Skyline Theater also turns to Kickstarter

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Skyline theater screenThe Skyline Drive-In Theater (aha! someone else who spells it -ter) in Shelton WA is the latest drive-in to turn to Kickstarter to raise funds for its conversion to digital projection. As that page describes it:

“Small theaters all over the country are left to fight over the few 35mm prints that are currently being made.The drive-in theater, seen by many as little more than a fossil of movie-going history, is last in line for new movies.The only way to change that is to convert to digital projectors.”

As of this writing, the Skyline has raised less than $9,000 of its $40,000 goal, with a deadline of May 12. If they get enough cash, they also say that they’ll restore its neon sign to its “original 1964 glory”. If you’ve ever been to the Skyline, this would be a good time to show your support.

Update: The Olympian of Olympia WA ran a story about the Skyline’s Kickstarter project. It includes a little more information and a pair of nice photos. Check it out!

Twin Falls drive-ins’ future looks bleak

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The Twin Falls (ID) Times-News ran a fairly pessimistic piece this week about the drive-ins in that town. The Motor-Vu and Grand-Vu will open this spring, but they have no plans to make the switch to digital projection. When Hollywood stops sending film, they’ll just shut down.

Both drive-ins are owned by Interstate Amusement, which has a web site that mentions the other theaters in town but not the drive-ins. Maybe they’ll add something once they reopen? The Times-News article quotes Larry Roper, which it says is Interstate Amusement’s managing director, although last summer’s Times-News video, embedded above, says he’s the owner. Anyway, Roper sounds pretty glum about the future of drive-ins in general. “If we cannot get some kind of solution to the end of the 35-mm film or a way to put digital into the drive-ins, they all will be closing,” he said.

Wow! I hope that Roper is just so busy running all those theaters so that he hasn’t noticed that several drive-ins have already converted to digital, and many more have indicated that they’ll convert this season. For just one example, the Star Drive-In of Montrose CO recently announced on its Facebook page that it will convert even as its fundraising efforts continue.

At least the Motor-Vu’s Facebook page is more optimistic, posting “We have to upgrade to Digital which will cost upwards of $100,000.” And the Motor-Vu’s fans have already chimed in, talking about raising the money. (Strangely, I can’t find any web site for the Grand-Vu. If you know of one, post a comment here and I’ll add the link.) So let’s hope the Times-News just caught Roper on a bad day, and the good folks of Twin Falls find a way to keep their drive-in(s) for decades to come.

Daylight Saving Time hates drive-ins

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Daylight Saving Time photo

© Depositphotos.com/Siarhei Hashnikau

I hate Daylight Saving Time – that’s a singular “Saving”, the correct way to write it. I don’t like tweaking all my clocks twice a year. I don’t like losing an hour of sleep in the spring. And I don’t like what it does to drive-ins.

DST was never kind to drive-ins. For much of the country, the only months warm enough to operate a drive-in coincide with DST, and the result is a one-hour delay in the start of each evening’s program. For me, the difference between driving home at 10:30 and driving home at 11:30 is the difference between weeknight and weekend-only visits. And I’m sure I’m not the only patron who sees it that way.

The US nationally standardized Uniform Time Act that took effect in 1967 wasn’t a Chicxulub-meteor extinction event for drive-ins, but it was at least a chilling breeze to drive-in owners. Suburban sprawl took a stronger role by changing edge-of-town sites into prime development land, then premium cable channels and the VCR pulled away a hefty chunk of the drive-in’s audience. Expanding indoor theaters battled drive-ins for the remaining movie-going crowd, and with DST, the drive-in was always at a disadvantage. If DST wasn’t a killer, it was at least a burden.

There’s no annual Sprawl day or VCR festival, so the start of DST is my best chance to rail against the forces that closed so many drive-ins. My only other reminder is when we get the hour back in November, and for that weekend, well that extra hour of sleep feels pretty good.