“Silents Synced” combines classic silent films with rock music

Blue Starlite, an independent drive-in theater located in Austin, Texas, has announced its first national film event series, Synchronized silencers, where classic silent films will be paired with rock music from Radiohead, REM, They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam, Pixies and Amon Tobin.

Synchronized mufflers Series 1 is the first in a series produced by Blue Starlite Entertainment, the independent drive-in’s new content arm.

Content screenings will be distributed this fall through a partnership with independent event cinema distributor CineLife Entertainment, a division of Spotlight Cinema Networks, which now books independent theatrical and drive-in cinema networks nationally.

“Synchronized mufflers is a strategic format to attract new audiences to cinemas and provide them with an unparalleled shared musical experience,” said Josh Frank, CEO and creator of Synchronized mufflers.

Frank continued: “The question for independent cinema operators is: what can we do to encourage people to leave their homes outside of Hollywood blockbusters? While traditional movie fans will always be our soul, music fans will put more effort into a shared experience.. They are a fundamentally new audience for all of us. With these essential artists and our distribution partner, CineLife Entertainment, we seek to inspire people to gather in cinemas and reinvigorate independent theaters in an entirely new way to help them with engaging and unique events.

Blue Starlite began conversations with these artists’ executives to reimagine these timeless silent films alongside their seminal albums and other selections from their catalogs.

Synchronized mufflers‘s the first season will begin in fall 2024 with “KID A (2000) / Amnesiac (2001)” by Radiohead, associated with Nosferatu (1923), with future films expected to follow every four months. A world first of Synchronized mufflers “Radiohead: Nosferatu” will take place before its national launch in the fall.

REM Synchronized mufflers the film is expected to be distributed in early 2025.

“The guys thought it sounded like a good idea and they like the weird way their music and that of Buster Keaton Sherlock, Jr. match – pretty perfect. What a wonderful and unlikely way to present great art,” said REM Director Bertis Downs.

More titles will follow throughout 2025 with secular silent films to be announced soon, syncing with They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam, Pixies, Amon Tobin, and more to be announced as additional deals are released. finalized.

“There’s something strangely appealing about synching modern music to an old silent film: it brings a whole new perspective. I like to imagine Buster Keaton moving around the set with a 1927 version of They Might Be Giants bouncing around in his head. It’s a perfect combo,” says They Might Be Giants manager Pete Smolin.

“We are thrilled to be a distribution partner because we believe in the power of event cinema combined with alternative music’s most enduring artists,” said Bernadette McCabe, Executive Vice President of CineLife Entertainment. “It’s a concept that should work equally well for independent, theatrical and drive-in theaters, as it offers feasible event cinema that will appeal to multiple generations of current patrons, as well as music fans.”