Recently, The Golden Soldiers hosted a sensory friendly showing of the popular family movie Rise of the Guardians for metro Atlanta children and adults with developmental disabilities. Santa greeted movie guests and gave them the opportunity to take holiday pictures without the crowds and clamor of most public holiday photo ops with Santa. A sensory friendly movie is a movie shown without previews with the sound and lights dimmed to avoid agitating audience members with special needs. The audience can talk, shout, scream and run around the movie theater – forbidden behaviors in traditional movie showings. The event was held at the Acworth NCG Cinemas and sponsored by MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning.

The Golden Soldiers has hosted movie events over the past three years at several metro Atlanta cinemas. These events are free, with registration, to families with a member who has special needs.The events have been so successful at NCG Cinemas that cinema management is
using “The Golden Soldiers” as a template for events at their other locations throughout the nation. NCG has three locations in Georgia – Acworth, Marietta and Sharpsburg/Peachtree City; eight locations in Michigan;one location in Indiana and one location in Tennessee.

“We are privileged to work with a group that communicates all of their requests and takes pride in making events go as well as The Golden Soldiers has in the past three years. At our manager’s meeting last week (for all NCG Cinema locations), we used The Golden Soldiers events as an example of how to setup similar shows and how important it is to work with other “sensory friendly” groups in their local areas.  It has been very impressive to see the rate at which  The Golden Soldiers’ shows have grown while maintaining a high quality event for all in attendance,” said Pat O’Boyle, NCG Cinemas Promotions and Marketing Manager.

“Thank you so much for the movie event this past Saturday!! We loved the movie and seeing Santa. As we left my daughter [Maya Adams] said, ‘My life is so great!’ Thank you for giving her that! She loves you guys so much and tells everyone to find you on Facebook,”
said Melissa Adams, parent.

“It is great to see how something as simple as a free movie and a visit with Santa can mean so much to so many.  I absolutely love our movie events as every time I get such a thrill seeing all the smiling faces and happy families.  I definitely want to thank MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning as they sponsored this event and made it all possible,” said Lindsey Turner, President and Founder of The Golden Soldiers.

About The Golden Soldiers, Inc.: The Golden Soldiers, Inc. is a faith based, non-profit focused on spreading the Golden Rule by providing year-round events, activities, and services for families and individuals with developmental disabilities www.goldensoldiers.org.