Big Screen under the Big Sky

At the opening of the new USC School of Cinematic Arts building on Wednesday, famed director Steven Spielberg predicted an “implosion” in the film industry leading to massive changes in pricing and film exhibition as well as the release of fewer films from the major studios.

Spielberg’s remarks led to my ah-ha moment:  Maybe it’s time to bring back that totem of 1950s young love, illicit bliss and even family togetherness.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 21^st Century Drive-In.

Drive-Ins could make the movie industry #1 again in the hearts and minds of moviegoers around the world.  They could facilitate the development of a new exhibition business model with different pricing and entertainment options.  The 21^st Century Drive In could get Netflix addicted coach potatoes off the sofa and mixing it up socially at the movies.

There’s a real choice and opportunity here to please everyone:  Sit in the comfort of your own car to shout back at the screen, shout at your noisy kids, or make out with the person you most care about…or….park your clunker and head to the lavishly appointed outdoor lawn furniture viewing area, with Beats headphones and communal viewing in a leisurely and social setting. Go alone if you want or bring your friend, but always mix, mingle, meet your next date…or land on a chaise lounge to call your very own.  Sort of a quasi-club scene without a DJ, loud music or writhing dancers.  And for parents, a pricing per car option would actually make it affordable for families to go to the movies together again.

It gets better.  Instead of crappy cardboard popcorn and hotdogs bathed in grease, there would be decent, restaurant quality gourmet food, wine and beer as well as soft drinks, malteds and water for the kids and other big children.

When I was a kid, going to the Drive-In was thrilling and fun! Memories of seeing Old Yeller, Pollyanna and The Parent Trap with Haley Mills and Around the World in 80 Days are vivid to this day.  Now it is true that Hollywood has to make movies that people want to see; the economics of making blockbuster films aren’t sustainable given the current exhibition formula, which is Spielberg’s point.  But maybe, just maybe, the viewing experience – the how and the what of it – can help us all become enthusiastic moviegoers again while giving Hollywood a more scalable approach to making money for certain kinds of films.  Imagine Iron Man or Batman or Man of Steel on a big screen under the big sky with seriously decent food and a little bit of wine or beer and the opportunity for flirting afterward.  I’m telling you, this is a BIG idea whose time has come back.

Honk if you agree.