Aut-O-Rama adds digital for its 2013 opening

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Autorama_facebookCleveland.com reported that the Aut-O-Rama Drive-In (North Ridgeville OH) spent over $150,000 for two digital projectors and reopened for the 2013 season. The woman in charge, Deb Sherman, said “They just arrived, so that’s why we were able to set our opening date for (last) Friday.”

Sherman’s family has been running the Aut-O-Rama since they opened it in 1965. At first, it showed movies all year, but it shifted to the more traditional April-October drive-in schedule.

The good news is that the audience is growing again. “I’ve noticed a whole new audience coming lately,” Sherman said. “A lot of the baby boomers who went to the drive-ins when they were teenagers themselves are now coming back on a date night.”

Update: The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram also ran a nice article about the new digital projection system. It includes a few photos and more info about the 2013 season, so it’s also worth reading.

The Aut-O-Rama. Man, I love that name. Glad that one is in it for the long haul.

The story behind THE classic drive-in photo

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Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments, drive-in theater, Utah, 1958.

photo by J.R. Eyerman — Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Take a look at the 200-pixel photo thumbnail I’ve embedded here. Look familiar? That might be because it’s been used as a “generic” drive-in photo for several theater sites, including one in India, and I just spotted it in an otherwise well-researched book, Drive-in Theaters by Kerry Segrave. (I’ll post a book review in a few days.)

That photo was taken in 1958 at a drive-in in Salt Lake City by J.R. Eyerman and published in Life magazine. (The drive-in isn’t named. Based on the city lights, I’d say it was the Motor-Vu, but it could have been the Highland or the Park-Vu, all long dead by now.) You can see the full-sized photo and the story behind it at the Life web site.

Ben Cosgrove, editor of Life.com, writes “Despite how familiar and recognizably universal an experience it might be, however, it turns out that it’s remarkably difficult to really capture in a single, still photograph what it feels like to go to the moving pictures.” Amen to that! In fact, the more I look at that photo, the more I wonder whether it was doctored or partially staged.

I’ve got no problem with the magnificent mountainous sunset, reflected by rows of hardtops. That right there is a superb photo, probably taken from the projection booth. But look at the ambient twilight. It’s hard to imagine a projectionist even starting a feature with that much light in the sky, but we’re supposed to believe that The Ten Commandments had been running long enough to have reached Charlton Heston’s Red Sea scene?

It’s easier for me to believe that the photo was doctored or staged. Eyerman could have started with that photo of the cars pointed at a blank screen, waiting for the movie to start. Then he could have superimposed that frame from the film, resulting in “Charlton Heston as Moses, arms outstretched, looming over what appears to be, if one looks at it just right, a congregation of rapt, immobile automobiles at prayer,” as Cosgrove elegantly describes it. The low-tech alternative would be to stage it by projecting just that frame, even as a slide, well before the film was shown to the audience, then taking the photo. Although it wasn’t so easy to do in 1958, superimposing wins my uninformed vote.
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Got a better idea? Know more about this than I do? (That’s not difficult.) Leave a comment and tell us more.

Video of the Auto Vue, open for its final season

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Yes, we covered the upcoming closing of the Auto Vue (Colville WA) months ago, and no, we don’t enjoy dwelling on bad news. But we do love our embedded video, and this offering is worthy.

KXLY, Spokane’s news leader, presented a lovely video postcard of the Auto Vue and its owner, Steve Wisner. There’s not a lot of new information, except that over half the money Wisner would have needed was for upgrading the screen as well as buying a digital projector. Spending a couple of minutes looking around that well-worn physical plant, that’s easy to believe. Thanks to KXLY for preserving this one last look at a 60-year-old drive-in.

US-23 open for 2013 season, will convert to digital

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23 Drive-In marquee and screen

photo by MichiganDriveIns, used by permission

MLive.com reported recently that the US-23 Drive-In (Flint MI) reopened for another season last Friday. General manager Johny Thomas says that the US-23 will be fully converted to digital projection on its three screens by the first of July, and according to MLive, Thomas has a novel method of paying for all those new projectors. He’s raised ticket prices by $1 per person this year.

