PLANT CITY, Fla. — There will be a special trailer before every movie shown at Premier Cinemas in Plant City this month—but it will not promote an upcoming movie.
Instead, it will promote Plant City Main Street.
Brothers Kameron and Karson Athey grew up going to movies at their hometown theater, but they never could have imagined one day, their movie would be shown up on the big screen.
“We just really enjoyed showing off the downtown area and all the businesses down there,” said Kameron.
“It was just so much fun to film. I got to go around all our historic landmarks, so I’m glad we’ve been given this opportunity to showcase what our hometown has to offer,” said Karson.
The nonprofit organization Plant City Main Street knew there’s nothing like a good trailer to drive people to see a movie, so why not use that same concept to drive people into their downtown?
“From what I understand, it has not been done before with a Main Street. It's something new, kind of outside the box,” said executive director Dawn Hyatt.
“If we look back and we go, wow, where were we five years ago to where we are today, we can see a whole lot of progress. But when you see it on the movie screen and you see all the activity and buzz, oh my gosh, we got to this place that we can put it together and promote it,” said vice president Lizzette Sarria.
The trailer will run before every movie shown throughout April. Premier Cinemas estimates between 20,000 and 30,000 people will see it.
“I have to be honest, I shed a few little tears. I know all of these business owners, we have that relationship, so I know what it means for them to have this voice,” said Hyatt.
Premiere Cinemas managing director Marcus Beaufils said they are so proud to be using their natural platform to promote the entire city.
“Ultimately, the community is the star. We’re just the delivery method for people understanding how important this community is,” said Beaufils.
Plant City Main Street said it's always been their mission to be the voice of their community, but it’s a lot easier to hear that voice when it's being projected on a giant screen every single day.
“We’ve had a one-on-one relationship with ABC Action News for over two years now, and you guys have been just so wonderful about coming down, getting the news out, letting people know what we have, telling our story, and we appreciate that,” said Hyatt.
For more information on Plant City Main Street, click here.
