Drive-In Dreams - A Conversation with Lauren McChesney & Matthew McClanahan

Lehigh Valley Arts Podcast

This week, Ben interviews Lauren McChesney & Matthew McClanahan, the owners of Shankweiler's Drive-in as well as The Moving Picture Cinema.

Matt has always known he wanted to work in the movie industry. He has a filmmaking degree from Temple University and has produced numerous independent short and feature films. After completing an internship in Los Angeles, Matt became enamored with independent arthouse theaters and shifted his focus toward the presentation side of films rather than the production. In 2014, Matt helped to revive and run a drive-in theater in Carbon County, PA, and felt he found his niche. Matt teamed up with his friend and fellow theater operator, Brendan Joyce, in 2019 to found The Moving Picture Cinema (TMPC), presenting professional-grade outdoor cinema to unique, non-theatrical spaces in the greater Philadelphia area. TMPC kicked off operations with a handful of small, intimate screenings at local breweries and taprooms.

Lauren spent the majority of her adult life as a medical social worker and healthcare marketer. She met Matt in 2018, when she was a customer at his first drive-in theatre. After traveling around the country together visiting drive-in movie theaters and unique cinematic displays, Lauren found herself gravitating more toward the cinema business. In May 2022, Lauren took a leap out of healthcare and joined TMPC full time to oversee the company's marketing and business development activities, helping to expand the mobile cinema into new markets.

During the spring of 2022, Matt and Lauren met with the owners of Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre in Orefield, PA. The theater had been for sale for several years, and its future was uncertain. They made the decision to purchase the theater and continue its operations. The drive-in re-opened in November 2022 and is now open year-round. TMPC continues to innovate and evolve new events and partnerships to offer the drive-in experience to communities across Eastern PA, allowing Matt to combine his love of vintage cinema with his borderline obsessive DIY spirit.

For more information about Shankweiler's, check out their website https://www.shankweilers.com/ or follow them on instagram at @shankweilers.

For more information about The Moving Picture Cinema, check out their website https://themovingpicturecinema.com/ or follow them on instagram at @movingpicturecinema.