The story also includes an 11-photo gallery of 2012 opening day photos from The Flint Journal. (I love the photo of the really big popcorn popper.) So go check it out!

Drive-in success story: Occasional free nights

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Las Vegas 6 Drive-In Theatre signs

Signs for West Wind’s Las Vegas 6. Photo by Neon Michael from the Carload Flickr group.

I picked this up from the Santa Barbara (CA) Independent, but it really applies to all of West Wind‘s drive-in theaters in California, Nevada, and Arizona. This is a brilliant idea. Show recent, family-friendly movies for free on one special, promoted weeknight. It reminds families how much fun it is to go to the drive-in, it probably generates enough concession stand sales to cover costs, and it’s definitely worth losing a standard early-season weeknight gate. Here’s the press release, as printed in the Independent:

As they have done every year for the last several years, the Santa Barbara Drive-In is hosting Customer Appreciation Night with free movies to the public on Thursday, April 25, 2013.

Drive-In theaters across the country are benefiting from a resurgence in demand with revenues outpacing traditional “walk-in” theaters by a wide margin. Drive-in movie attendance is up by double digits again this year and the West Wind Santa Barbara Drive-In has reaped the benefits.

Patrick LaCava, Senior Vice President of Operations explains that “value seems to be the major reason drive-ins are growing.” Tickets to the drive-in are only $7.00 per adult, and kids 5-11 years old are just $1.00, while kids 4 and under are free. Plus, you get double features each night, instead of just one movie at the indoor theaters. LaCava continues “A family of four with young children can see two first run movies for $14.00, or $16.00 if you have kids between 5-11 years old.”

If you think drive-ins are dead, think again. “Business is so good, we’ve reopened drive-ins. Five years ago we reopened the Solano Drive-In in Concord, CA and three years ago we reopened this one in Santa Barbara after being closed for 19 years“ according to LaCava.

Tony Maniscalco, Vice President of Marketing is thrilled that people are re-discovering the family fun of the drive-in. “Parents bring their kids to watch the first movie then the kids fall asleep in the back seat while the parents watch the second movie. It’s the perfect baby sitter.”

Drive-ins presentation has changed considerably over the years yet the nostalgic feeling remains. Improvements in presentation and sound that now rivals walk-in along with delicious well-known brands at a fraction of the cost you find at conventional theatres are just part of the draw. There’s still that great old school vibe in a family friendly and updated location.

The West Wind Drive-Ins are taking this great value one step further with Free Movie Customer Appreciation Night on Thursday, April 25, featuring recent movie blockbusters Wreck It Ralph and Jack the Giant Slayer. “We are opening up our drive-ins as we do a few times every year to thank our loyal customers and to invite those who have not yet experienced the drive-in to give it a try. We typically show first run movies every night but on Customer Appreciation Night we give everyone a chance to catch up on the best movies of the past few months.” Maniscalco explains. “Relax in your car or bring a chair and a blanket and enjoy your movie under the stars and moonlight” adds LaCava.

Drive-in success story: Become a popular restaurant

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Maybe this is cheating a bit, but this news report is a great illustration of an idea that more drive-ins should use. It’s from WBOY, Clarksburg WV’s news leader, and it’s all about the Ellis Restaurant on US 19 south of Shinnston. As much as we like restaurants, the only reason we care about this story is that the Ellis started as the snack shack for the adjacent Sunset Drive-In Theater, which is still operating. You can see both the restaurant and the screen in the Google Street View image embedded below. (It might help to zoom in a little.)

