Host a Screening of Blue Vinyl
During April (aka “Earth Month”), we are inviting groups to host their own local screenings of the award-winning documentary film, Blue Vinyl: The World’s First Toxic Comedy (2002).
Run time: 1 hour and 38 minutes
Recognition: Winner of a Sundance Film Festival Award, nominated for two Emmy Awards.
Synopsis: Turned off by her parents’ decision to put vinyl siding on their small Long Island house, director Judith Helfand takes viewers on her 5-year adventure across the United States and to Europe to get the back story on vinyl.
Along the way she meets area residents who suffer from cancer and respiratory ailments–shining a spotlight on environmental justice years before the term became popular. She shows how they became empowered to test local air quality using simple buckets–soon discovering how vinyl chloride in the air often exceeded limits, limits that are arbitrary because there is no safe level of exposure to vinyl chloride.
We hope you will host a screening of this eye-opening film for Earth Day 2024 and join us and other allies in urging the EPA to ban vinyl chloride as quickly as possible. PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM TO RECEIVE THE LINK.
Although you may choose to host a screening in person, you can also do both the screening and a follow-up discussion virtually. Follow the steps below to help ensure a successful event.
SCREENING TIPS
1. Reserve a space for the screening. Schedule your event as far in advance as possible (at least a month) as it takes time to find and reserve a community space. Libraries tend to book up early, especially when it’s Earth Month.
2. Line Up a Moderator for Follow-up Discussion. Choose a group leader and/or someone who is familiar with the Beyond Plastics campaign to ban vinyl chloride.
3. Collect RSVPs Online. Set up a way for people to RSVP online, whether it’s via Zoom, Facebook, Googleforms, Action Network or another tool. This gives you an easy way to follow up to share reminders, distribute the link to watch the film online and can also be a great email list building tool for your local group or affiliate. If you are hosting a virtual event, you may want to allow people to submit questions in advance to help get the discussion rolling after viewing and allow your panelists and moderator to prepare.
4. Share Your Event Details With Us! Don’t forget to let us know when/where you’ll be hosting your screening. Fill out this short form to share the details.
5. Make A Virtual Flier Or Other Promotional Graphic. Use Canva (or another tool of your choice) to create a flier and a set of promotional graphics you can use to spread the word about your screening and panel online and offline. We recommend creating a set of social media-ready graphics in the following dimensions - 1200 x 628 pixels (suitable for Twitter and Facebook) and 1080 x 1080 pixels (suitable for Facebook and Instagram).
6. Promote, Promote, Promote. Send a listing to your local events calendar and newspapers, invite your local elected officials, send a note asking people who run environmental and other relevant listservs or lead local groups asking them to share the invitation with their networks, and send a number of reminders to your own contacts. You can share a teaser if it’s helpful.
7. Create a Run of Show. Write out a clear schedule that leaves plenty of time for Q&A. Assign a moderator and someone to run the technology if you’re doing an online event. Ask your moderator to write questions and key points out ahead of time. You can also ask people to submit questions when they register that your moderator can review in advance. Click here for a sample run of show you can adapt.
8. Schedule a Practice Run. Find a time that works for all your panelists, moderator, and tech person to meet at the event space a few days before your event to run through everything and practice the flow of the event.
9. Invite the Media. Issue a media advisory to let local reporters know about your event. Click here for a media advisory template you can customize.
10. Send Reminders! People have busy lives so plan to send a reminder to the screening a week before the event, another reminder the day before the event, and a final reminder on the day of your event.
11. Follow Up. Send an email to everyone who signed up/attended after the panel to thank them and urge them to download the Climate Action Now app to prepare for a National Week of Action during the week of May 13th.
GET THE FACTS
Knowledge is power! Having facts at your fingertips will help guide discussion following the screening. Here are a few different resources that may be helpful to you:
Vinyl Chloride (IARC monograph, 2012)
PVC Poison Plastic (Toxic-Free Future, 2023)
U.S. EPA Takes First Step in Potentially Banning Vinyl Chloride (Beyond Plastics, 12/14/23)
Chemical plant emissions driving cancer risk near Western Kentucky elementary, EPA says (Louisville Courier-Journal, 1/24/24)
Toxic Cargo: How rail transport of vinyl chloride puts millions at risk, an analysis one year after the Ohio train derailment (Toxic-Free Future, 2024)
Millions of Americans face risk of a toxic ‘bomb train’ (Washington Post, 1/29/24)
SAMPLE MEDIA ADVISORY
This is your chance to get some media coverage of your event so let reporters know it’s coming up and make your media advisory count using our tips below. Click here to use our media advisory template as a starting point.
Give it an eye-catching headline
Include contact information at the top
Highlight your impressive local speakers
Include a quote or two
Keep it short
SAMPLE RUN OF SHOW
One of the keys to a successful event is drafting a clear run of show to guide your schedule. Make sure that everyone knows which pieces they are responsible for during the event to avoid any confusion. Schedule a practice run through a week to several days before the event. Click here for a sample run of show document you can adapt.
SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT
Social media is a powerful tool to spread the word about your event and get more people to attend.
We’ve put together sample content you can share on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as well as some ready-to-use graphics to help you get the most out of your screening and panel event.
