By Brittany Wiscombe
Drive-in theaters are becoming scarce in Utah when faced with winter weather, old technology and property costs, but one BYU student has created an alternative.
Stuart Farmer, 22, a junior from Orem, majoring in English, founded Open Air Cinema, a business he describes as an outdoor version of a modern cinema that travels to the audience.
Farmer uses digital projection on his 30-foot big screen that he moves and assembles at each venue.
Before the movie begins, Farmer has local music bands play for the audience.
'It''s a mix of a concert and a movie in the park, and a picnic in the park,' Farmer said. He said he intends to have laser shows, star shows and music video clips shown as well.
But what happened to drive-ins?
Colleen Coleman, concessions manager at the Motor-Vu drive-in, said her family''s drive-in is doing great.
'Every year seems to get busier,' she said. Coleman said she guessed the other drive-ins are doing well also.
Yet, a search on drive-ins.com listed only six drive-ins in Utah. The closest drive-in theater is 32 miles away, in Salt Lake City. The next closest is 42 miles away in Toole County.
According to driveintheater.com, there were 34 drive-ins in 1955, but that number has dropped below ten in the last decade.
Richard Jackson, professor of geography and planning, said the number of drive-ins have declined because of VCRs and home entertainment systems.
'The advantage of the drive-in and why they became popular was that you didn''t have to get dressed up,' Jackson said. People could also take their kids and avoid paying a babysitter.
Now, people can do the same at home just by renting a movie or watching television or cable, Jackson said.
Another reason for the drive-in''s decline is the property value.
Jackson said the lands were usually bought in the ''40s and ''50s, and now there is pressure to sell the land.
Coleman agreed most drive-ins close because their properties become worth more for commercial development than their income from the drive-in business.
One thing Jackson hopes for is better use of the sold land, as a city park or affordable housing. But often, the land goes toward less useful purposes, like another strip mall, he said.
Jackson also said drive-ins were cut off from better films and new releases in the ''60s and ''70s. They were left with second-rate movies that were not family-oriented. Some drive-ins were seen as sleaze pits as a result.
Now, drive-ins show hit movies.
Coleman said her drive-in shows two films for the price of one.
The drive-in can be great since people can sit outside with friend and family and not worry about noise their children make. People can also bring in their own food, she said.
But Coleman is worried about emerging digital film downloading technology, which she said allows the movie to be downloaded directly to a computer hooked up to a projector.
This eliminates the need for film, but the technology is still expensive. Coleman said it could be a real threat to the drive-in industry.
One disadvantages to a drive-in, Coleman said, is sound.
'Although we do broadcast in stereo, there is no way for us to broadcast in digital surround sound.'
Lighting is another problem.
'If we get a movie that has a lot of dark or night scenes, sometimes it can be harder to see,' Coleman said.
Weather poses as a problem too, since a drive-in may sit quiet all winter.
Despite these problems, Jackson said, the drive-ins may persist as a place where young people can go and be away from parental supervision.
Those who grew up with drive-ins also may keep the business alive, being nostalgic to go again. However, Jackson said once may be enough to cure that nostalgia.
'People still love the drive-in,' Farmer said, 'but more people still love going outdoors and watching movies.'
That is why Farmer has already scheduled three weekends of his outdoor shows in April at the Castle Amphitheater, near Seven Peaks in Provo.
'We try to show movies that haven''t been on the big screen for a long time,' Farmer said. One factor to showing older films is the costly licensing fees for new releases. Even so, Farmer is optimistic about the films.
'Have you ever seen 'Back to the Future' on the big screen?'
Overall, it seems watching films outdoors, whether in a drive-in or in a park are fun options. But how long drive-ins will last is still a question.