Anyway, this just shows that a great way to make a drive-in profitable is to make its restaurant popular all day and all year round. Since most of the ticket money goes to distributors, what’s left makes the business model of a drive-in theater look more like a seasonal, evening-only restaurant. So find a way to make that food wonderful (it often is) and find a way to make it convenient to buy even when the movies aren’t showing. If you can manage that, your place may be as successful as the Ellis, where the Sunset is reduced to second billing.

Update: Just after I posted this, I noticed that WBOY also ran a story about the Sunset, and they posted a video of that too. Too much multimedia for one story? Leave a comment and let me know. View Larger Map

The Spud keeps on rolling

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I Love the Spud T-shirtThe Jackson Hole (WY) News & Guide published an article about the continuing fundraising efforts of The Spud Drive-In, across the border in Driggs ID. The first four paragraphs provide a great glimpse of what it’s like to visit a drive-in with your friends when it’s cold outside. And there are two exceptionally nice photos above the fold; one shows a grid of LP records on the ceiling of the snack bar, and the other shows the projector shooting its beam through falling snow. This is one you really need to go read!

If you’ve got a long memory or have exhausted the posts here, you might recognize The Spud as one of the first subjects of the Carload blog. The News & Guide article updates its status. T-shirt sales have raised about $15,000 toward the cost of digital projection, and now Tyler Hammond, one of the operators of The Spud, is hoping to sell enough advertising on its corrugated tin privacy fence to make up the difference.

The News & Guide is very encouraging. “Spud supporters are plentiful in Teton Valley. Residents use it as a landmark when giving directions, as in, ‘If you pass the Spud you’ve gone too far.’ It’s a spot for first dates, family bonding and birthday celebrations. For most of the past 60 years it was the only movie theater for miles. The Spud is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and the Idaho State Historic Registry.” Let’s all hope for the best!

Watch the Cottage View sign lovingly dismantled

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Oh, how I wish I could embed the really great video that the South Washington County (MN) Bulletin includes in its story of work crews dismantling the Cottage View Drive-In sign. Along with the projection equipment and the drive-in screen, the sign will be transported to Little Log House Pioneer Village in Hastings, where it will be restored and displayed.

According to the article, “Passersby on Highway 61 honked in solidarity of the beloved drive-in and little by little cars parked along East Point Douglas Road to watch the sign that had stood for more than 50 years come down.” There’s a lot more to read, and of course, you’ve just got to see that video, so go check it out!

Motel going up next to Vermont’s Sunset?

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Sunset Drive-In marqueeSeven Days, Vermont’s independent voice, ran a good long article about the Handy family of that state. About halfway through, the article focuses on Peter Handy, owner of the Sunset Drive-In of Colchester, and we get to learn a lot about him.

Handy lives in a house adjacent to the drive-in he’s owned for over 30 years. His parents bought the Sunset in 1948 and ran it for over 30 years before handing it over. Handy started working there when he was 8 years old, tending the carbon arc lamps that lit the projector.

The most surprising paragraph of the article comes near the end of Peter Handy’s section. “Peter Handy’s nostalgia for the good old days of drive-in theaters is evident in his latest business enterprise: a 12-room motel under construction next to the drive-in. Intended to serve drive-in aficionados, he says the Starlight Inn is so named as ‘a tribute to all the drive-in theaters we lost since their heyday.’” That would put it in the company of the Monte Vista CO’s Movie Manor, which faces the Star Drive-In there.

There are more fun stories about Peter Handy, including the time he sort of foiled a hold-up attempt, and there’s a Sunset box office photo, so go read it!

Holiday Twin doing great with its new projectors

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The Loveland (CO) Reporter-Herald published a nice portrait of the Holiday Twin Drive-In (Fort Collins) and its owners, Stephanie and Wesley Webb. The Webbs sank about a quarter-million dollars into renovations to support digital projection for their two screens. And you would expect, ”We’re in it for the long haul as long as we can stay there,” according to Mrs. Webb.

In the article you’ll find a good history of the Webbs and the Holiday Twin, about the work that working with film used to require, and of course that nice video embedded above. But don’t settle for just the video, go read it!