My buddy is building an outdoor theater, needs advice

[aceclown]

My friend who owns a country property is looking for advice on a projection screen that he's hanging on the side of a barn. He's looking for something in the 250 inch range and isn't picky about price. It needs to be all weather and is looking for something that blocks out any ambient light from the back. He doesn't want any of the inflatable ones. I'm not sure which way to go on this so I thought I'd ask you legends who know way more than me on that front. Any suggestions would help.

[bhampton]

I like the idea but my experiences with outdoor movies haven't lived up to my expectations.

I would chat with these fellas who specialize in all things projector including outdoors.

https://www.projectorscreen.com

[CatBus]

A lot of outdoor screen manufacturers say specifically that they're not designed for permanent outdoor placement, so don't assume it is, unless the manufacturer confirms it. The issue, I think, is water stains and mildew. Outdoor screens can be cleaned occasionally, but a permanent screen would need regular scrubbing. Big temperature changes could also screw with screen tension.

Maybe just do a paint screen and give it a fresh coat every year.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by aceclown

My friend who owns a country property is looking for advice on a projection screen that he's hanging on the side of a barn. He's looking for something in the 250 inch range and isn't picky about price. It needs to be all weather and is looking for something that blocks out any ambient light from the back. He doesn't want any of the inflatable ones. I'm not sure which way to go on this so I thought I'd ask you legends who know way more than me on that front. Any suggestions would help.

Most important is, if your friend is planning on showing studio movies in a public place is considered as commercial, whether if an admission is required or not. He must buy and obtain a license from the studios for those movies to be shown outdoors. That will be considered the same as a drive-in establishment, which is commercial. A person just can't build an outdoor theater to show movies, without buying the license to those films. That will a serious case of copyright infringement charge of paying a hefty fine and possible prosecution.

[Eurbane132]

Try to do it the three times bob the builder did in trix and the bug, star struck spud and rockets under the stars,

[HDTV1080P]

Another issue to consider is that if the commercial movies shown outdoors on a big screen is viewable from a main road or other houses, then only rated G, PG, and rated PG-13 movies should be shown (and family approved not rated or unrated movies could be shown). I remember back in the 1970’s and early 1980’s that commercial outdoor movie theaters only showed family approved programs like G and PG on the outdoor screens that were visible from the main highway or road. If the outdoor movie theater had multiply screens, any R rated or unrated movie that contained a lot of nudity or bloody violence one had to drive to the back lot to the rear outdoor theater screens where there was an empty forest in the background and no one could see the R rated movie or unrated movie with a lot of nudity from the highway. I saw a lot of R rated and sometimes unrated movies in the 1970’s in outdoor movie theaters with my parents while growing up (many times once a week on the weekend we went to a indoor or outdoor movie theater).

So, my point is if you plan on watching anything more then a PG-13 movie that you obtained a license to watch then make sure the screen is only visible from your property or you could get complaints from certain people that drive by or live nearby. Now if you are showing a movie on your property outdoors at your home with only your family and relatives watching the movie then no public license needs to be obtained. Many people have sometimes groups of 10 or 20 friends and relatives that watch a movie indoors in their living room or home theater room and that is consider private at home viewing. The same is true when viewing a movie outdoors on your property at home. It’s when one starts charging a fee at home or is in a public place like a business building where a license needs to be obtained. For example, some people that are into faith based or Christian movies can have as many people in or outside their home to watch the movie and that is considered a private in home screening. However as soon as one takes that Christian or faith based movie to a church that automatically becomes a public place and one is required by law to obtain a public site license for showing that Christian movie. If the church did not obtain a site license for public viewing then a fine or possible prosecution could occur for both faith based and secular movies shown in a public place without permission. Slimdude touched on this issue in a prior post.

[aceclown]

Thanks for all the feedback, I'll let my buddy mull it over and if things go well I'll let you legends know how it ends up. He's got solar panels on a renovated barn project powering his house so I feel like with your advice he can pull this off. Appreciate the input