Still, we’re ecstatic to be operating and carrying the flag for our cinema industry.”ĭoug asked if Covid has sparked permanent drive-in design changes. “March, April and May are usually good months and they were lost to us, although some did quite well in the months following. “We drive-in operators have had lots of weekly calls…and we are all thankful for what we can do, but with only being allowed 50 percent of capacity, my drive-in revenue is down,” said Vincent. UDITOA lobbied various States, especially New York, and is now trying to get their adjacent, indoor cinemas open as well. “Our biggest concern as drive-in owners, ten years ago or so, was surviving the transition to digital cinema, which we did with lots of help from ICTA members, NATO, CGB and Cinedigm,” noted Vincent, and then “Covid hit and I had to close my indoor cinema, in mid-March, like everyone else, but always knew that our drive-in option would probably open first, later on.” As such, he’s highly-dependent on the northeast US tourist season, and on technology and service support provided by ACE. To kick off the webinar, Doug Sabin, VP and COO of American Cinema Equipment (ACE), checked in with John Vincent, Jr., President of the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association (UDITOA).Īs CEO of Spring Brook Center, Inc., John heads the operation of the Wellfleet Cinemas 4 & Drive-In Theater, Wellfleet Flea Market and Wellfleet Dairy Bar, Grill, & Mini Golf, over 27 acres in Wellfleet, (Barnstable County) Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “Screens are secured to the exterior of a building, or on truss structures and even standalone, inflatable screens,” Tees enthused, reminding viewers that as well as screens, ICTA tech manufacturers have projectors that can operate well in the outdoors, sometimes running entirely by generators.ĭoug Sabin and John Vincent, in Conversation (View Video) The success of the traditional drive-ins has spawned an array of ‘pop-up’ drive-ins, taking advantage of field, parks and other natural settings, along with the parking lots of indoor cinemas and even retail stores like Walmart. These conditions enabled drive-in cinemas to nab the top spots in show grosses for months now. “Drive-ins have been able to open early in most areas in a time of Covid-19,” due to the natural safe-distancing of being in vehicles and in turn, the sense of security that provides moviegoers, noted Tees. Nowadays, there are roughly 539 drive-in screens across 300-plus locations in the USA. But by 1988, more than one thousand closed, as retiree owners sold land and “new forms of entertainment emerged to compete with them.”
“Some of the first (exhibitors) to re-open are those operating traditional drive-in cinemas,” said Tees, who gave a quick history of this cinema subset, noting that they generally emerged in the 1950s, allowing audiences to view films from their “beloved automobiles.” Those were the heyday of drive-ins, with 4,063 venues by 1958 entertaining millions. Moderated by ICTA VP Frank Tees (Moving Image Technologies), the webinar featured five one-on-one interviews with leading exhibitors and ICTA service and product members, and was prefaced by Tees.
#ROLANDO RODRIGUEZ NATO PRO#
Coronavirus” and “Cinema Design Considerations in the Covid-19 Aftermath,” ICTA, in association with BoxOffice Pro Live, held a simultaneous broadcast in London, Paris, New York and Los Angeles entitled “Back to the Future-How Drive-ins and Pop-Up Cinemas Complement the Moviegoing Experience.” Back to the Future ICTA: Back to the Future-How Drive-Ins and Pop-Up Cinemas Complement the Moviegoing ExperienceĬontinuing its webinar series, having covered “Cinema vs.
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