The film society is the brainchild of local resident Brandon Johnson, who also serves as the organization's president. According to Johnson, he and the rest of the society members are looking to move well beyond just screening classic movies in the coming year.

““I plan on laying out the plan for what purpose the film society holds, including what we have done so far, what we have planned for the future, as well as our long term goal to establish a film and music festival in Big Spring,” he said.

Johnson said the popularity of the screenings held during the summer and fall — including classics such as “Jaws” and “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” — shows society members Big Spring has a love of film.

“The film screenings were off the hook this past summer, and we need volunteers to help us continue the outdoor summer screening series into the future,” said Johnson. “With larger crowds, we need more people to help keep things organized. We had a warm reception this summer with more than 1,500 people attending the two events, and from what we can tell the people of Big Spring are very excited about having outdoor movie screenings every summer.

“This meeting will basically be an introductory meeting to see who might be interested in helping and inform people that this is something that is viable for West Texas. We will go over the film slate for 2010, which includes “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in the amphitheater this spring, “Jurassic Park” by Comanche Trail Lake in June, and tentatively, 1978's “Superman: The Movie” on top of Scenic Mountain.”

Johnson said he will also be detailing a contest the society has planned in conjunction with the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” screening.

“We are also planning on posting a call for entries for our Indiana Jones short film contest this spring, which is basically our way of finding out how many people are interested in making films as well as screening them,” said Johnson. “It should be really interesting. We're going to ask people to make an Indiana Jones themed short film, no longer than 5 minutes, and the top three will be screened before 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'”

Keeping along the theatrical and acting lines, Johnson said he also plans to introduce a fund-raising idea designed to scare the pants off people.

“I also want to discuss what I would like to be our fund-raiser every year, and that's to have the scariest spook house in West Texas,” said Johnson. “One that would be so notorious people would drive from all over to attend.

“I'm very excited that the film society is moving forward, and think this is something that could make Big Spring a more attractive place for people to move to. A lot of people take these types of things into consideration when moving somewhere. I mean, I'd be excited to move somewhere where they were having outdoor film screenings and there was a group dedicated to filmmaking. You always hear there is nothing to do around here. Well, thats something I'd like to change.”

For more information on the meeting or the film society, contact Johnson at (432) 213-0759, or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it