Giant screens provide the world’s most immersive and educational cinema experiences for audiences of all ages to explore the universe and our planet. In the past year, over 15 million people experienced a giant screen presentation in one of the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s member theaters. GSCA members are encouraged to use their platform to join the global effort celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22.

Member Services Committee Co-Chair Mary Jane Dodge of MacGillivray Freeman Films has been helping us capture interviews with giant screen veterans to help us celebrate the industry and the association. Now, we've turned the camera on her to find out how she collected the autographs of all three Apollo 11 astronauts. It's also a look back at her career in the biz, told with the enthusiasm that is uniquely Mary Jane.

The Foundation Museum Support Company (FMSC), a division of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, which operates revenue-generating attractions at the National Naval Aviation Museum, is always exploring new attractions technologies. Since 2015, FMSC has been carefully navigating the potentially tricky introduction of the VR world into the museum. “Simply setting up a set of chairs where museum visitors can experience VR in the museum has never been the right concept for us," says Phillip Crabtree, General Manager of FMSC. “I wanted to bring VR into the museum that not only provided an amazing experience for the visitor actually wearing the VR headset, but also for the visitors observing those wearing the headsets. That’s where the idea for this new Apollo 11 VR Experience was born.”

Screening documentary films that run 40-45 minutes has long been the norm at giant screen institutional theaters. In addition to technical and projection considerations, that length allowed time to rethread the 15/70 projector and program films on the hour. With the arrival of digital projection, several theaters are now experimenting with including shorter versions of documentary films on their schedule. Marlene Janetos asked theaters, producers, and distributors what they think about this trend.

There is generally a lot of discussion about how giant screen (GS) films can be linked to education or exhibit programming. There has not been as much discussion of how the theater can link to other endeavors of its host institution—specifically with the development (fundraising) and membership units. Members and donors are a strategic stakeholder group, and it is beneficial to the institution as a whole for them to have a special relationship with the GS theater that transcends the transactional act of buying a ticket.