Event Producer Tackle Box — Sockets and Cables — Use Scenarios
Event Producer Tackle Box as a product was born as a result of our own event production experience. When you produce several outdoor movie events per week during the high season, rest assured there will be unexpected situations that need to be resolved.
In fact, at almost every event you will find yourself thinking, “I wish I had this item by my side.”
Once you've gained more experience with outdoor movie screenings, most likely you'll come up with your own personal, customized Event Producer Tackle Box. In the meantime, here are several use cases for the items that Open Air Cinema includes in our tackle boxes.
Outlet Extender
You're producing an outdoor movie event for your client. You arrived at the venue in advance, and the customer is showing you the nearest power socket to the outdoor movie system — but a LED strip is already plugged into it. This is a job for the outlet extender.
HDMI to USB Type-C Adapter
There are a lot of situations where you'll want to send content from your iPad to a big screen — say, a show from Apple TV+. The HDMI to USB Type-C adapter is what you want here. It also works with a MacBook on Apple Silicon, iPhone 15 and later, and many Android phones. We at Open Air Cinema normally keep a copy of the movie for the screening on an iPad, as a backup.
Card Reader
The last time we used a card reader during an outdoor movie screening was for a client at a team-building event. One guest brought a DSLR camera and started showing photos from a New Year's party on the camera's 1.5″ screen. Suddenly someone had the idea to show them on an Open Air Cinema screen — and that's where we pulled the card reader out of the tackle box.
USB C to USB A
The world of consumer electronics is getting rid of full-size USB A in laptops and other devices — think Apple MacBooks with Silicon chips. But plenty of USB A sticks are still in use out there. It's almost certain you'll find yourself with a media file you want to play on a big screen sitting on a USB stick or portable hard drive with a USB A-only port. Use the included USB C to USB A adapter to read and copy that content.
Universal Charging Cable
Being able to charge a phone or tablet at the venue is indispensable — no doubt someone among the guests will ask. Many media players also need a 5V supply to operate, such as Chromecast and Fire TV Stick. The universal cable includes Type-C, Lightning and Micro USB plugs.
Think of your upcoming outdoor movie screening as if you were packing for a hiking trip. You're in a remote place, and there are lots of tools in the Event Producer Tackle Box from Open Air Cinema that will make your life easier.