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Hello out there, wish I'd found this forum 3 years ago when I was a cinema virgin reopening an ancient drivein...........oh well at least I've found it now.
What I'm after some info on is the setup of a mobile outdoor cinema. I have some plans already in place.

The projection will be from a converted 18-20 foot caravan.
I need to use 35mm as it needs to share fims with my drivein.
I would prefer a platter system. I will be taking 2 films on the road with me. ( I operate reel to reel changeovers at my drivein with 6000ft reels)
I will have a 3 phase generator for power.
I'm thinking a approx 28-30 foot screen which I will build myself.
I will use a laser pointer system to set up screen/projector position the same everytime.
All equipment needs to fit in the back of a ute (pickup for our US friends) or in the caravan, with room left over for for a bed for me.

What I'm asking is does anyone have any tips or suggestions as to what equipment will be best suited to life on the road.

No reason why you can't do this.

You can probably save on the generator, and weight in general. For a 12X30 foot screen you could use a 2,000 watt bulb in a Super Lume-X lamphouse. Those only require single phase.

Even at that, you can go up to 4,000 watts with the Strong switching supplies.

We have a local service tech that has a setup like you describe. He hauls it around in a small panel truck. His screen is the inflatable type.

Hello I operate a drive in theatre in the summer along with my indoors. I tried to set up a tempoary outdoor theatre at a school campus. However when I contacted my studio bookers about dating a movie, I ran into problems. They would not let me book a movie at my theatre and then move it to the tempoary sight. If I wanted to submit a lot of paperwork, I might have got permission. I gave up on the idea after that. I do have a portable booth I rigged up. It consists of a E-7 on a Motiograph soundhead. For sound I have an Eprad F.M. transmitter that I was going to broadcast the sound to portable radios. For a lamp I was going to use an O.R.C. 110 volt lamp with a 1600 watt bulb. I tested this unit at my drive in and was surprised how well a 1600 watt bulb lit my 80' by 39' screen. Nothing like my 4000 watt bulbs but plenty good enough for a much smaller tempoary screen. I have bigger lamps and a Strong switching unit I,had planned to use on bigger screens. Good luck on your venture. Cuemarks

Film booking would not be a problem as I'm a country drivein I tend to get things at the end of their run.My biggest headache seems to be finding 2nd hand equipment here in Australia. I've found some 16mm equip but not 35 at a reasonable price. .
Thanks for the comments guys, keep them coming

Hello Mobile/ we have a good potion of North America chockablock full of equipment: why not buy it here and get it shipped? There are very good West coast equip dealers who would treat you well.

When Titanic was at it's peak I thought of doing the same and setting up an instant summer drive in at my local High School. They had a huge lot and it would have been easy to set up. There are inflatable screens that i have seen and they do a great job. Keep us posted.

This sounds like an idea I should look into.... Where would I find an inflatable screen ??? This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

INFLATABLE SCREENS ARE EVERY WERE.START ON EBAY........You can not move a print around if you have any clearance issues.

Hello,

I am looking for 100 seat mobile outdoor cinema built on large truck/trailers. Is there any good company designing it ? or can i just get the CAD design of it?

Thanks,
Richi