To a distant observer, the lot of Zion Lutheran Church and School on Aug. 28 could’ve seemed like a hectic traffic jam. Ten days before local theaters in Orange County were given the green light to reopen their operations, a standstill horde of cars lit up with the flashing of headlights and the honking of horns, as bursts of laughter erupted within the safe pod of each vehicle. 

The truth was, the occupants of these cars were operating under a set of very specific, informal rules. The cult-classic film “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” was playing on the massive projector in front of them, and event organizers at The Frida Cinema gave their audience a couple directives: every time coins flew in the film, flash your headlights, and every time Aubrey Plaza curses, honk your horns. 

“Maybe you’re not sitting next to people, maybe you’re not all meeting in the lobby after, but you are with the community,” said Logan Crow, founder and executive director of The Frida Cinema. “It’s got its own funky, immersive vibe, because it’s a throwback.”

Despite the closure of its main doors in March, The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California, has found a COVID-19-safe way to both bring in steady revenue and satisfy its community – pop-up drive-in screenings of classic films across the county. While streaming services rule the current cinema landscape, there’s still a wide market of film lovers who want the chance to watch films in a shared atmosphere. 

That’s the principle of community Crow built The Frida Cinema on – something he’s always believed in.

When he was 5 years old, Crow’s parents took him to see the 1981 film “Arthur” in theaters. He didn’t understand the humor, of course. But there was something about the New York City landscape, the overall transportive nature of the movie, that made Crow fall in love; at an age when other kids were discovering a hobby of playing video games or sports, Crow was discovering the art of cinema. 

This was a weird obsession, he thought. But as he grew older, as he met more and more people with a shared interest, Crow realized he could make a career out of talking about and sharing new films, something he never believed possible. After years of volunteering and creating programs at arthouses, Crow received an email from the landlord of the theater that would eventually become The Frida Cinema. 

It could be converted into a nightclub or a parking lot, the landlord told him. But the first moment Crow walked into the theater, he had a lightbulb moment of epic proportions. He illustrated the feeling as only someone with the LinkedIn bio, “A guy who loves movies,” could – by describing the 1991 film “Bugsy,” when American mobster Bugsy Siegel first gets the idea for the creation of Las Vegas by driving through the desert. 

“He’s got his hands out and he’s envisioning,” Crow said. “And everyone in the car is like, ‘What is he doing?’ But the idea is that he went out, for whatever reason, he saw Las Vegas – he saw casinos … I had that moment when I walked into the theater.” 

Since 2014, The Frida Cinema has been operating as a showcase for independent films and art. Due to its proximity to Chapman, a host of film lovers on campus have frequented the venue for its welcoming community, such as junior film studies major Hunter Freedman – whose first experience with The Frida Cinema came when she was dragged onstage at a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” 

“I was mortified, but it was really fun,” Freedman said. “When you go there, since it is an independent, kind of small artsy theater, you definitely feel more connected to everyone.”

Atalia Lopez, a lecturer within the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, wanted to give the students in her First-Year Focus course “Los Angeles in Film and Fiction” more of an interactive experience to the films they were discussing in class. So a few semesters ago, she reached out to The Frida Cinema to ask if they could play a list of movies from her syllabus. The theater agreed, and field trips to watch the film “Mulholland Drive” at The Frida Cinema have become a lasting tradition in Lopez’s class, as she herself has taken a spot on the cinema’s Board of Directors.

“I always walk out a few minutes early and watch their faces as they’re leaving the auditorium,” Lopez said. “It’s just the highlight of the semester … that’s just the power of cinema, having students actually being able to experience it as it’s meant to be experienced.”

With the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Crow and others have had to find ways to keep the theater’s head above water. They’ve received regular financial support from patrons such as Lopez, while also working with independent distributors to provide links to new films. 

Of course, there’s always the drive-ins, which Crow and others brainstormed as soon as their cinema first closed down in March. Despite the ruling that Orange County movie theaters could open in limited capacity Sep. 8, which has induced the reopening of larger venues such as the Regal Garden Grove, The Frida Cinema will continue with pop-up screenings alongside the resumption of planned indoor showings in October.

“We care about our patrons; I care about my staff,” Crow said. “We’ve had a lot of student youth volunteers that I’m not about to put at risk. The mission is very important to me – it’s what I feel I was put on this Earth to do – but at the same time, the safety and health of people has got to be a priority.”

At the end of the day, those looking for a community of cinema lovers to watch a film with can find plenty of opportunities with The Frida Cinema – pandemic or no pandemic. And despite the ease of watching a film at home, there will always be those like Crow who want to experience the art form in a shared atmosphere.

“Why do people flock to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa? She’s tiny, she’s 50 to 100 feet away from the audience, she’s behind this huge sheet of glass and meanwhile I could pull up a high-res picture of her on my computer and print her up.” Crow said. “But it’s something about seeing the real thing and also being surrounded by people, feeling that collective energy.”