SoCal Movie Fanatics

SoCal Movie Fanatics Pages

Winner of Meetup's Amazing About Us Page for the week of March 17, 2008.

fa·nat·ic (fə-nāt'ĭk):
n. A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.

SO YOU THINK YOU'RE A MOVIE FANATIC!

Do your eyes sparkle whenever you hear the phrase Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You?
Do your friends think you're crazy for demanding to see the new flicks on OPENING WEEKEND?
Do you get to the theater super early to get the best seats in the house
Do you get upset when that slow moving popcorn line makes you miss the trailers?
Do you regularly sit through the end-credits and can you tell folks just what the heck a Key Grip is?
Do you get into intense debates about the symbolism of Fight Club, the ending of No Country For Old Men or whether or not Johnny Depp should play The Riddler in the next Batman movie?
Do you scream at the TV in jubilation or disgust when the Oscar nominees & winners are announced?

Did you answer YES to any or ALL of those questions? Yep. You're definitely a MOVIE FANATIC - just like US!

WHO WE ARE

SOCAL MOVIE FANATICS is Meetup's #1 film club in Southen California with MORE MEMBERS & MORE GROUP ACTIVITIES than any other film club in the area! Our group is for folks who's love for movies can easily be described by the definition of the word fanatic shown above. Many of us are indeed characterized by our extreme, unreasoning, and often misunderstood enthusiasm for all things CINEMA.

SCMF was formed in August 2006 and relaunched in its current configuration in Summer 2007. Our group is designed and geared for people who are SERIOUS MOVIE FANS - as well as those who want to become SERIOUS MOVIE FANS. Our goal is to gather together all of the current and aspiring serious movie fans around Los Angeles & the surrounding areas to experience the world of film in a group setting

Every week we host movie events at theatres across the LA area. We do more that just watch movies together as a group. We also gather at restaurants and coffee joints to discuss the merits of the movies we see - whether it was good or bad, whether we liked or disliked the script, if the actors rocked or stunk up the screen, etc.

WHO WE AREN'T

SOCAL MOVIE FANATICS is not a free movie screening club. We do get invites to some free screenings, but 99% of our events are regular movie outings in which you pay for your own tickets.

SCMF members are not film snobs. We don't look down on folks who favor mainstream Hollywood fare over those quirky & thought provoking Indie/Arthouse flicks. In our group, film lovers in both categories can co-exist in perfect harmony!

In the world of SCMF, AMC & Pacific Theatres and Laemmle & Landmark Arthouses, Ang Lee & Steven Spielberg, Miramax Films & Michael Bay all share equal time on our film schedule! The diversity of our film choices is what sets us apart from the other LA area movie Meetup groups. We are non-discriminate in our taste in film. We see everything from the latest blockbusters, action flicks, screwball comedies, suspense thrillers, romantic comedies and tearjerkers from Hollywood, to arthouse/indie flicks, foreign films, documentaries and classic films as well. A typiclal SCMF weekend of events will find an Arthouse movie event on Friday, a blockbuster action sequel on Saturday, and a thought provoking tearjerker on Sunday afternoon. If it's on the big screen, we'll be there!

We are not boasting or exaggerating when we call ourselves movie fanatics! We are extremely busy, fast-paced and hyperactive in comparison to other LA area movie Meetup groups. Every single week you'll catch us buying tix, munching popcorn and livin' it up at the multiplex. Don't believe us? Check out our Event Calendar!

Our Organizers Team members are constantly on the go, searching IMDB, Yahoo Movies and other film websites for all the upcoming movies and, when we see a hot film, we set up an event for it on our Calendar - sometimes up to 1 month in advance before the release date. As a result, SCMF sends out a plethora of emails to our members with details of new and updated events. We don't intend to be overly intrusive or to crash your Inboxes. We simply want to create a standard of excellence amongst the group as well as the entire LA area Meetup community. That standard includes precise and detailed event information, professional level event organization, and above all else, creating an atmosphere in which all members who attend our events will feel relaxed, at ease and, ultimately, have an awesome time at the movies!

