By Alex Zaragoza, Apr 17 2020



Movie theaters across the country have shut down as the coronavirus crisis has led the government to enforce stay-at-home orders and evening curfews in some cities. The film industry has been hit hard as a result, with studios either pushing back the release of many films, including the hotly anticipated new Wes Anderson flick The French Dispatch and Daniel Craig's final Bond film No Time to Die, or choosing to go direct to streaming, as is the case with Pixar's Onward.

Somewhat exempt in all this are drive-in theaters. According to Deadline, only 14 movie theaters in all of the U.S. were open last week, and 13 of them were drive-ins. Just one of those theaters was showing first-run films: the Ocala Drive-In in Ocala, Florida. Writer Ernie Smith discovered, and shared in a fascinating and thorough Twitter thread, that the Ocala Drive-In was responsible for the entire revenue of the top-grossing film of last weekend: the arthouse horror flick Swallow, bringing in $1,710.

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The Ocala Drive-In originally opened in March 1948, but it was closed in 2002. "It was in pretty bad shape when I found it and restored it and re-opened it," Watzke said. Watzke comes from a long line of movie theater workers: his grandfather was a projectionist, as was his father, his brother, and now their sons. He used to go to theaters with his father as a kid, helping him repair equipment and learning the trade. "We go back 107 years of the family working in theaters," he said.

He's also offering his drive-in free of charge for church services, city meetings, and graduations so they can all continue at safe social distances, with attendees staying in their cars as presenters speak on stage and have their voices projected through the drive-in's radio frequency. Some events can even be projected onto the screen.
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Watzke said he's been able to adapt to COVID-19 life fast by going to "great extreme" to ensure patrons' safety while watching Trolls World Tour, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, or the less child-friendly indie horror about cults The Other Lamb. He sectioned off every other parking space with rope and fencing so each car has 10 to 16 feet between one other (meaning his max capacity is just 40% of the usual amount); people can order concessions online and an employee wearing a mask and gloves will deliver to their car, stretching out their arm to reach the driver's outstretched arm so they can stay six feet apart; Watzke patrols to make sure no one with lawn chairs ventures out of their designated space; kitchen employees wear masks and gloves; food runners trash their gloves after delivering each order; trays are disinfected after each use; employees get their temperature taken at the start of their shift then again every three hours. There's a lot more, but you get the picture.

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Watzke is hitting his current capacity on a regular basis, but he's continuing to charge the same amount so the Ocala is "not raking it in by no means."

He's also offering his drive-in free of charge for church services, city meetings, and graduations so they can all continue at safe social distances, with attendees staying in their cars as presenters speak on stage and have their voices projected through the drive-in's radio frequency. Some events can even be projected onto the screen.

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https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xaj...n-ocala-florida