SAN MARCOS -- The Civic Center Plaza's strategy of using free outdoor screenings to draw people to the Twin Oaks Valley Road shopping center seems to be working.

About 20 people turn out every evening to watch cartoons and short films on a screen mounted on a courtyard wall of the center at 133 N. Twin Oaks Valley Road.

The audience is usually larger on Friday and Saturday nights, when the center shows popular family-friendly movies on the same screen.

The showings, which run from sunset to 10 p.m., are free.

Property manager Ed Engle said Monday that center owner Mike McDonald came up with the idea for nightly screenings.

"He's a very involved owner, a very nice guy to work with," said Engle. "I think he thought he had a customer-based idea that would work well for the site. And, in fact, it has worked well. I mean, how many outside theaters do you see?"

McDonald heads The McDonald Group, a Rancho Bernardo-based development company that leases six acres of land beneath the center from the city. Completed about 18 months ago, the center is home to an LA Fitness Center, a food court and two other buildings.

The businesses are directly across Rancheros Drive from City Hall and within walking distance of a Sprinter light-rail station.

City officials welcomed the development while it was still in the planning stages, saying it would bring needed amenities and help fix up the surrounding Richmar neighborhood, which is one of the city's oldest.

City spokeswoman Jenny Peterson said the city incorporated McDonald's screenings strategy into the center's master plan.

"It was a way of trying to create a destination and community-gathering place within that center," she said.

The food court has a Subway sandwich shop, a Sombrero Mexican restaurant, Santorini Greek restaurant, a Robeks yogurt shop, a Pizza Nova, and a Ryan Bros. coffeehouse. They are situated around the courtyard, which has a fountain, a fire pit, tables and chairs, and the movie screen.

Engle said all tenants pay dues to a center association that pays licensing fees for the right to the full-length theatrical releases shown on Friday and Saturday nights. Films on the schedule for this month include "Twice Upon a Time" (July 10), "The Princess Bride" (July 11), "The Witches" (July 17), "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer" (July 18), "The Wizard of Speed and Time" (July 24) and "The Wizard of Oz" (July 25).

Engle declined to say how much the licensing fees are, but said they are paid on a per-movie basis and entitle the center to show each film one time before they must be returned to their distributors.

Audiences are primarily families who grab ice cream cones, smoothies or other treats from one of the center's restaurants, then watch the movie as they eat outside, he said.

"There's no monitor there saying anybody has to buy anything," Engle said. "But it brings activities. It brings people to the center who may not come otherwise."

Pizza Nova opened its doors roughly two months ago. The restaurant's general manager, Adriene Sebastiano, said the business is already selling take-out food to people who show up for the free screenings.

"Once we get our patio (finished), we'll be able to serve people while they watch the movie, too," she said, adding that customer feedback has been positive. "It's surprising -- especially on Fridays and Saturdays, there's a lot of people out there."

Visit www.civiccenterscreen.com for information about the free screenings.

Call staff writer Andrea Moss at 760-739-6654.