Nonprofit organization State of Opportunity NC is bringing lights, music and a movie experience to downtown Clinton later this month with a free community movie night at the Clinton City Market.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 30, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Organizers will show “Michael,” the biographical film centered around the life and rise of music icon Michael Jackson.
State of Opportunity NC President Leslie Mathis said the organization hopes the event creates a welcoming and memorable family atmosphere for the community.
“We’re doing a movie night for the city,” Mathis said. “We’re bringing in a projector screen that’s 27 by 40 feet wide to give people an outdoor experience. We’re trying to continue to bless the city. We’ll have food available for purchase, but the movie itself is completely free. We really just want to make it a family night.”
Mathis explained the idea behind the event stemmed from wanting to offer residents a different type of entertainment experience while also encouraging togetherness outdoors.
“Even though we do have a movie theater in the Clinton area, a lot of people choose not to go there,” he explained. “So my team and I thought, ‘Let’s bring the community another movie night, but this time let’s do it outside.’
“We thought about the atmosphere of having the sunset while people are sitting outside in lawn chairs,” Mathis continued. “It’s almost like having a picnic with a large family around you. We also thought about couples and families spending time together. The romantic part of it is having the sun going down while you’re outside with fresh air, speakers and other people around you. The whole concept was about bringing families together, giving them something different and making it free because not everyone can afford entertainment expenses. Even for those who can, it’s still a blessing because they’re able to save money.”
Mathis said the Clinton City Market felt like the ideal location because of its role as a gathering place within the community.
“We said, ‘Let’s change it up a little bit and bring it to the heart of the city,’” Mathis said. “That’s where people gather for fruits and vegetables, Alive After Five and other events. We wanted to continue that atmosphere and bring movie night there because it’s a central location for people to come together. To me, that’s the center of Clinton.”
The idea for the outdoor setup traces back to the COVID-19 pandemic, when Mathis saw a touring gospel artist create a drive-in-style worship experience.
“They had it set up like a drive-in movie theater where you could tune your car radio to a certain station and still hear everything,” he recalled. “For my dad’s birthday, I decided to try that concept in our yard. We brought in a stage, backdrop and gospel artists, and people could sit beside their cars while enjoying the event.
“That experience helped inspire the movie night idea,” he added. “The projector screen is so large that we eventually want to expand into something closer to a drive-in theater experience. Maybe one day people can sit in their cars, tune into a station like 88.1 or 88.2 and watch a movie right here in Clinton. To my knowledge, we really haven’t had something like that here before.”
As the organization prepares for its first community movie night, Mathis said his biggest hope is simply to see families come out and enjoy themselves.
“This is our first time doing it, so we really don’t know what kind of turnout to expect,” he said. “But we pray that people come out and support it. It’s free, and people enjoy free family events. Kids can come out, husbands and wives can come out, single people can come out — it really doesn’t matter. We just want it to be a fun and memorable night for the community.”
Mathis also thanked the organization’s supporters and volunteers for helping State of Opportunity NC continue its outreach efforts throughout the community.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the people who have supported us from the beginning, both old and new supporters,” he emphasized. “I also want to thank our team because we have a great group of people who work hard brainstorming and coming together to support the community.
“For State of Opportunity, we’re here to educate, support and play a positive role in the community,” he continued. “For anyone following us or wanting to learn more about what we’re doing, they can visit our website. We humbly thank the city for allowing us to continue serving the community.”
For more information about State of Opportunity NC, visit stateofopportunity.org