Lakeport drive-in theater makes a comeback amid coronavirus pandemic

Author Stephen King may not have had drive-in movies in mind, but he was right when he said, “sooner or later, everything old is new again.”

At a time when traditional movie theaters were being ordered to close in response to the current coronavirus outbreak, the drive-in Lakeport Auto Movies became the only game in town when it comes to seeing Hollywood movies on the big screen.

Scott Lotter, President of Paradise Cinemas and owner of the Lakeport Cinema 5 and Lakeport Auto Movies, reopened his drive-in May 21, adapting new policies based on CDC, state and local guidelines for safety and social distancing to fit the special needs of the theater.

This past week, Lake County approved reopening walk-in movie theaters, but Lotter is still working through all the new requirements and has not yet set a date to reopen the Lakeport Cinema 5.

With only 18 drive-ins in California, Lotter said it was difficult to get the state to carve out an exception for “outdoor” movie theaters.

“Many people thought drive-ins had ceased to exist years ago when you could no long see them from the interstate,” Lotter said.

According to Drive-InMovie.com, at their peak in the 1950s, over 4,000 drive-in theaters were operating in the United States. Currently, there are about 325. Many more are permanently closed but still remain standing and could potentially be reopened at some point in the future.

Prior to reopening, Lotter participated in weekly Zoom conference calls with about 90 other drive-in owners around the country to compare notes on what they were doing, what was working, what needed improvement, and brainstorming ways to face the challenges ahead.

Lotter has installed Plexiglas partitions, set up sanitizing stations, written policies and remarked the drive-in lot with 10 feet between each car to comply with social distancing requirements, effectively reducing the number of cars allowed at each screening from about 400 to 200.

He is changing movies every two days, discounting prices on weekdays, and continuing to run double features every night. Current pricing is $20 per car on Friday and Saturday, and $15 per car the rest of the week.

All ticket sales are now handled online at lakeportautomovies.com. Snack bar orders are also done online, with a text being sent to the customer when his or her order is ready.

The number of customers inside the snack bar at any given time will be limited and only one person per car will be allowed to visit the restrooms at a time, with the exception of a parent with small children.

For now, drive-in theater goers will be required to stay in their vehicles, but the hope is to soon be able to let people sit outside in front of their vehicles. This is working well at other drive-ins around the country, but Lotter says he will take baby steps making changes so nothing gets out of hand.

“All these things are done to eliminate opportunities for close contact,” says Lotter. “We continue to tweak things, but overall it has been well received and runs pretty smoothly.”

A complete list of the newly initiated COVID-19 safety guidelines can be found on their website at Lakeportautomovies.com.

The next big challenge will be deciding what movies to show since studios have stopped releasing new ones, opting instead to either pull new releases from the calendar or releasing movies at home the same day as they would open in theaters.

As Lotter points out, the theater business is reliant on new movies coming out each week. He believes it will take a while for the studios to get things back on track and into the pipeline.

In the meantime, at least for the next month or so, Lakeport Auto Movies will be playing out the few movies that had just opened when things shut down and then scheduling classics and fan favorites, such as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “E.T.,” “Mad Max,” “Jaws,” “Full Metal Jacket” and “Goonies.”

Born and raised in Davis, Lotter, 63, has worked in movie theaters since accepting his first job as an usher and ticket taker two days after his 17th birthday. His pay at the time was just 95 cents an hour.

One of the biggest changes he has seen over the years has been the shift from film to digital.

“It is hugely expensive, but the technology has created a lot of new opportunities, especially for drive-ins. Bright pictures and great quality have allowed drive-ins to play more first-run movies, which has been a renaissance for them, rather than playing scratchy used 35mm prints or some B movie nobody has ever heard of.”

Lotter does not remember making a conscious decision to pursue a career in the movie theater industry, but he enjoyed what he was doing and found he was rather good at it. By the time he was promoted to theater manager at the age of 21, he had bills to pay so quitting and going back to school was not an option.

Altogether, he has worked in about 17 different theaters. He also spent six months working as a relief manager and traveling trouble shooter for a regional theater circuit.

He later operated the Lakeport Cinema 5 and Lakeport Auto Movies for Tegtmeier Associates. When Lakeport Cinema 5 was built, Lotter oversaw the design, construction, equipment installation and eventual opening in February of 1997. Looking for other locations to build similar theaters led them to Paradise, where they built a seven-screen theater that opened in May of 1999.

In 2005, he and his wife, Tracy, formed their family owned theater corporation, Paradise Cinemas Incorporated, purchasing the theater businesses in Lakeport and Paradise and leasing the buildings from their former employer.

Technically, they still own the Paradise Cinema 7, but it has been closed since the 2018 Camp fire destroyed the town of Paradise. Unlike their home that burned to the ground, the theater building survived, but suffered heavy smoke damage. The Lotters are still trying to resolve insurance claims for loss of business and damages.

Lotter has some reservations that the current conditions will lead to a resurgence of drive-ins opening or reopening nationwide.

“A lot of people think it seems like a real easy money maker, but there are a lot of challenges and it is seasonal in most parts of the country, so you have to make hay while you can,” he said. “Setting up a temporary screen or inflatable in a parking lot or park is not a drive-in. Our projectors have to meet extremely strict quality and technical standards, and virtually none of these pop-ups do that.”

Admitting it is a tough time to be in just about any business serving the public, Lotter says he still loves show business.

“It used to be fun meeting movie stars and directors and seeing new movies before anyone had heard of them. Now, it is more about bringing joy to people’s lives and seeing them enjoy themselves and escape their worries for a few hours. Our business is fun. No one forces you to go to the movies. You are there by choice.”