OUR ADVANCE SCREENINGS
Q: Is an “advance screening” the same thing as a “sneak preview?” How is it different from a “premiere?”
A: An “advance screening” is more or less synonymous with a “sneak preview,” in that they are both promotional screenings aimed at helping generate positive word of mouth for a film or television show prior to its release. Other events may be billed as “fan events” if they have added components, such as special activities or guest appearances.
“Premieres” are generally the first public screening of a film, typically attended by filmmakers and cast members. Whether a premiere has a full red carpet component depends on the resources of the hosting studio. When inviting people to sign up to attend a premiere, CTVA 102 does not guarantee a view of the red carpet nor opportunities to encounter celebrities.
*****
Q: Why do so many of the advance screenings posted by CTVA 102 take place in Los Angeles?
A: The dates, times, and locations of screenings are entirely at the discretion of the hosting studio, and CTVA 102 receives invitations and seat allotments after these details are set. The vast majority of studio screenings in the greater LA region, with AMC Burbank and AMC Century City being the most popular locations. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings are the most common times scheduled by the studios. For family films, it is common for screenings to take place on Saturday mornings to make it easier for children to attend.
*****
Q: What is “priority seating” at an advance screening?
A: The first thing to understand is that all screenings are overbooked, meaning the hosting studio will take more RSVPs than there are seats in the theater; they anticipate that some percentage of RSVPed people will be no-shows, so overbooking is a necessary process to ensure a full house. This is why a free RSVP does not guarantee a seat.
If a screening invitation says “Priority seating for CSUF,” this means the hosting studio is granting CSUF students the ability to skip the lines and check in directly, guaranteeing their admission as long as they arrive by a pre-set time. Please note, seating is still first-come, first-served, and so even if seats are guaranteed, early arrival is recommended for better seats. After the stated cutoff time, the check-in process will open to people in the standby line until the theater is full. Once the theater is at capacity, you will not be admitted even with a priority RSVP.
If a screening invitation notes that seating is first-come, first-served, it means the hosting studio is not implementing a priority seating arrangement for CSUF, and all attendees must stand in line for first-come, first-served seats.
*****
Q: Every time I see an advance screening post and follow the link, the guest list is already at capacity. Why does it fill so fast?
A: For high-profile film releases, our RSVP allotment may be limited, resulting in our guest list filling up fast. Please also note, if you are receiving screening invitations through the COMM department email portal, that system is on an unpredictable time delay depending on how many outgoing messages are congesting the server (a COMM e-blast can appear in your inbox anywhere between a couple of minutes to several hours after it is sent). To increase your chances of not missing an invitation, you are encouraged to follow CTVA 102 on Instagram, where posts always appear first.
On rare occasions, studios will invite CTVA 102 to post a last-minute screening invitation, leaving little time between announcement and event. On most occasions, however, CTVA 102 will book a screening before launching an RSVP, and these scheduled films will appear on the home page of this website, so that people may review the event details. The RSVP link, however, will not be activated until we are ready to begin collecting sign-ups, typically within a week of the screening date.
*****
Q: Can anyone participate in the CTVA 102 event calendar and sign up for screenings?
A: All RSVP opportunities prioritize the CSUF student community (including alumni), unless mandated otherwise by the hosting studio. Our custom RSVP forms are coded to accept CSUF email addresses only, but your +1 does not have to be affiliated with CSUF.
Ticket giveaways and raffles hosted on the CTVA 102 Instagram will similarly prioritize participants with verifiable ties to CSUF.
*****
Q: Why does the CTVA 102 event calendar have an attendance policy for screenings that can result in a ban?
A: CTVA 102 aims to be a reliable partner to the studios that kindly set aside seats for CSUF students, and gaining a reputation for having an unreliable student population may jeopardize future opportunities to send students to exciting events. As such, we do not allow students to clutter our guest lists with frivolous or unserious RSVPs.
As RSVPs for advance screenings are entirely extracurricular and have no bearing on your academic performance at CSUF, CTVA 102 reserves the right to deny RSVPs to students who have shown a pattern of signing up for screenings and then failing to redeem their RSVPs, thereby wasting a valuable spot that could have gone to another student. [This policy was put in place during CTVA 102’s first year of existence, during which we discovered a student who had signed up for nine consecutive screenings and did not show up to any of them.]
