Josh FrankCreator/Director, SILENTS Synced · Owner/Creator/Inventor of SILENTS SYNCED, also The Blue Starlite Urban Drive-in ATX, and Author of Super Cool books.

Blue Starlite Intro tour 2014

27 May 2014 · 3 min

Watch on YouTube

3:22

The video is a brief on‑camera tour and interview with Josh Frank, founder of Blue Starlite, the world’s first mini urban drive‑in theater in Austin, Texas. It opens with a narration about the decline of traditional drive‑ins and the resurgence of nostalgic, low‑tech movie experiences. Frank explains how he repurposed a 1990 Allegro trailer to create a compact, retro‑styled drive‑in that offers a "public in private" setting—allowing patrons to socialize while watching a film from their own car. The segment highlights the theater’s rapid growth: from an alleyway accommodating six cars, to 20, then 30, and finally a 50‑car capacity space. Interview snippets from parents and a customer emphasize the appeal of passing on a classic drive‑in memory to a new generation. Throughout, the tone is enthusiastic and nostalgic, positioning Blue Starlite as a modern reinterpretation of a lost slice of American life.

Chapters

At a time when people are watching movies on the tiny screens of their mobile phones, an old-school way of catching a film is making something of a comeback. At one point in the late '50s, there were about 4,000 drive-in movie theaters in this country. That number has dwindled to less than 400 these days, but some of those survivors are really thriving now.
It's not the booming Dolby sound you're gonna get at the local megaplex. In fact, nothing at Austin's newest theater is state-of-the-art, and that's exactly the point. Hi, how you guys doing tonight? From the carhops to vintage speakers found on eBay. But now what's old is new again. Josh Frank thought Austin was ready for retro.
You're in public in private, so people can go and socialize and be around other people, but then they can go into their little mobile living room and watch a movie.
For some parents, it's simply the desire to pass on a memory.
I'm excited to have my girls— I can't remember the last time I was at a drive-in, so I'm excited for them to kind of get the experience.
At the crossroads, a lost slice of American life. Have a good night. And a new generation of families.
Oh, hi. Welcome to the Blue Starlight. This is our I want to tell you a little bit about us. We are the world's first mini urban drive-in movie theater. We started about 3 and a half years ago in a little alleyway on First Street in Austin, Texas. Let's step out of the office and I'll show you around a little bit. Oh yeah, our office is in a 1990 Allegro vintage It started out really just because I wanted a trailer. I wanted to buy like a gutted trailer and turn it into something. I liked the idea of taking something retro and doing something with it different. The idea was to reinvent the vintage idea for a modern age, and that, that's what we've done with the Blue Starlight. We went from an alleyway with 6 cars to a much larger space with 20 cars, and then an even larger space last year with 30 cars. And then this year we moved to a space with 50 cars. And now we have this.
Just the idea of a drive-in outside in an old car, I mean, you can't go wrong with that. It's nostalgia at its very best.
I want it to be an intimate experience. I want each person to feel like this is, you know, like they're getting sort of a private night at the drive-in. And that's what you get, you know, when, when you come here. Thanks, folks. Once again, welcome back. Whoo!