By Charly SHELTON

Drive-in movie theaters were how your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents saw some of the best movies ever made, nestled safely in their own cars. They were the place to be, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, for teenagers looking for a secluded date night spot or families with kids too loud to go to a traditional movie theater. In fact, the first official drive-in theater was advertised in 1933 as a place where “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are.”

Drive-ins were, at one time, prevalent across America. In the 1960s there were over 4,000 drive-in theaters. But due to the amount of land needed to operate a drive-in, the owners found they would get more money for the land when sold to a developer rather than when a theater sat on the property. Coupled with reduced attendance due to the gas crisis of the 1970s, a steep drop-off in profits made the offers by developers all the more enticing. Drive-ins began disappearing en masse shortly thereafter and those few that remained showed shock/slasher films, exploitation films and even adult films. The reputation of drive-ins as a family outing had faded away and the excitement and fun of seeing Gidget and Moondoggie from the comfort of one’s own car were firmly planted in the past. By 2017, there were just over 300 drive-in theaters still in operation across the country, mostly as novelties showing old films on occasion. That is how the world was … until social distancing was mandated.

Drive-in theaters are making a comeback in a big way. In-person inside movie theaters have been shut down for the last year and it is hard to find somewhere to see a movie with friends where guests can really feel safe. But pulling up next to your friends’ car and watching an old favorite brings back that same nostalgic feeling that your grandparents had at drive-ins 70 years ago, and that nostalgic feeling you had of going to a movie with friends 14 months ago.

One local musician has brought this feeling back to the Crescenta Valley in a big way by establishing his own drive-in theater in La Cañada. Empire Lakes Productions was founded by Arsen Tujian and Luke Bonham, both college students who have spent the pandemic at home in La Cañada while college classes went virtual.

“We were, you know, obviously brought back home with everything that was going on [with the shutdown],” Tujian said. “So we thought to ourselves, ‘Let’s not see this as we’re losing these few months, but like how can we make something? How can we put an optimistic spin on this? Or how can we make constructive use of this time?’ And that’s kind of what inspired this.”

What started as a COVID-safe, CDC-compliant live music venue service pivoted to a backyard movie service, complete with 14-foot screen and a library of movies licensed to screen. This idea grew through private and public events at apartment complexes, country clubs, churches and more until the ultimate dream was realized: a standing location of a drive-in movie theater.

“Our end goal was always to have our own destination where we host the shows, where we have a home base,” Tujian said. “We noticed there weren’t really many drive-in theaters in our area. There are some in Hollywood, but [nothing in the Crescenta Valley]. So that kind of led to the inspiration to starting our own drive-in theater. We had our opening weekend just last weekend.”

At the La Cañada Thursday Club, 4440 Woodleigh Lane in La Cañada, guests are invited to drive-in and see some great films on the big screen in a safe way at the ELP Drive-In. The tickets are $50 for a small or mid-size car, or $60 for a full-size car/truck, and each ticket is good for the entire car full of passengers. Popcorn, soda and candy are also provided for each person, included in the price. To round out Black History Month, this weekend’s movies are “Get Out” and “Black Panther.” Donations will also be collected for Black Lives Matter, and those donations, as well as 10% of ticket sales to both films, will be donated to the organization.

For more information and ticket sales, visit EmpireLakesCo.com.