It’s a great feeling to follow up a Cinemas For Sale post with a Member of the Month feature!
This month, we’re continuing our trend of celebrating newly re-opened film exhibitors with the awesome Mustang Drive-In in the beautiful Prince Edward County.
New co-owners Ian Chislett and Aravind Selvaraj are two chefs who, until recently, ran rival (friendly!) taco stands in the County. Neither had worked in film exhibition before. They took the drive-in on because it solved two problems at once: it saved a community institution from closing, and it gave them the commercial kitchen space their pop-up food operations had never been able to find.
That kitchen now supports their other food businesses, and the site has been built out well beyond the screens. There’s the licensed Rebel Taco beer garden, the biggest sandbox in the county, lawn bowling, a community artist mini-putt, and possibly a driving range under consideration. Concession sales run to quesabirria tacos and poutine and fries supreme alongside the popcorn.
Their opening night double bills spoke to their cheeky and inventive spirit: Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick and Zoolander and Nacho Libre.
We spoke with Ian about learning film exhibition on the job and why he’s in the nostalgia business; how often do you get to watch the sunset before a film?
Tell us why you decided to take on the Mustang Drive-In:
My business partner Aravind and I decided to take on the Mustang because we saw an opportunity to save a community institution and make something special out of it. We both ran (friendly) rival taco stands in Prince Edward County and struggled to find commercial kitchen space and with the disorganization of being pop up vendors. The Mustang solved a lot of things for us! We have been able to retrofit and build out a full commercial kitchen to the point we can support our other food operations from here. We know our community is being overpriced year over year so being able to offer a third space at very reasonable cost to entry is high on our priority list.
The big drive for me personally was the wish to keep it around, I say it to people all the time but you can see a movie with better picture and better sound but how often do you get to enjoy the sunset first? Or watch a movie against a field of stars?? I have incredibly fond memories of drive-in theatres as a kid and young man and I like to think we are in the good times and nostalgia business.
SO, if we can blend a logistics problem, a community need, and a dream together with the Mustang that made it beyond easy to be to the new stewards of a landmark.
What are your aspirations for the Mustang Drive-In?
We’d like to build the Mustang Drive-in out to be a destination day and night, we have already added the biggest sandbox in the county and lawn games as well as our licensed Rebel Taco Beer garden. In the future we intend to add lawn bowling, community artist miniputt and maybe even a driving range down the line.
As for the film experience we are building out the ability for patrons to order from their cars, improving the audio experience and reception and what I am most excited about : pairing food with movies. We are chefs first, our idea is when we are experiencing droughts of less than high performing movies we can offer a true experience like no other. Imagine, Pulp Fiction and royals with cheese, or The Godfather and pasta specials, maybe Chef and cubanos?
What sort of films do you show?
We primarily show first-run, first-release films. When we have a gap in first releases we like to mix in nostalgic throwbacks.
What are the Mustang Drive-In’s greatest challenges?
Short answer, the learning curve! We have had to learn a great deal about film exhibition in an incredibly short time. We also deal with standard rural issues: wells, septic systems, and limited power. All surmountable things, thankfully!
What was the Mustang Drive-In’s opening night under your new ownership?
Our opening night was May 15th 2026 and our opening bill was Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick on screen two and Zoolander and Nacho Libre on screen one. Our taco stand’s branding is all luchador based and I used to dress up as Nacho Libre and distribute flyers all over town.
What are your most popular concessions items?
Popcorn is the obvious, but we also do a robust trade in Quesabirria tacos and poutines/fries supreme!
Tell us about yourself; how did you get your start in film exhibition?
This is actually my start in film exhibition, it’s mostly on-the-job training but the former owners gave me a crash course and the Regent Theatre in Picton has been a great resource. I started cooking at 13 and have since been a chef all over Canada and internationally. I started Rebel Taco after Covid disrupted the hospitality industry. I can tell you sincerely I never thought I would be disassembling projectors, reseating circuit boards and creating lens profiles! I truly love it.
As a side note thank you for welcoming us to this organization – NICE has been a great resource for us!