Honda's Project Drive-In Helps Save Four Additional Theaters, Nine in Total; Continues Fundraising Effort to Help Others

TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Project Drive-In, Honda's national effort to help save drive-ins facing closure due to the end of 35mm film distribution, is awarding four additional drive-in theaters (in alphabetical order)—Monetta Drive-In (Monetta, S.C.), Ocala Drive-In (Ocala, Fla.), Starlite Drive-In (Cadet, Mo.) and Stateline Drive-In (Elizabethton, Tenn.)—a new digital projector along with the first five theater winners—99W Drive-In (Newberg, Ore.), Cherry Bowl Drive-In (Honor, Mich.), Graham Drive-In (Graham, Texas), McHenry Outdoor Theater (McHenry, Ill.) and Saco Drive-In (Saco, Maine)—announced last week. More than 2.6 million votes at www.projectdrivein.com determined the total of nine winning theaters.

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"It's not often that a company gets the opportunity to help preserve an American pastime. It has been an honor and a privilege to bring national and local attention to the fate of drive-ins and to meet the passionate owners of these small businesses," said Alicia Jones, manager of Honda & Acura social marketing at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We hope that the #SaveTheDriveIn movement continues in the effort to help keep more drive-ins open for the next generation."

Beyond supplying digital projectors, Project Drive-In raised more than $43,000 at the Save the Drive-In Fund at Indiegogo (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/project-drive-in-save-the-drive-in-fund). Those dollars helped to purchase one of the four projectors awarded today and this fundraising effort will continue through the end of the year in hopes of raising further money to support more digital conversions.

To tell the story of participating drive-ins, a video debuts today revealing the emotional reactions and excitement of the drive-in winners and expresses the outpouring of support from nearby communities; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKS6k6LOvw&feature=youtu.be.

In addition, a Honda-donated 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite^® is available on the Project Drive-In fundraising Web page for $50,000. The donation will not only award the winning bidder with the brand new Odyssey minivan, but also help fund an additional digital projector and save another drive-in from closing.

Over the past seven weeks, Project Drive-In has elevated awareness of this historic part of American cinema and car culture. The effort has received more than 651million impressions in press coverage in addition to 62 million impressions on Twitter alone. There were more than 30,000 individual online mentions across blogs, forums, etc. The effort began with a poignant video, viewed more than 1.1 million times, designed to rally Americans to help drive-ins at risk of closing because of the costly switch to digital projection, estimated at $75,000+ per screen.

Visitors to the Project Drive-In website were encouraged to share information about the program with family and friends via social media, email or texts and pledge to see one movie at their local drive-in.

All nine winning theaters will host a celebration that includes a special screening of Sony Pictures Animation's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, in theaters everywhere on September 27.

About Honda
Honda offers a complete lineup of cars and trucks through a network of more than 1,000 dealerships in the United States. In 2013, Honda marks 40 years of the Civic model, with more than 30 years of producing automobiles in the region, which began with the Accord in Marysville, Ohio, in November 1982. Having produced more than 25 million vehicles in North America through 2012 using domestic and globally sourced parts, Honda currently operates 14 major manufacturing facilities in North America, producing a wide range of Honda automobiles, all-terrain vehicles, power equipment products, engines and transmissions.

About Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 picks up where Sony Pictures Animation's mouth-watering comedy left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood thought he saved the world when he destroyed his most infamous invention -- a machine that turned water into food causing cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is now creating food-animals – "foodimals!" Flint and his friends embark on a dangerously delicious mission to battle hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, hippotatomuses, cheespiders and other foodimals to save the world – again! Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn.  Screenplay by Erica Rivinoja and John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein. Story by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller and Erica Rivinoja. Inspired by the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. Produced by Pam Marsden and Kirk Bodyfelt.

SOURCE Honda