Texas Cinema Creates Makeshift “Drive-In” To Screen Films During COVID-19 Pandemic

Theater crafts drive-in screen in parking lot to abide by social distancing

If any lighthearted news can come out of COVID-19’s stagnation of the entertainment industry, this might be it.

The small Texas-based cinema chain EVO Entertainment has converted one of their multiplex’s parking lots into a makeshift drive-in. The theater – located in Schertz, a northwest suburb of San Antonio – “re-opened” on Friday, March 27 to sold-out success.

The Mechanics

To create the makeshift screen, theater staff painted a portion of the multiplex’s exterior wall with high-grain white paint. The audio for the film is then broadcast via shortwave to the customers’ AM/FM radios inside their vehicles. The films begin at dusk and end before 10:00 PM, as the Schertz area is under a local curfew.

EVO Entertainment has invented a mobile app to facilitate all purchases, as cash transactions are temporarily prohibited. On the app one can reserve a space for the screening – which is highly recommended, as each screening has since sold out.

The app can also be used to order food and refreshments during the screening. The employees then deliver the food to the customer’s vehicle while wearing proper sanitary equipment such as nitrile gloves.

Restrooms are also available for customers who need them, with proper social distancing measures kept in check.

Selected Filmography

According to Forbes the theater has only been working through their recent Sony Pictures catalog, including such blockbusters as Spider-Man: Homecoming. They are reportedly looking into screening classics like Top Gun and Grease, and possibly new releases too. (Their website currently lists showtimes for Trolls World Tour starting April 9.)

“Movies have always been an escape for me,” says, EVO Entertainment Group CEO Mitchell Roberts. “I wanted to provide that same escape to the communities here during a time filled with uncertainty and stress.”

And in such stressful times, the comeback of classic approaches to watching films may be a soothing balm.

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