Drive-in Movie Theaters

Because of their nostalgic appeal, drive-ins offer a refreshingly unique alternative to cineplexes and other forms of today's commercialized entertainment. Drive-in movies appeal to young and old alike, especially families, all looking for good value for their entertainment dollar. Drive-ins are more than just movies; they're about starry nights, cruisin' in and cookin' out. With quality programming, special events, and in-car sound, drive-in's unique experience can't be found elsewhere.

Combining two common interests, cars and movies, drive-in movie theaters have become a staple of Americana. Soon after Richard Hollingshead opened the first drive-in on June 6th, 1933, open air theaters sprang up all over the United States, and soon in other countries as well. They reached their heyday in the late 1950's with almost 5000 theaters in the United States alone, quickly becoming an American Icon. During the 1970's and 1980's drive-in theaters went into steady decline. Trying to overcome the rise of television, daylight savings time, and urban sprawl, many turned to more adult tailored fair.

Today there are less than 400 operating drive-in movie theaters in the United States, and less than half that in the rest of the world combined. Even here in the Continental US there are places where people have to drive several hours to experience the great American drive-in. Many people are not aware that there are still operating drive-ins, and there is an entire generation where few have ever watched a movie from their car with their family.

The Pocket Drive-In Locator

The Pocket Drive-In Locator is part of our preservation effort helping to ensure drive-ins do not become an icon lost in history. Our goal is to help support the remaining drive-in theaters by reminding people that drive-ins are still out there, exposing new people to the open air movie experience, and making it easier for everyone to discover drive-ins, wherever they may be.

Some features of the locator are:

• Includes drive-ins from around the world
• Maps with the location of operating drive-in theaters pinpointed
• Details about individual drive-in movie theaters
• Route 66 map and index
• Indices showing drive-ins by state, metropolitan area, even nearby highway.

We published the first edition in 1999, leveraging the extensive Drive-ins.com database of drive-in information as well as the efforts of individual drive-in movie enthusiasts. The fourth edition, published in 2006, brought it to the main stream with professional printing and availability on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, keeping it up to date with current information still required separate addendums or large, costly print runs. Enter Print On Demand.

Now, with on demand printing more readily available, we will be able to frequently update the information contained in the book, after all, how helpful is an out of date guidebook. This will also help bring it to a larger segment of the public.

The Fifth Edition

The most important piece to the new edition is updated information. As before, much of the data comes from our web site, Drive-ins.com. Enthusiasts have already begun checking phone numbers, statuses, URLs, etc. of the theaters finding out which ones are going to open this year. By the end of May, we should have a pretty accurate list.

Another change with this edition is the format. While the fourth edition was 4 x 6.3 inches, the fifth edition will be 5 x 7.8 inches. While we liked the smaller format better, being slightly larger has the benefit of distribution and availability. Amazon and other retailers and distributors have restricted newer books to a set of standard sizes to be accepted. The new dimensions is the smallest of the "standard" sizes.

We will also be adding a few new sections for this edition. Planned sections include:

• How to use the Pocket Drive-In Locator
• The History of Drive-In Movies *
• Going to the Drive-In (tips for goers)
• Featured Drive-in Theaters *
• Drive-ins in the United States
• Drive-in theaters in Canada
• Drive-ins in Other Countries
• Metropolitan Area and State Indices
• Highway Index
• Route 66 Index
• Supporters & Platinum Supporters *

* New in this edition

The Money and The Plan

Proceeds from this project will be used to cover the following various expenses:

• some graphic design and editing
• creation of POD compatible files
• conversion to reformatted size
• POD and publishing setup costs
• book printing and rewards

Compiling the current information needed has already begun. It should be complete near the end of May, exempting any last minute tweaks.

Once the project funding has a go, we will begin preparing everything needed for setting up printing and reward creation. Our goal is to have this all files and requirements ready to go once funding is complete and settled, approximately 2 weeks after close of the funding period.

From the point at which the funding has settled, passing files off to the printer.

We are striving to fulfill the orders before the end of June. This is an aggressive date though and might need to be pushed into the beginning of July.

Sample Pages From the 4th Edition

More About Us

Kipp Sherer

Kipp has been researching drive-ins since 1995. Kipp has been a professional fireman and paramedic, software engineer, and currently works as an independent Internet business consultant. Responsible for financial and strategic planning and an entrepreneur at heart, Kipp is the founding partner and CEO of Drive-On-In. Accomplishments include helping design and implement one of the first multi-merchant customer rewards programs (Ozoner Rewards),  publishing previous version of the Pocket Drive-In Locator [ISBN 1412040329], and co-creating the flagship website Drive-ins.com which has been recognized by USA Today, US News & World Report, Tech TV, New York Times, and regional newspapers. With more than fifteen years of experience in web development and business management Kipp Sherer specializes in high performance, enterprise level web based applications and online business development.  

Kipp’s background consists of studies at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition Kipp has studied at Kent State University and Stark State College. He holds a degree in computer application development, but continues to further his education, now at UNLV. He is also a former member of The Software Engineering Institute and the Society for Commercial Archaeology. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with close friends.

Jennifer Sherer Janisch

Jennifer is an entrepreneur with professional experience in a number of capacities. She has researched the drive-in movie theater as a cultural icon and has been active in drive-in theater circles since 1995. Jennifer founded Drive-On-In, Inc. in 1996 with brother Kipp Sherer and supplemented her research with a one year stint as assistant manager at a four screen, California drive-in, studying all aspects of theater operations. Through Drive-On-In's flagship website, Drive-ins.com, the two provide research, survey data, press archives, products and related resources to drive-in enthusiasts, owners and entrepreneurs around the world.

Jennifer's professional experience ranges from writing, printing and publishing, to operations, e-commerce and enterprise search. In her professional tenure, she has worked for Apple Inc, NeXT Software, Gung-Ho Company, Gemplus Corporation, Imperito Networks, Aristocrat Technologies, Progressive Gaming International, and the National Geographic Society, as well as Discovery Designs, a family-owned, contemporary woodworking business. Jennifer holds a B.S. in Industrial (Business) Management with a minor in Visual Communications from Carnegie Mellon University. She is a member of the Society for Commercial Archaeology.