Movie on in the new normal

ONE of the first things that came to mind with the dawn of this pandemic, and as social distancing became the new standard, was the following thought: This is a perfect opportunity for drive-in movies to come back in style! True enough, car enthusiasts — specifically those in car clubs — apparently thought of the same thing and worked on their concepts to delightfully usher in the revival of drive-in movies in the Philippines.

Just this month, a “Drive-In Fund Drive” festival started in Solenad, Nuvali Santa Rosa, Laguna which runs from Nov. 7 to Dec. 6. The month-long drive-in festival was conceptualized and organized by Arch. Reuben Jarvina, Rev Up Events Management and Advertising Services, and Video Sonic (through Mark Miranda).

Basically, people can score tickets online (or even at the venue, at a slightly higher price) and drive their cars over to experience an outdoor-style cinema come rain or shine. Although the movies are shown evenings, participants may come as early as they like, since a series of side events often take place, depending on the day, and the car clubs participating for that day. Last Nov. 7, social entrepreneur Illac Diaz and the trusty Volkswagen Club of the Philippines came together for a fun day of safe camaraderie, and to likewise help support Illac’s cause — his amazing Liter of Light project. A portion of the revenues from the drive-in event goes to specific charities — in this case, for the Liter of Light.

If you will remember, this charity project raises funds so Illac and his team could help bring solar lanterns to impoverished communities that have no electricity. The solar lamps are very easy to build, extremely durable, and cost-effective. As a matter of fact, they even held games at the drive-in event that challenged attendees to assemble these solar lamps from their basic spare parts as quick as possible. The participants clearly had fun learning how to build these lamps and were quite competitive in assembling them from scratch.

The following day, it was the turn of the charismatic, tightly knit Miata Club of the Philippines to hold their EB event, which segued into a drive-in movie viewing when evening came. Members of the car club jumped at the opportunity to safely get out of the house and spend some “physically distant” time with their friends, while also grabbing the opportunity to swap some car parts with other colleagues.

The drive-in event is held at a carpark where 154 slots are made available — effectively operating at 50% of its full vehicle capacity. And there are even days when pimped cars are displayed on site, a la car festival style — as if you had walked into an open-ground car show.

Finally, there is also an onsite Autocross clinic available during the day, where people who want to learn to drive a la Autocross can sign up for a tutorial, for a fee. As long as a minimum of 20 participants sign up for the clinic, an Autocross learning activity can be carried out during the day.

The current beneficiaries of some of the proceeds of the Drive-In Fund Drive are: the Philippine Red Cross, St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, and Liter of Light of Illac Diaz. Anybody may coordinate with the organizers if they plan to collaborate in order to hold their own fund-raising event for other charities. Visit www.myPBox.com for more details.