Creative Party Planning for Movie and T.V. Events

My favorite memory of a party involving watching television was at a friend's apartment. A large group of us were huddled around a glowing screen, shouting and groaning at the end of the 2nd season of the X-Files - where "Cigarette Smoking Man" set fire to a buried railroad car with Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) trapped inside.

Fast forward to the "restart" of the cartoon Family Guy - now at my own home, I created an entire theme around the event. Inviting a large group of friends to share in the first episode, I fashioned a "martini party," centered around Brian, the martini-drinking pet dog. For the occasion, I bought a variety of martini glasses, a new cocktail shaker, downloaded a variety of recipes, and bought a few bottles of ingredients. We took a picture of the toast, drinks in all our hands. It was an extremely fun party with some great memories!

Planning Your Own Television and Movie Event

Most people would just think of pizza or popcorn, unwrapping the DVD or Blu-Ray box, then settling into their easy chair. However, always needing an excuse for a party (uh hum, yup, guilty), many people are now making big deals about new movies, DVD releases, a party before going to the movie theatre, and the season or final episode of a beloved television series.

To create your own buzz, here's the steps to take to create your own "media event" party - from invites to decor to food and drink. You can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want - the aim, of course, is to have fun and make great memories for yourself and your friends.

Invitations

You can go for a simple Facebook invite - or you can mail out creative movie ticket invitations! The ease of sending online anything makes paper invites that much more special - for instance, with the season finale of Lost and it's huge cult following (again, uh hum, guilty), your guests will have a neat memento of the occasion. Here's how to create one:

• Buy thick card stock you can print off in your laser printer
• Look online for the template of a movie stub, or scan your own from a movie you recently went to
• In an art program such as Photoshop Elements or Gimp (a free version), erase the details of the movie, then print in your own
• Look online for clipart or images from the program or movie, and import and paste it into your art program
• Use the function where you can print many copies on one sheet, or take your file to your local print shop and have them do it.

Party Supplies

Many party stores sell movie-themed supplies for birthdays, but you can obviously buy them for a DVD release party. For example, you can now order a complete set of Avatar party supplies, with balloons, napkins, plates, cups, invites, streamers and thank you cards all in one package.

You certainly may not wish to be this elaborate (or save it for a fan's birthday), but even something like a movie poster and a couple streamers in the proper colors (blue and green for Avatar, black and white for the Dharma Initiative's utilitarian colors in Lost, etc) will have your guests worshipping - I mean, admiring you for these little accents.

Food and Drink

This is where you can really put your creative juices to work. When planning your party, think about a typical characters' meals in your show or movie. Failing that, imagine what they would likely eat and drink - for a mafia movie, a spaghetti dinner and red wine would be an obvious choice. Research the theme, then look in your cookbooks or online for a fitting recipe and drink. Here's a couple ideas for recent movies and television shows to give you your own ideas:

Lost - Apricot braised bbq pork (in honor of Locke's hunting skills in season 1) and Dharma beer (you can find Dharma's template here.)

Alice in Wonderland - Tea, of course! Place a "Drink Me" tag on the teapot. Also, "high tea" finger foods - cupcakes, cookies, little sandwiches. In the mad spirit of the book and various films, mix it up to create some bizarre dishes – try pizza topped with Chinese ginger beef and noodles, or pork roast slices with salsa and wrapped in a tortilla.

The Amazing Race - This perennial favorite reality series has contestants racing around the world for a million bucks. As such, it would be great to make this a potluck - ask each guest to bring an international dish, such as Thai seafood and lemon grass, Indian chicken curry, and Russian borsht, just to give you some ideas. For drinks, try wines from a country you've never tried, Indian beer, or look online for a country's favorite cocktail you can mix yourself.

With a little flair, you can easily turn your television or movie experience into a memorable dinner party enjoyed by yourself, family and friends. Have fun, and don't be late for the date!

Chris is a writer and web publisher for Themeaparty.com, a website selling theme party supplies as well as featuring hundreds of articles on party and entertaining tips. He's gearing up for the Lost series finale, but will wait until next November for the "proper" Avatar DVD release.