Black-owned drive-in motion picture theater born of the Covid pandemic has strategies to stay

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Black-owned drive-in movie theater born of the Covid pandemic has plans to stick around

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The Covid-19 pandemic considerably modified the small company landscape in the U.S., improving some while squashing others.

For Ayana Morris and Siree Morris, it represented a chance: They co-founded drive-in motion picture theater Newark Moonlight Cinema. But even as vaccinations have some individuals going back to their pre-Covid methods, the Morrises informed CNBC they have strategies to broaden their small company.

The pop-up theater, among the couple of black-owned theaters in the nation, screens classics and cult favorites with a focus on highlighting African American filmmakers and stars. Moonlight Cinema hosted more than 20,000 automobiles at its inaugural website throughout 2020. It’s taking advantage of pandemic-related distancing procedures even as indoor cinema and home entertainment places return on their feet with vaccines now extensively offered in the U.S.

“We’re able to allow our patrons to naturally social distance … you can be with the people that you’re already quarantining with, you feel comfortable with the people you live with,” Ayana Morris stated. “You come down in your car, and you have a great experience watching a movie.”

Appearing Wednesday on “The Exchange,” the Morrises stated they prepare to broaden the movie theater’s outside home entertainment experience by including more movies and branches and boosting its concession company. 

Moonlight Cinema, which has numerous sponsors consisting of Amazon and Prudential, is running Wednesday through Sunday till Oct. 31. It reveals movies on 2 800-square-foot watching screens that will play various motion pictures all at once, with audio transferred through each cars and truck’s radio. 

Ayana Morris stated she wishes to see the drive-in motion picture theater experience “modernize” beyond Covid.

“I know that movie theaters are a thing, drive-ins are a thing,” she stated. “I think a nice combo of indoor-outdoor experiences is the smart way to go in the 21st century.”