Screen Advertising
Advertising on the screen brings your message to the many people who patronize the Colonial and understand the importance of supporting local business. The Colonial is open 358 days a year, and each week, an average of 500-750 people come to the theatre to see one of our 12 film screenings and our increasingly popular live performances. As our programming continues to expand, we will continue to draw new and larger audiences.
So how does it work?
We are thrilled that, as of September, 2007, we are no longer using 35mm slides and a carousel projector! Thanks to a generous grant from The William Penn Foundation for technical upgrades, we purchased a beautiful digital projector for the theatre. The slide show now runs on PowerPoint and the slides look fantastic! The colors are much brighter and more vivid than before. The other great benefit to using PowerPoint and a digital projector is that we can add new slides or make changes to existing slides in a matter of minutes, rather than days.
The slide show runs on our wide screen before every film and live performance. Each slide is on the screen for about 10 seconds, so it is important to think about a message and design that registers with the viewer quickly. The advertising slides are interspersed with informational slides about the Colonial, creating an interesting show and not simply an advertising slide show. The slide show uses about 50 slides, so your ad will appear approximately three times before each film or performance. We also encourage our screen advertisers to provide business cards, flyers or other materials for patrons to pick up in our lobby
What does it cost?
This advertising program is surprisingly inexpensive when you think about the audience you are reaching. The first slide costs $80.00 per month. If you can make a commitment of six months or more, you will receive a 15% discount, and for a commitment of a year or more, you will receive a 20% discount. Additional slides, running simultaneously, are $40.00 per month.
What if I need help designing my ad?
We can design your slide for you at no additional charge. All we would need from you is artwork (a logo, graphic or photo, for example) and the text you would like on the slide. You can give us as much or as little direction you want as to things like colors and fonts. You can email these files to kirsten@thecolonialtheatre.com. Please allow us two weeks to process your request.
What do I need to know to design my own ad?
The first thing to remember is that slides are imaged horizontally, not vertically, so you should start with a landscape page layout rather than a portrait page layout. Ideally, the size of your slide should be 10” wide by 7.5” high. Generally a darker background and lighter text looks best (a white background with black text does not translate very well when projected on the big screen). We can accept the following formats: Microsoft PowerPoint, pdf, and jpeg. Just email your file to kirsten@thecolonialtheatre.com and we’ll start running your ad as soon as we receive payment.
When do you need my payment?
We need to receive your payment with your slide information. We cannot design or run your slide without receiving payment first.
We're now accepting credit cards for screen advertising, membership renewal, annual appeal contributions, and ticket purchases to select events. We're using Click & Pledge, a simple and secure site that works with non-profits to process credit card transactions. Click here to go to Click & Pledge.com.
If you prefer to pay by check, please scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the link to download information. Then, fill out the included form and send along with your check made payable to: The Association for the Colonial Theatre (ACT), PO Box 712, Phoenixville, PA 19460.
Who do I call if I have more questions?
Please call Kirsten Van Vlandren, our Assistant Director, at (610) 917-1228 or email her at kirsten@thecolonialtheatre.com.
Click here to download information about screen advertising.