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How plausible is it for community/non-pro/break-even groups to rent film scores for performances? How difficult is it to get clearance to show film video along with the performance?

In Chicago at least I have noticed a tendency for community groups to get pretty stale in their programming, and there is a lot of "accidental crossover" programming between the various groups. Looking for ways to mix things up.

Mr. Elephant - your reply seems to have disappeared, but to answer your question:

Yep for orchestra.

Hmmm, if I had my druthers I might suggest some of the more iconically themed music from films like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (are the trumpets up to it?), the original Star Trek from 1979 (room on stage for all that percussion?), and maybe something a little more commercially contemporary like Jurassic Park or similar.

Some recent threads about the viability of a career in an orchestra (and the business of running orchestras) have me thinking that to survive we need to tap into the resources that are renewing and have space in popular culture (films for example) and balance it with things that are not (old dead composers).

You can start your research here: http://www.tnv.net/.

You will find it can become very expensive.

I would be looking for older works that might not charge so much in royalties. Even silents - heck, in that venue you could get creative and program music around a movie.