Help Us Go Digital

Would you like to help us out with a project?

HELP US CONVERT THIS THEATRE TO DIGITAL PROJECTION

(Please read the REASON FOR THIS CAMPAIGN (below) before making any donations)

If you care to donate money to help us go "digital" --please use the donate button below. This is thru Paypal and you do not need to have a Paypal account to use this service. All donations are appreciated. Please leave your email address so that we can thank you for your assistance in this regard.

We have raised $16,750. for our digital fund conversion--- we need a lot more help if we our to meet our goal of converting this theatre to by the end of 2013. PLEASE HELP US OUT!!! We do not get assistance thru Virtual Print Fee Programs with the studios to convert this theate to digital-- the big theatre chains get up to 80% assistance to convert to digital projection where we get NO ASSISTANCE and need to raise the funds ourselves to keep this part of America's Roadsiide history and the only remaining drive-in theatre in the DC AREA alive!

REASON FOR THIS CAMPAIGN

Did you know that all theatres must be digital in the next few years? Unfortunately, if we don't convert we will be "out of business". While we embrace converting to digital and the various benefits we can get from this technology--conversion to digital is a daunting task for drive-in theatres; small town theatres; mom and pop theatres and art houses. Unfortunately, many independent theatres have not been able to take advantage of studio financing (called VPF's) (Virtual Print Fees) to convert to digital like many of the major theatre chains have been able utilize to convert their theatres-- therefore, it means that we have to rely on our own resources and help from others to accomplish this task.

Converting this theatre to digital will cost us: Approximately- $140,000. As you can see-- the cost of this equipment is almost the cost of a home in some parts of the US. You could argue that this is a business expense and capital improvement that we should undertake--and we plan to do so--but with profit margins slim in the drive-in theatre business (that is why there are no longer 4,000 drive-ins operating in the US and now down to 366) --it is hard to tack on another $140,000 worth of debt, without worrying how you plan to accomplish this "improvement".

Most of the cost to convert this theatre to digital will be financed by the theatre leaseholders/owners. However, we can't do this project all by ourselves-- and here is how you can help---

1) Please patronize our theatre concession stand! The studios make most of the money on ticket sales-leaving us with only the concession sales to help keep this theatre viable--with the cost of digital now on the horizon-- it is even more vital that we have strong concession sales!

2) Over this year, we will offer numerous items (t-shirts, cups, unique collectables, etc.) that will be for sale to our patrons. We hope you will purchase some of those items. Profits from the sale of items will be deposited into our digital projection fund.

3) If you choose to make a $15 or more donation towards our digital fund-- we will record your name and include it in a special trailer that we will have made up in 2013-- that we will show at the beginning of each night's program-that will tell the story of how our patrons helped make digital possible at The Family Drive-In Theatre!

4) Watch for other announcements during the year on other ways you can help us out and get something back in return!

Thanks for reading this page and for caring! Together, we can keep "Magical Movie Moments- Under The Stars" for the best patrons in the world!