After much deliberation, it has been decided. Saratoga at the Movies is back on.
The outdoor movie series took place last summer in Saratoga, California, outside of San Jose. The series has been running for the past few years, screening family-friendly films once a month in a park. As admission to the movie had been dropping, members of the Saratoga city council were worried that investing in the movie series was not in the budget. But when members of the Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission made their case about the plan for outdoor movie series, council members said they would provide the funds for the 2013 summer series to continue.
According to Mercury News, a Silicon Valley publication,the Commission explained during its presentation that by renting the outdoor movie equipment for the first few movies, the group could improve attendance and therefore increase the number of movies screened as a part of the series. Once the attendance rate is up, purchasing the equipment will allow the series to remain solvent and continue onto further summers or other times during the year.
“It’s a really neat community-building event, and it’s unlike anything else we do in the city,” Councilman Manny Cappello told the news source.
After making some changes to the series based on last year’s records, including adopting a theme and scaling back the number of movies to save on licensing fees, it was decided that Saratoga at the Movies will resume for another year. Other ideas to bring attendees include working the Saratoga Village Development Council to provide incentives to visit local restaurants and stores, as well as talking to residents of Saratoga to find what movies they hope will be screened.