Saturday 3 May 2014

HOT TUB CINEMA - GET READY FOR THE 2014 EDITION

Picture courtesy: Hot Tub Cinema

"Come on, I'm telling you, it's great...The air is cold, the tub is boiling hot. It's like Sweden, man. Sweden." Kramer says to Jerry in The Hot Tub, the 115th episode of the famous sitcom Seinfeld. Asher Charman, a UK native, is calling out to people the same way. Unlike Jerry Seinfeld, who refused to "soak in that human bacteria vat", people are flocking to slide into Charman's Hot Tub.

Cinema has been Charman's life-long passion. And so is lolling in a hot tub. The smart man that he is, Charman combined his 'preoccupations' to come up with a winning business — Hot Tub Cinema; an experience that involves soaking in warm hot tubs in amazing venues and watching films on the big screen.

When he was a teenager living in Cornwall, in the South West of England, Charman volunteered at live events, community festivals, and even organised his own raves in an abandoned school. He worked part-time as a sound engineer and helped on local theatre productions as a lighting engineer. He then did a degree (in Geomorphology), got a job in Bristol designing and installing audio, video and security systems in "very large private homes around the world". As he became more experienced, Charman moved into designing and programming of ultra-high-end cinemas — working with global cinema technology creators such as Dolby. It seems like all of Charman's experiences while growing up were leading him to his Big Idea.

Having bought his first hot tub "roughly seven years ago". He was moving into a house with two good friends. "I persuaded them to pay a third of the cost (of the tub) each," says Charman. "It didn't take them long to learn to love it (soaking in the hot tub)!"

The genesis of Hot Tub Cinema came six months after. "We already had the constituent parts — the hot tub, a second-hand projector, and a passion for films," says Charman. "One evening, we decided we wanted to do both — use the tub and watch a movie." So he pointed the projector out the kitchen window, onto a bed sheet hung on the washing line, and the three friends enjoyed a soak in the tub! The reaction was unanimous. "We have to do this again!" they whooped.

In the next six years, they purchased lot more new tubs; (it stands at 40 now and ever increasing) upgraded their projector and worked tirelessly to find perfect venues (rooftops and expansive barns) to share their unique experience. Hot Tub Cinema had its first public rooftop screening on 7th July 2012 in UK.

Attendees can purchase whole tubs to share with friends or buy individual tickets to share with fellow hot-tubbers. The tubs are cleaned, refilled and heated before every show. Food and drinks are served by the 'tubside'.

In summer, Hot Tub Cinema pops up on rooftops in central London with astounding views of the city's inimitable skyline. In autumn and winter, they move indoors. Currently, Charman is preparing to tour internationally. 


If one goes by the blogs written by those who have experienced Hot Tub Cinema, "the possibilities at HTC are much more than just watching a good film"; that's a logical conclusion to when you throw in a bunch of strangers/couples/singles in bikinis and briefs in a tub of soothing hot water and serve drinks to boot."You can seriously score a date here," writes one blogger who is a serial hot-tubber.

"Our guests usually arrive with a sense of excitement and trepidation," explains Charman. "It is quite a sight to see such a large number of hot tubs in one place. It quickly transforms into surprise and delight once our guests are in the tub and enjoying a few drinks." The film choice is usually a surprise for the attendees. And staff often dress up as characters from the film being shown and incorporate live performance and musical elements to round off the evening to keep it light hearted and fun for the guests. The Hot Tub Cinema format suits comedies and well-loved classics, believes Charman. He has been providing this cinema viewing experience at film premieres, film shoots, corporate and private parties too.

Water and power requirements for this kind of show are significant. Always finding the right kind of locations can also be challenging. Setting up a Hot Tub cinema is "actually a very intensive production," says Charman. "You'd have to be mad to try and put a show like this. There are a lot easier ways to put on a cinema night! But...Hot Tub Cinemas, we love it." And, everybody seems to be 'soaking' in the experience.

Check www. hottubcinema.com



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This appeared first in Bangalore Mirror 


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