Production Glossary
Drive-In Theater
The drive-in theater is a type of movie viewing experience in which a movie is projected onto an outdoor screen and viewed by the audience from their cars. Initially the film’s audio was projected from speakers on either side of the screen, but eventually, small speakers were available to attach to the side of the audience member’s car door. Drive-ins offered adequate parking, privacy, and a concession stand (which brought in most of the theater’s profits).The drive-in theater was the brain-child of Richard M. Hollingshead of Camden, New Jersey. In 1932 he tested his idea in his own driveway before obtaining the patent in 1933. Drive-in theaters were all the rage in the 1950s and 60s (approximately 4,000 theaters in the US), but due to the expense of owning such large areas of real estate, declined in the 1980s. In recent years drive-in theaters have become more popular, but still only top 371 across the United States.
