Sometimes art does, indeed, imitate life.
Jay Daulat knows this full well.
As the owner/operator of Aldergrove鈥檚 鈥� the last drive-in movie theatre left standing in the Lower Mainland 鈥� his family-run business is often in demand with TV and film productions doing business in 鈥楬ollywood North.鈥�
Looking for a place to shoot a drive-in scene? Don鈥檛 bother constructing a set.
Just head to Aldergrove, where a ready-made, five-and-a-half acre drive-in with a capacity of 424 cars awaits. 鈥淲hen they (film crews) want a drive-in scene, they come to us,鈥� Daulat said.
Cut to early October, 2016, when crews from the Netflix series Riverdale converged on the Twilight for two days of filming.
Based on Archie Comics characters, including Archie, Veronica, Jughead, Betty, and Reggie, most of the 13 episodes of the Berlanti Productions鈥� drama have a dark tone 鈥� think Beverly Hills 90210 meets Twin Peaks.
In episode four of the series, which aired Feb. 16, Jughead despairs over the news that the local drive-in where he works is closing. During the final night at the drive-in, the James Dean movie Rebel Without A Cause lit up the Twilight screen.
The mid-week filming schedule worked out perfectly for Daulat.
鈥淲e only operate weekends in the fall,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o we were closed Monday through Thursday.鈥�
Daulat ran the film projector during the drive-in scene.
鈥淪omebody had to run the film, because we had to get some scenes on the (movie) screen,鈥� Daulat said. 鈥淚 was around.鈥�
However, Daulat didn鈥檛 interact with the cast members.
鈥淭he crew, because I was here and all the set decoration people were here during the day, I was here with them,鈥� Daulat said.
鈥淭hey were fine.鈥�
A thrill for Daulat was the fact the 鈥楾wilight鈥� moniker didn鈥檛 change for the episode.
鈥淭hat gave us that added exposure,鈥� Daulat said.
Daulat鈥檚 youngest son, Vijay 鈥� who works at the drive-in along with brother, Vesham and mom, Camla 鈥� said he was bombarded by texts following the episode.
鈥淭hey said, 鈥楧o you know the drive-in was on Riverdale?鈥� Well鈥� yeah! Of course I do,鈥� Vijay related. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 change anything. The first scene was our sign outside, as is.鈥�
This is familiar territory for the Daulat family. The Twilight has been used for a cornucopia of filming projects, from commercials, to TV series, to a feature-length movie. Among them: Air Bud: Spikes Back, and episodes from TV series including Psych, R.L. Stine鈥檚 The Haunting Hour, and Flash Gordon.
Business still good
A total of 52 drive-in theatres remain in operation across Canada, according to .
And the Twilight, which opened Sept. 1, 2005, is one of just three left in B.C. The Starlight in Enderby and the Park in Prince George are the other two.
That number is down significantly from the 24 that once operated across the province, including in such locales as Golden, Trail, Quesnel, and Westbank.
Among the Metro Vancouver notables no longer in operation are the Cascades in Vancouver, Lougheed in Burnaby, New Westminster in Surrey, Chilliwack, and Tillicum in Victoria.
Meanwhile, the U.S. remains the drive-in capital of the world, with 326 theatres still in operation.
Daulat, who has been in the drive-in movie business since 1969, doesn鈥檛 plan on going anywhere.
He loves it so much that he didn鈥檛 want to walk away.
He forged on, even after his former business, the Hillcrest Drive-In in Cloverdale, closed Sept. 28, 2003 and was subsequently razed to make way for residential development.
Daulat ran the Hillcrest for nine years before finding a new home for the business in Aldergrove.
The changes didn鈥檛 stop there.
The Twilight switched from 35mm film to a computerized digital system in March 2012; it was a move that not only made sense, technology-wise, but also made Daulat鈥檚 work life a thousand times smoother.
鈥淒ad got his start in theatres as a projectionist,鈥� Vijay said. 鈥淎nd there was lots and lots to do with it. Then when we got into digital, my dad said, 鈥榯his isn鈥檛 projection work, I don鈥檛 want to learn.鈥� But all it is now, is, it鈥檚 a little HD drive that we put in the projector and it downloads it in.鈥�
The projection room where Daulat toiled for countless hours during the first seven years of the Twilight鈥檚 existence now sits empty most of the time.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to even use the projection room,鈥� Vijay said. 鈥淏efore we open we turn (the drive) on, then it鈥檚 connected to a laptop in the box office and we hit play.鈥�
Daulat said switching to digital simplifies things.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to worry about film breaks, sound problems鈥� anything. I wouldn鈥檛 go back to film.鈥�
Looking ahead, Daulat still has faith in the outdoor movie experience, noting that business is 鈥渆xcellent,鈥� considering the nasty late winter weather the South Coast has been experiencing. He believes things are looking up with the promise of spring, and with it, better weather and longer days on the horizon.
鈥淲e do expect this summer will be good,鈥� Daulat said. 鈥淭here are lots of good shows (coming), and we expect attendance to continue to be good.鈥�
