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Author Topic: Saving The Odeon Drive-In! Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-10-2004 06:50 PM                     Thats amazing! Congratulations!!! Mark  |  IP: Logged David Kilderry Master Film Handler Posts: 355 From: Melbourne Australia Registered: Sep 1999 posted 05-10-2004 09:43 PM                        It goes to show, if you really believe in something, and consider others do as well, you have a good chance of making a change. Congratulations. This groundswell of interest maybe just enough to swell crowds this season and make the operation viable enough to find a solution to the sewerage problem. The Coburg drive-in here was to close and it was front page news, so many people went one last time it is still open 7 years later! David  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Fuentes Mmmm, Dr. Pepper! Posts: 1168 From: Corpus Christi, TX United States Registered: Jan 2004 posted 05-10-2004 10:15 PM                     That's great Andrew!!  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 05-12-2004 11:12 AM                     Andrew, YOU'RE AWESOME!!!! Major kudos! There was a drive-in near here I tried to "save" to no avail. Mainly because the owner had faded away into isolation from the community and his family, and was only interested in selling off the property. I managed to contact the nephew of the owner, but it was too late. The property had been sold to Chrysler for a new Jeep dealership that never happened. They leveled the building and screens, pushed dirt around everywhere, and put up a FOR SALE sign. You can still see the screen supports jetting out of the dirt. =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Andrew McCrea Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 645 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Registered: Nov 2000 posted 05-12-2004 02:56 PM                        THANKS EVERYONE! I start this Friday on the 14th and I'm really excited... Its only orientation- we open on the 21st. I don't know if you've all heard of the severe weather here lately... We're getting it from a cold and hot front meeting in the US and pushing up. So far, we have gotten almost 50 cm (approx. 1.5 feet) of snow and rain (plus thunderstroms:P) in the last 48 hours. It should go as fast as it came, they've said.  |  IP: Logged Andrew McCrea Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 645 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Registered: Nov 2000 posted 05-23-2004 03:02 PM                        WOW! Opening weekend's been hot!!! The temperature isn't all that good, but last night we sold-out with 998 cars, and 400 had to be turned away. They think we'll be selling out tonight, so everyone's gonna start an hour early. Also, the theatre has a septic tank. It's a divided one. The liquids are pumped into a pond out front. The theatre also has a sistern for fresh water (kitchen and fountains) and well water for the bathrooms. The sistern ran out like 15-30 minutes after the gates opened, and we had no water to clean the grills, serve fountain drinks, clean dishes, etc. An emergency load is supposed to come today. Well, it's our long weekend and apparently it gets busy on opening weekend... but not like this. Let's see if we can keep it up this season!  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 05-24-2004 12:46 AM                        Congrats on the job, Andrew. No matter how it works out, the experience will do wonders for your perspective of the industry. Oh yah... you can't do better than work at a drive-in... sistern or not! This is our place... well, 2 of the 3 screens. The original 1949 screen is below the picture. We live on the property... way cool.  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 11-05-2005 07:47 AM                 It has been 530 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Peter Berrett Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 602 From: Victoria, Australia Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-05-2005 07:47 AM                        Congratulations Andrew I hope the drive-in prospers and finds a loyal audience into the future and that your new jobs stands you in good stead for a future career. I just wish there had been a few people like you at Shepparton a few months ago. The Shepparton Drive-in might have been saved from closure maybe. Its been 530 days since the last post so maybe you can give us an update on how the drive-in is trading? cheers Peter  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-30-2005 05:35 AM                     Found this so it's looking good... >>Odeon Drive-in I recently attended the Odeon drive-in in August, 2005 and was very impressed. The screen is massive, tall, and has an excellent, and bright picture. The snack bar has a wide and delicious assortment of yummy food and beveradges. I had waited a long time to visit the Odeon especially after getting involved in The Save the Odeon Campaign in summer 2004. It is a beautiful drive-in and absolutely worth taking serious effort to save. Winnipeggers and myself are keeping our fingers crossed for a devoted drive-in owner to consider purchasing the 998-car capacity ozoner and keep it open for many years to come. If operated by a private owner, I would imagine a second or third screen would eventually be added to the lot cinsidering the large capacity. It is the Winnipeg areas last drive-in theatre and is located just outside the city in. The Friday night I attended, the lot was pretty full and in the snack bar there was a big lineup throughout the evening. Cineplex Galaxy LP has recently bought Famous Players Theatres so I am unaware how this will affect the Odeon Drive-in and the remainder of Cineplex Odeon's drive-in theatres all located in the province of Quebec. The drive-in only charges $7.50 per adult, $5.00 for children and seniors, and $25 per carload. << Andrew are you still involved with it?  |  IP: Logged Andrew McCrea Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 645 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-30-2005 06:33 PM                        Well, without saying too much about it (that would be a breach of privacy with my employer), I finished my second season with Cineplex Odeon in September. At that time, I moved over to SilverCity Polo Park (Famous Players) and have been enjoying my job there. Next summer, if it does indeed open, I do plan on completing a third season. I just hope that some of our staff from last year in not invited back. That was the major downfall last season and customers DID notice. When only 5 or so out of the 20 staff bust their asses to clean, stock, serve (yah, some people stood around to chat while guests were waiting) etc., that majorly interferes with the presentation. Aswell, We had a former union projectionist working at the theatre last season as an assistant manager, and I was always so proud of our presentation. The prints didn't have a single speck of dirt on them, and a fresh xenon made the screen nice and bright this year, even though the huge soccer complex across the highway keeps their huge flood lights on until midnight. As for my new position in the company: I work at SilverCity Polo Park's Burger King and in the projection booth! It's such a great job and work environment, and I think that I've fit in pretty well. Going from doing projection at a three-plex to a 14-plex was quite an interesting experience. And like I said, I'll update this post when the time is right (around April)!  |  IP: Logged

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