When my nephew confided that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend when visiting California, I started to think about the various locations around Northern California that would fit the bill.
The idea of the one car drive-in is something that I have thought about for a while. I finally had the chance to help create this experience. He loved the idea, so we started to plan.
With help from his brother, a great movie trailer/slide show was created to be played before the question was asked.
Setting the scene
Having an old VW and an outdoor movie company I had the tech, but to really set the scene we needed two more things. Sound and an amazing location.
Sound
I have a variety of speakers but they were all a little large and ugly for what we were trying to do. Laptop speakers really didn’t set the scene.
Enter Detroit Diecast, old style drive-in movie speakers from the drive-in era, but with a modern twist, they are Bluetooth, so would connect to the laptop without cables.
Perfect!
Location
The family took a drive around the Bay Area, looking for that perfect spot. The view from Tilden was amazing, Berkeley Marina wonderful but nothing had a view of San Francisco like Treasure Island and I knew just the spot.
Mersea
Mersea is a great little restaurant, built out of containers on Avenue of the Palms. After talking with the owner Meesun our plan was in place.
Get me to the Proposal on time
I faked a call that I needed to staff an outdoor movie event. I grabbed my nephew and we set off to set up, with the girlfriend to follow with my wife later.
Timing
They arrived just as the sun was setting over San Francisco. An epic view. The video was played, a knee was dropped and the answer was yes!
Dinner
We left the happy couple to enjoy dinner at Mersea .
A night to remember.
Thanks to Meesun and MerSea for providing the epic location (go check it out).
Paul the Outdoor Movie Guy saw his first outdoor movie screening back in the 1990’s at a VW festival in the UK and was hooked.
“Watching Blade Runner outdoors on a huge screen in my old 68’ Bug” he says, “was amazing!”. Wanting to share this passion with his young family, Paul started hosting movie nights. “When I introduced my children to Star Wars, it needed to be big screen experience.”
His equipment increased in size and thoughts of creating a business from a passion started forming. At one point the Mother-in-law mentioned, “you should do this as a business”.
With a background in Recreation Management and Information Technology and a passion for film, FunFlicks San Francisco Bay Area was created in 2009. Over the next few years, other locations were opened allowing his team to provide outdoor movies all over Northern California, Oregon and Northern Nevada.
“I love creating experience driven events and take pride in walking our clients through the process of setting up their movie nights.”
Whether it’s working with Film Festivals, creating a retro style drive-in, working with Parks and Recreation or little Johnny’s Birthday Party, it’s all about community and the shared experience of watching a movie together.
Always looking at how technology can enhance the experience, Paul has added items like Silent Cinema, a Red-Carpet photo booth, Hashtag printers or even professional photographers at events. “My team looks forward to helping you create a unique outdoor movie experience”
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Setting the scene
Location
Get me to the Proposal on time
Timing
