Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Drive-in Theaters.
The drive-in movie theater is a classic slice of Americana. Pulling your car up to an empty lot in order to watch the latest flick is as American as …Honda? That’s the company that’s leading the effort to save drive-in theaters, which have increasingly been forced to shut down due to the changing nature of projection (which is going digital) in the film community. The price of upgrading to digital projector is costly — usually around $80,000. Project Drive-in is helping the struggling drive-in theaters that can’t afford the upgrade cost by granting them with digital projectors so that their theaters may stay open. The reaction from theater-owners chronicled on a video posted on the project’s website is pretty heartwarming. The project has already saved 9 drive-ins in the U.S., but it has plans to keep going until it helps save the hundreds of struggling drive-ins around the country.
Project Drive-in’s website was created so that those passionate about saving the classic drive-in experience can contribute to the cause. Visitors to the site can help in one of three ways: by contributing monetarily to Project Drive-in, publicly pledging to visit a drive-in theater this year via Facebook or Twitter, or downloading Project Drive-in’s promotional materials, which include Facebook profile and cover photos. The site also has an interactive map that allows you to discover the drive-in closest to your hometown. Most of the drive-ins are concentrated in the Midwest, but they’re spread throughout the entire country as well. Project Drive-in is also holding a few screenings around the country (and providing free popcorn). The whole effort is a valiant attempt to save a great American pastime, and all those that have fond memories of attending a drive-in theater (or plans to do so in the future), should head over to the site to contribute in some way.