COOL STUFF

The FirstShowing.net Lounge: Kicking Off the Summer in Style!

by Alex Billington
May 5, 2008

If you're not from Colorado Springs, you're probably not all that familiar with our local events. In addition to all of this wonderful coverage we provide here on the web, FirstShowing.net actually hosts midnight events at our favorite local movie theater here in Colorado. If you are from Colorado Springs, then you know we host some of the best midnight movie events you'll ever find. We give away full-size posters, shirts, hats, comic books, video games, and much more right to the fans who make it out to the midnight showings. This is what we're all about - the first showing, the midnight movie, and camping out. I thought I'd give all of you who aren't located in Colorado a small taste of what it is we do beyond the web.

This year we decided to build a campsite outside of the theater that would be more inviting and community oriented. In addition to the display wall, which features a poster and standee in relation to the movie we're camping out for (it's currently set for Speed Racer), we have color coordinated couches and a full TV setup. We've got a 32" TV as well as an Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii and copies of GTA IV, Halo 3, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and anything else that's worth playing. The campsite is usually crowded all day long with friends and fans who want to stop by and relax in our FirstShowing.net Lounge. Here are some photos of the site setup for Iron Man. Click each for a full-size version.

Incase you're wondering, the sign that is built into the wall was handmade entirely by us. We built the entire wall out of four plywood pieces and some 2x4. The backlit sign is cut out of the plywood and made with a few pieces of white colored plexiglass and a total of eight fluorescent bulbs. If you see it in person you will realize how immaculate it actually is and it glows brighter than anything in the area.

In addition to our lounge, we also hosted events at both the 8:00PM and 12:01AM showings of Iron Man last Thursday night. We gave away over 100 full-size posters for the movie, a handful of shirts and hats, and two copies of Grand Theft Auto IV as well. The energy was through the roof for these midnight showings of Iron Man - everyone was looking forward to a great Marvel superhero movie to kick off the summer. Included below are a few photos from some of our competitions for Iron Man.

One of our competitions was an Iron Man endurance contest, essentially, a strength competition. These always go over great with the crowds because we put them through some tough tests. After seeing which three people could finish 50 push-ups the fastest, the remaining three went on to hold up weights parallel to the ground for as long as they could (see the photos). It's not as easy as you think and the audience ended up chanting for the guy they wanted to win ("M! I! T!").

One of our other fun competitions that we brought back from Pirates of the Caribbean last year (they built ships) was an Iron Man building competition. This time we gave teams of four a bunch of scrap cardboard, tape, scissors, and a tap light. They had to build the best Iron Man costume within about 20 minutes. The twist: at the end, it wasn't which one looked best, but a duel between the two to see who could turn off the other person's tap light first. Easily one of the best games we've ever had!

If you've now been convinced to join us at our lounge or future midnight events, the complete schedule can be found here. We've got a lot we're still doing this summer and the lounge will be up and running in full operation for at least the entire month of May. We've even got a guy who is camping out there from now until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on May 22nd! That's the kind of dedication we embrace here at FirstShowing.net. And if you can't already tell, we love hosting events like this and turning your regular midnight event into something extraordinary.

You can call us geeks or nerds or whatever you want because we don't care! We love doing this and best of all, we're paid to camp out and turn midnight movies into unforgettable events. Both Iron Man midnight showings were 100% sold out (all 463 seats) and the entire audience had a blast at both events. Everyone here in Colorado Springs loves what we do and most of them make sure to come specifically for our midnight events. Hopefully you've enjoyed this taste of what it's like here in Colorado. Stay tuned for more to come on these events in the future! And if you want to learn more, head over to our official Summer Events 2008 Schedule.

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