Earlier this year, a small group of people within Oxford set out to establish a photography festival for the city. It was one of the first ‘new’ photography festivals in the country and one idea put forward was to have a “pop-up” drive-in cinema, free for local people.
No-one knew how this could be done, or if it was possible…but this small team from Unipart planned and perfectly executed this cinema experience every night for 5 nights to packed out audiences
For each member of the team, this was completely out of scope of their normal role. In fact, no one had any idea of how to set up an outdoor cinema, let alone how to create an operating process that would deliver a great experience for all those who attended.
The team worked together to create an experience that was outstanding for our guests. From sourcing a screen – and finding ballast to hold it down with – to working on the logistics of how to provide free tickets, to feeding the audience with “authentic drive-in” food all on a “next to nothing” budget!
It was no small task, with the preparation work all being done on top of busy day jobs. However, the real achievement came in the running of the event. For five nights, including a weekend, the team was on site from 5.30pm – 11pm making certain that the event worked with military precision.
What made the event special is that it was above and beyond the normal activities of every member of the team. It required creative thinking, problem solving and strict attention to detail, together with giving up 5 nights of their free time. At almost every stage there were opportunities for an ‘epic fail’, but the team had worked through those details and every one of the five performances worked perfectly.