to come, and still more money to be raised.

It was a high energy night. Portland SN/EN t-shirts were sold, raffle prizes were earned, and the movie was enjoyed...even by my newbie friends. My best friend said it was better than the show, and because of how much she loved the movie, she's looking forward to finishing the series (she's up to Jaynestown). I'm so happy my best friend loved it. That means a lot to me.

My other friend liked it too, and also thinks the movie was better than what he saw of the series. My brother ended up coming with us after all and he said it was a good way to spend his birthday. It was his fourth time seeing it. It was my 10th time seeing it in the theater, but hopefully not my last. I've heard murmurings of plans to make it happen again next year. I sure hope so.

Oh, and I got a spiffy black Equality Now bracelet and a BSG comic. Shiny!

[ edited by ElectricSpaceGirl on 2006-06-24 12:25 ]

electricspacegirl | June 24, 14:23 CET

Portland likely won't even have an estimate until Sunday or Monday. But we do know that just from merchandise and raffle we made just shy of $2,000. Add to that selling out our 500 tickets, and having a number of financial sponsors....

Also, I'm told there might be video of my introduction. However, I don't know if that includes the bit where I had to run back down the the front of the theater to snag the microphone from the person thanking the sponsors, and before the movie started, because I had forgotten to mention... well, I had forgotten to mention it was Joss' birthday.

Heh.

Time to pass out.

On edit: Or, wait, I think we have our rough estimate forthcoming.

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2006-06-24 12:36 ]

theonetruebix | June 24, 14:24 CET

Portland's estimate:

$6,300.

theonetruebix | June 24, 14:38 CET

The screening in Arlington, VA was to a sold-out house... I was waiting outside for a friend and I watched them turn away a least a dozen people who had no idea about the presale- and several commented they had never seen the Drafthouse have a sold-out show.
We even had a few newbies that had seen only Firefly. It was great to watch them experience Serenity for the first time. The guy next to us let out this huge gasp at that certain scene featuring Wash... it brought back lots of memories.
There were plans for a raffle by the NoVA Browncoats- unfortunately they had screenings scheduled both before and after Serenity, so organization was difficult. But there were Fruity Oaty Bars...

dpwac | June 24, 18:11 CET

I am so proud of our community of Browncoats. Everyone has put in such effort for these screenings... The planning, organizing, and implementation. It's great to see that we are all still so committed to our BDH, Our Master (HappyBirthday,JOSS!), and most importantly Equality for ALL The Women of the World. That's a terrific combination from a terrific group of people.

Thank you to my favorite MileHigh Browncoats and theonetruebix for your incredible commitment and success!

Long Live Firefly!
See, you really can't stop the signal!

kimiesan | June 24, 19:30 CET

I am also really proud of the Browncoats, and I'm hoping that Joss was feeling the love on his birthday. It sounds like all the screenings were big successes (raising money for Equality Now and big fun for the fans), and we could see the Firefly & Serenity DVDs actually go up a few points in DVD sales (another way people were celebrating Joss' 42nd birthday).
Happy Birthday Joss!

embers | June 24, 20:43 CET

I was at the Austin show on Thursday night, which was sold out to an enthusiastic crowd. I was a bit surprised, I have to say, that the Equality Now connection was largely overlooked. I didn't see any Equality Now publicity in the lobby (although it WAS crowded), and we didn't get the Meryl Streep/Joss PSA. I welcome reports from any other Austin attendees who are more in the know than I (read: everybody). Still, I'm sure a good chunk o' change was raised...Happy Birthday, Joss!

cronopio | June 24, 21:09 CET

Yeah the Arlington show was a great time. I asked the main organizer to ask how many people from Whedonesque were there but by the time he got up there he forgot the name?!?! and just asked about various MeetUp groups from NoVA. Bummer. But still awesome to see it again with the die-hard fans.

bravegal | June 25, 02:04 CET

It's times like these that I feel unbelievably proud that I'm part of this community. I couldn't make it to the screenings but I'll be making a donation to Equality Now some time within the next few months (when I'm financially more secure). This is just such a fantastic organisation to rally around.

*hugs everyone with a tear in her eye*

non sequitur | June 25, 04:00 CET

Dunnp if the Tampa show sold out, but the room was packed. There was a ton of stuff raffled off -- movie money displays from the Prop Store, autographed Wash and River pics, Firefly and Serenity cards, DVDs, magnets... we finally had to move out into the lobby because the next movie was starting and all the stuff hadn't been given out yet. I got to see shinyhappyklin and fireflygal and some more familiar faces, and it was a blast seeing the BDM where it belongs, on a big freakin' screen surrounded by enthusiatic fans who appreciate it.

Big thanks to b!x for getting it started, and huge bags of thanks to Kim who pulled the Tampa screening off beautifully.

C. A. Bridges | June 25, 06:48 CET

The Sydney screening was awesome! Not only was there, you know, Serenity, but this was the first time I'd actually been able to meet all the Sydney Browncoats and it was a blast! I won two posters in the raffle, I got to see Serenity on the big screen again (the sound wasn't working at the beginning, so people were making the sound effects and dialogue themselves) and we must've raised a lot of money since we filled up nearly the entire cinema. It was a great day and I'm betting that it was a great success too.

White Knight | June 25, 07:02 CET

It's good to see that so many of the screenings went so well. I am now more bummed that I wasn't able to go to the one in Dallas, but I am ecstatic that so many had such a great time, raised funds for a good cause, and got see the BDM on screen.

*congrats, props, snaps, etc to all of the organizers and participants.*

teachndoc | June 25, 07:28 CET

I'm still coming down from the high that was co-ordinating the Vancovuer (BC) SNEN and seeing the BDM on the big screen for the 17th time! - surrounded by fellow fans - and some newbies. Before the show, I asked how many people had never seen "Serenity" and about eight people put up their hands. Then I asked how many had never seen it on the big screen and there were about a dozen.

We didn't have a full house, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Due to provincial gambling laws, we can't have raffles, so we had lots of great door prizes - enough to make up 15 packs with more than one item in each, except for the ultimate prize - a working script of the episode "Shindig", autographed and donated by Ron Glass!! He also sent an autographed picture and a "Serenity" CD wallet. What a lovely and generous man. We got pictures of the happy winners to send him with our thank you letter.

samatwitch | June 25, 11:53 CET

Perhaps you guys can do this again on Sept 30th, the one year aniversary of Serenity's release date.

RavenU | June 25, 18:15 CET

Oh I agree it was a blast. I was so happy to be there, and it was such a fun time. I actually saw a co-worker there and it threw me for a loop because I had no idea there were "closet" Firefly fans.

CaffeinatedSquint | June 26, 01:30 CET