Honda Saves the Drive-In
Honda, being a Japanese company, might lack a little of that Made in America credibility. That hasn’t stopped the brand from putting its clout to saving an American icon, though: the drive-in movie theater.
As Hollywood has moved to all-digital distribution, nearly one fifth of US movie theaters have been left in the proverbial dark. It costs around $100,000 for theaters to convert to digital projectors, and smaller theaters simply can’t afford the switch. Rolling Stone explains the issue in more depth. With only a few hundred drive-ins left in America and most of them falling deep in the range of “smaller theaters,” they’re being disproportionately hit by the change.
So Honda is doing what it can to help. The car company has promised to donate 5 projectors to some of the hardest hit drive-ins, and it’s had fans online voting to pick the recipients. It’s also using crowdfunding to raise funds to save even more theaters, promising Honda and film-related rewards for donors. The campaign hasn’t been wildly successful, but it has brought in enough to save one more theater from going dark at the end of this year.
