Heavy Merriweather Parking Lot

When I.M.P. took over operations of the aging Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., in 2003, it added improvements like a sculpture garden and a mosh pit to attract patrons. The next step is cinema.

“The idea is, like everything we try to do at Merriweather Post, to make the place just a blast to go to,” I.M.P.’s Seth Hurwitz said of his latest investment. “After walking around the grounds this year and realizing there’s not much more we can do to improve the actual venue, I started thinking content.”

To capture the correct mise en scène, Hurwitz hired filmmaker Jeff Krulik, creator of cult classic “Heavy Metal Parking Lot,” to help produce the video series for the coming season. Krulik’s original film about ’80s Judas Priest fans partying outside a venue captured the essence of the mullet-ized heavy metal fan of the era.

Merriweather’s series is expected to include parking lot interviews with fans as well as visual “wall art” comprising snippets of avant-garde films and specially created film shorts. Interspersed in the presentations will be more traditional aspects of venue video presentations, including sponsor messaging and the marketing of upcoming shows.

The promoter recently spent $250,000 for five new video screens inside the pavilion that will showcase Krulik’s wall art clips, as well as eight plasma screens that will feature the videos in the artists’ dressing rooms.