"My partner and I were living in Rotorua at the time of the last Auckland Pride Parade and just thought how cool it would be to have our city represented in the parade.
"As for Bay Pride, it wasn't run this year, but I was speaking to one of the organisers who said he was keen to get it going again. We figured it would be a good idea to do the events together."
Bay Pride was a festival set up by the Bay Pride Trust in 2011 to celebrate the diversity within Rotorua's community.
The Auckland Pride Parade down Ponsonby Rd is a highlight of the Auckland Pride Festival and the largest gay pride event in the country.
Mr Coffey said setting up an organising committee was the first step to getting the projects off the ground.
"We need a team to get the two projects rolling so the purpose of the [movie] screening was to get a group of interested people together and organise a committee.
"I had set up a Facebook event and from that I was inundated with phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages from people who were keen to get involved."
Mr Coffey said Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick was "absolutely supportive" of creating a Proudly Rotorua float for the next Auckland Pride Parade.
"We are essentially selling Rotorua to an Auckland audience. When I spoke briefly to the mayor, she said the council were absolutely supportive of the venture and could see nothing but good coming out of it."