Los Angeles County Provides Outdoor Movies With Parks After Dark Program

CHALLENGE:

To provide the largest county in the country with dozens of portable outdoor movie systems capable of delivering extremely high quality picture and sound with proven reliability, affordability, and easy of use by even the most novice of non-technical users.

The Big Pictures has been selling large outdoor projection systems to the City and County of Los Angeles for several years but it has always been one or 2 systems at a time. For this project, LA County had received a budget allocation to fund a new Parks After Dark program in 33 parks throughout the region. Each of these outdoor movie screens was designed for audiences seated on blankets or lawn chairs and are great for movies in the park. The Big Pictures needed to ensure that each of the projector systems could quickly and easily get set-up, lined-up, framed, and focused on the screen. Power also had to be considered, as they needed to supply generators that would provide power for each custom made system.

SOLUTION:

Los Angeles County contracted with The Big Pictures, the West Coast's leading provider of portable and fixed-installation digital cinema products and services, trusted by all of the top Hollywood studios, major corporations, shopping malls, and over 100 federal, state, and local government agencies.

The Big Pictures determined all of the parameters needed to deliver an optimal audience experience for each park. Each received an inflatable screen paired with TBP’s proprietary CineCart™ pre-wired portable projection console with an Optoma professional projector, Ultra Blu-Ray Disc player, pre-show multimedia player, 4K UHD video matrix switch, LED preview monitor, stereo audio mixer, microphone, and theater-quality speakers. The Big Pictures specified Optoma projectors because they have always delivered with exceptional picture quality and help to provide a movie theater type experience in the park’s outdoor settings. “If the picture quality is not there we are not even going to consider the projector. We use Optoma projectors in the vast majority of our installations, and the ZK507W is perfect for our 25x14 foot screens. The crews love them, the customers love them. They are an affordable solution in what is a very competitive outdoor theater market. ” said Scott Tallal, owner of The Big Pictures. “We have had such a great track record with Optoma in terms of reliability and in terms of ease of set-up and operation.” Optoma projectors supply high brightness with relative low power consumption which means they can run a whole show with a 3000 watt generator saving energy and additional costs.

RESULTS:

The Big Pictures supplied custom built 33 portable digital cinema systems, each designed for up to 500 viewers in a park setting combined with generators for power and pre-wired portable projection consoles equipped with powerful Optoma laser projectors.

The LA County Department of Parks and Recreations’ Parks After Dark (PAD) Program is a great success! In neighborhoods with high crime rates and economic hardship, the PAD program turns parks into vibrant community centers. Participating county parks stay open late during summer evening hours, when crime rates are the highest and youths have fewer social and recreational opportunities. Participating parks provide a variety of free activities for community members of all ages. Los Angeles County is very happy with the performance of the Optoma projectors and the Big Picture screens and they are able to provide local families with a safe, fun experience in their communities. The Optoma projectors provide a high quality image and are extremely reliable. “We have found over the years that although many projectors are designed for the Rental & Staging market, there is a big difference between being designed for something and actually working in the conditions that we expose them to in the outdoor movie business.” Said Tallal. “We have never had an Optoma projector fail on us and we have done thousands of shows,” said Tallal. For LA County and the Big Pictures, Optoma has the image quality, the reliability, and is an affordable solution in a very competitive outdoor theater market.