WHERE ARE OUR EVENTS?

SCMF hosts movie events at theaters all across Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. We've been to almost every sort of movie theatre under the sun - classic single screen palaces like Grauman's Chinese, The Cinerama Dome, Mann's Village & The Majestic Crest in Westwood; to funky neighborhood theatres such as The Nuart & The Vista; art-house theatres like The Landmark & the Laemmle chain of theatres; state of the art megaplexes such as Arclight Hollywood/Sherman Oaks, the AMC chain of theatres (Century 15, Del Amo 18, Santa Anita 16, Citywalk 19), the Pacific Theatres chain (The Grove, Paseo Colorado, Glendale 18); and we LOVE IMAX theatres such as the AMC Citywalk IMAX Theatre & The Bridge Cinema de Lux IMAX Theatre. We have events for early morning matinees, Friday Opening Night shows, old-fashioned Saturday nights at the movies, midnight shows and retro/classic film screenings. We've even been spotted at a few drive-in theatres, too!

WHO ARE THE ORGANIZERS TEAM MEMBERS & WHAT DO THEY DO?

The SoCal Movie Fanatics Organizers Team is headed by Chris Utley who took over as Group Organizer in April 2007. Chris is a RABID & RAVENOUS lifetime movie fanatic who has long had a desire to run his own film club. With a little hard work - and a lot of FRENZIED OBSESSION - Chris has turned this group into Meetup's #1 film club in the Los Angeles area. He believes that our group's success is not just about the films we see, but, rather, the experience had by each and every person who attends our group events. In his (obsessive-compulsive) mind, the SCMF event experience doesn't start when the theatre lights go down and the trailers begin, but, rather, right at the point of event ideas and creation when the Organizers Team Members specifically selects the right theatre to match the specific film we're seeing to create the perfect atmosphere for the folks attending our events.

Chris has selected Organizers Team Members across the various parts of the LA area. They host events at their local theaters and sometimes venture out into other neighborhoods as well. Because our membership spans across the vast universe that is Southern California, we will host events for the same movie in different parts of town. This will give all of our members a chance to experience the newest and hottest movies at theatres which are closer to their own neighborhoods.

Meet the rest of our Leadership Team Members by clicking the View The Leadership Team link on the left side menu of our homepage!

We also have a sister group: THE SOCAL AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA CONNECTION - This group specifically focuses on building awareness & giving box office support African American films & performers.

Several SCMF Organizers are also Organizers/Assistant Organizers with our sister groups and we often co-host events together.

In addition, we also host monthly New Member Meet & Greet events as a way for our new members to meet our Organizers Team and other group members. Every February, we host our own Oscar Party featuring great food and fantastic prizes! In the future, we plan to expand our events to include movie watching parties & Scene It and other movie related game parties at members homes & birthday celebrations for our members

JOIN THE FUN!!!

SoCal Movie Fanatics is anchored on 3 key principles: Great Flicks - Cool Friends - Good Times. Our Organizers Team will do the best they can to choose great movies for us to see. We will also work hard to create fun and exciting events. But our events mean nothing without you, our faithful and dedicated group members. Your input, involvement and participation is exactly what we need to make this group fun and exciting. So, if you have an idea for a good event, if there's a movie you want the group to see, whatever your thoughts are about this group - let us know. Remember - this group is what you make it.

Thanks for checking us out and we'll see you at the movies!

Follow us (and our sister groups) online:

FaceBook Fan Page
LinkedIn
Twitter
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Special thanks to the various Organizers across the Meetup community for their endless tips on formatting and optimizing our About Us page for your enjoyment!

Page title	Most recent update	Last edited by
SCMF - TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP	December 21, 2011 11:10 AM	Chris Utley
SoCal Movie Fanatics - Movie Related Websites	June 22, 2011 11:40 AM	Chris Utley
About SoCal Movie Fanatics	September 7, 2011 6:58 PM	Chris Utley