Brooklyn Community Stars in Togetherness with New Outdoor Screening Equipment

Quick Facts- The Challenge Over the past decade, crime has risen within the Brooklyn, NY community surrounding the Breukelen Houses. As a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)-run complex, the development was in need of an activity to bring its residents together and inspire positivity. Enter PaleFO Cinema’s “Amplify Cinema. Impact Community,” an indoor and outdoor pop up cinema that hosts screenings in areas that have been noted as likely places for youth violence and gang activity in an effort to transform and bring positivity to a community via the arts. The Solution An NEC NP-PA803UL, 8,000-lumen professional laser installation projector w/ 4K support. The Result Breukelen is now equipped with stellar movie screening technology. The community has access to a set-up that allows them to create wonderful events and memories, instilling a newfound sense of togetherness and positivity through clearly-viewed films.

As a large NY neighborhood within Brooklyn, Canarsie is home to more than 91,000 residents and a housing complex, Breukelen, which is maintained by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). This housing project has previously been noted as the third highest in the city for negligence. In 2022, AMNY newspaper stated that NYCHA Breukelen Houses was “one of the most dangerous neighborhoods for gun violence in the city”.

During the Summer of 2022, in an effort to unify and bring positivity to the Breukelen community, PaleFO Cinema and its founder and director, Eileen Baptistin Level, piloted a new initiative to provide outdoor moving screenings to citizens within the housing complex and enlisted the help of Sharp to provide state-of-the-art projectors for a top-notch cinematic experience within Breukelen.

Having met at CinemaCon in 2023, Eileen Baptistin Level and Richard McPherson, Sharp Senior Product Manager of Projectors, discussed ways to elevate the PaleFO Cinema program and bring an elevated experience to the Breukelen community.

For previous movie showings, the PaleFO Cinema team had been using an outdated projector that was not providing clear images. To ensure Breukelen residents were receiving the highest quality event, Baptistin Level and McPherson worked together to identify a Sharp product that would be the perfect fit. It was decided that the projector needed to have the capabilities to display bright content since screenings often take place outdoors and before dusk to allow for family-friendly timing as most of the audience is of a youth and senior demographic. The mission of PaleFO Cinema greatly includes serving younger generations who often lack positive recreational social engagements.

“The projector generously provided by Sharp has made a world of difference in our showings,” said Level. “The movies are so clearly portrayed which creates a wonderful experience for the community and has made these events so much more positive, generating increased interest and attendance.”

Eileen and her team recognized an immediate difference in the quality of their cinema showings as well as the overall atmosphere of the event.

“The most notable improvement is that the image quality has greatly improved since we started using the Sharp projector,” said Level. “We have consistently received incredible reviews from event-goers and are excited to see how this initiative continues to grow.”

Armed with this exciting new technology, the residents of Breukelen can enjoy seamless cinema showings and participate in positive experiences with their neighbors. As stated by a resident, “This is the start of something special.”