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Ultrasonic splices (some people call 'em "lab splices") can last longer then tape splices if they are properly made. There is no reason to assume that just because there's an ultrasonic splice in a film that it's going to break. Unless your projectors eat film (a rectifiable situation) or you're psychic.

As for the private screenings, every time a film is run it is put at risk of damage. Therefore, films should not be run more than necessary.

Personally, if I want to see a show, I either screen it on Thursday night or watch a public show. If I can't work that into my schedule, I either don't watch it or rent it on DVD. I rent a lot of DVDs.

Not trying to be an ass here, but really do consider the position you are putting that projectionist in. I think you will find if you ask the regular operators to thread it up in the same auditorium it is currently residing in and all you have to do is press "start" you won't get any slack about it in return.

On another note Adam is absolutely correct, polyester prints can only be "lab spliced" ultrasonically...and those do not break unless there is something seriously wrong with the equipment, or the film was threaded incorrectly, resulting in stress on the splice that weakened it. I assemble ALL of my prints with an ultrasonic splicer and they do not break.

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It's true that many managers don't know a projector from a microwave , but those are the ones who are usually not in the booth in the first place.

I agree that the projectionist runs the booth, but what happens if the projectionist has to train someone? Why not train the manager so if something happens to the projectionist they can cover for them instead of being left out in the cold to mess up the booth. There are many circumstances where both sides of this argument could be correct. It just depends on where you are, how your booth is run, and what your manager is like. (I know, some of the managers don't want to be taught and maybe think they know it all...I understand complaining about people like that)

As a manager who tries my best (I'm the first to admit I'm not a natural) in the booth and knows many MANY others who do the same, downing on all managers in the booth just isn't fair. Certain instances (naming no names) I know a manager who is actually better then the projectionist in the booth...what about him? Should he not go in the booth of the building he is running just because there are union guys up there?

We run the building, if anything goes wrong in the booth (depending on the theater) we are the ones who have to take the heat from either the owners or the upper management. Saying that a manager should not run a show in my opinion is not fair. If you really think your managers are that bad, why don't you try to help them instead of complaining about them? (Please forgive me if you have tried to help them or teach them, I only know from the theaters I have worked at and every one of them had managers that cared about film presentation as much as the projectionists...in some cases the managers were the projectionists) It just seems like the projectionists do not give us a chance....TEACH US!!!

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Brad, you're pretty darn Chipper yourself!!!

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Now, since we're talking about a situation where a manager is new to a theater, we can assume that the projectionist doesn't really know if the manager is as good in the booth as he says he is.

For that matter, let's just drop the manager designation all together. If you were in charge of this large booth, would you just set someone (manager, DM, projectionist) free to move prints and run films on their own without working with that person a little bit and getting to know that person and their abilities?

What would the response be if the manager walked into the office to find the projectionist closing out the box office out of the blue?

So what I think the guys are trying to say is that when a theater has a *good* projectionist who takes his job very seriously and feels his presentation is a personal reflection on him (like me and a lot of others here), when a manager (who has every right in the world to come up into the booth and do whatever he/she wants) decides to run a movie and basically walks right by the projectionist, moves a print to his "preferred" auditorium and then threads it up and runs it, that IS being rude and it definitely shows off as arrogance. Sorry, but it is.

Now on the flip side, what about the theaters with *decent* projectionists where the managers are actually much better operators? Simple. Those *decent* projectionists aren't going to give a flip about what happens! They are just there for weekend beer money. Sure there will be some projectionists who aren't as good of an operator as the manager, but the way I feel about it, the manager should think back to the last time something went wrong with the shows and had to hand out passes. Has it been awhile? How about the prints? Are they clean and scratch-free? Basically, if the presentation is very good or better, LET the projectionist be an arrogant little shit...because he is giving you a great presentation! Now if the presentation isn't too swinging, push him out of the way and let him storm off and quit. Then you can get someone GOOD in there.

I think Mrs.Chipper said it best though. The manager and projectionist HAVE to learn to work together. Show the projectionist a bit of respect and odds are that projectionist will show you respect in return.

Brad hit on a key point, delegation of duties. Many circuits load stuff on a manager and reduce staff until the manager gets the attitude that he is a jack of all trades. Stepping into an employee's job may seem normal, but it is not.

I can't envision most of the folks here deciding an auditorium isn't clean enough, and going in and cleaning it themselves after hours when there is a janitor on the payroll. Admit it, being able to run projectors has a fun and cool factor which sometimes seems more important than respecting the person whose job it is to run them.

Yeah, as a manager you are responsible for the entire building. It does NOT give carte blance to do whatever you want. There are rules and guidelines set up by corporate or owners because -guess what- THEY are ALSO responsible for the entire building.

I was a DM long enough to learn that shit runs downhill, and if a manager or assistant screwed a print, somehow it got blamed on the guy "we trained in the booth, but fired last week."