For more details on this policy, see our Terms & Conditions.
*****
Q: I have attended advance screenings that take place on or near the CSUF campus. Why doesn’t this happen more often?
A: Opportunities to screen films on campus in advance of their release dates is rare, and these are typically reserved for smaller, independent films that do not come with the licensing restrictions that are common with studio films. Also, the CSUF campus does not currently have auditoriums with projection technology that meets the standards of studio releases. Because of this, in rare cases, a studio may generously coordinate with us to book a theater space in the local AMC Fullerton for a CSUF-exclusive advance screening.
If an advance screening comes with an accompanying filmmaker guest, it may be hosted by the CTVA 102 speaker series (see below), which is restricted to enrolled students, and will not be advertised.
*****
Q: Does it cost anything to attend an advance screening?
A: CTVA 102 may occasionally promote an event for which attendees must purchase tickets. But unless noted otherwise, ALL advance screenings are complimentary. Please note, there is an etiquette to attending an advance screening in exchange for seeing a film for free: if you enjoyed the film, create a (spoiler-free) post for it on social media to help generate positive word of mouth. If you did not enjoy the film, do not post anything negative about it until after its release.
Please be aware that not all screening venues will validate parking for attending a screening.
*****
Q: Why wasn’t there an advance screening of [FILM X]?
A: Not all upcoming releases will have an advance screening. Doing so is at the discretion of the studio, and they may decline to do so for a variety of reasons, such as budgetary reasons, scheduling issues, or how the film is tracking with prospective audiences. In the case of high-profile releases, such as a Marvel film, the studio may decline any advance screenings in an attempt to keep spoilers from hitting the web.
*****
Q: Why does CTVA 102 frequently post invitations to screenings taking place on the University of Southern California campus?
A: USC’s School of Cinematic Arts is a valued colleague of the CTVA 102 program (and the former employer of our supervisor, Dr. Mike Dillon). CTVA 102 will post opportunities to attend screenings on the USC campus to help broaden their invitations and fill their seats. Please note, not all of USC’s screenings are open to non-USC students.
*****
OUR GIVEAWAYS & RAFFLES
Q: Where can I pick up a giveaway item from [FILM X]?
A: Our studio partners frequently donate complimentary promotional items (such as shirts, hats, or posters) for new releases; these items are always posted on our Instagram page using the hashtag #ctva102swag. [Note: “Swag” implies a free giveaway; this is different from “merch,” which is for sale.]
These “swag” giveaways are typically reserved as an in-class “perk” for students enrolled in the CTVA 102 speaker series (see below) on a first-come, first-served basis. The course staff determines the appropriate timing of these giveaways; items are never made available by special request.
Raffles, which use the hashtag #ctva102contest, are reserved for movie tickets, event passes, or other exclusive items given to us by our partners. Please note, CTVA 102 will NEVER contact you to request personally identifying information or solicit payment, with the possible exception of requesting a CSUF campus ID number and/or email address to verify your affiliation with the university. Scammers have spoofed our Instagram page during high-profile raffles in the past.
*****
Q: Who selects the raffle winners?
A: All raffles winners are selected at random by colleagues or friends of CTVA 102, so that our supervisor, teaching assistants, or other staff maintain strict neutrality. Reposts of an ongoing contest or raffle, but participation from accounts that are clearly not owned by CSUF students are usually ignored.
*****
OUR SPEAKER SERIES
Q: What is the CTVA 102 “speaker series?”
A: CTVA 102 is the course code for an elective, worth three (3) units and offered by the CSUF Department of Cinema & Television. It is programmed and taught by Dr. Mike Dillon. The course consists of a weekly film screening followed by a Q&A with one of its filmmakers, and guests are arranged to represent a variety of industry professions. The course is open to non-CTVA majors. Photos that chronicle the visiting guest speakers are posted throughout each semester and can be viewed on our Instagram page using the hashtag #ctva102guest.
CTVA 102’s event calendar component (including all social media) is an extracurricular component of the speaker series and is handled by Dr. Dillon’s assistants.
*****