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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Uptown Theater ditches quality projectionists in search of a crappy presentation (Page 4)

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Author Topic: Uptown Theater ditches quality projectionists in search of a crappy presentation Brian D. Whitish Expert Film Handler Posts: 103 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-13-2005 11:17 AM                     Mr. Harris, The sad part is that not only will they not see your post, they wont care. I had a friend who works as a projectionist at Sundance every year. They always assemble a team of very good projectionists. At the time we were embroiled in a labor dispute with Cineplex Odeon. He ran into the President of Cineplex and asked him why it was that when they see the movie they want a proffesional running the show but they dont extend the same courtesy to their paying customers. Of course he had no answer. And the question was asked of him in front of a bunch of studio execs. How sad this business has become.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-13-2005 04:30 PM                     People should start using the "pie-in-the-face" technique on bonehead theater and studio executives like they do to politicians these days. Not only to humiliate them at an "all-too-important-hey-look-at-this-expensive-suit-of-mine-thats-where-your-raise-went" conference or convention, but to also remind them of just how close the general disgruntled public can get to them if they wanted to. =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-13-2005 06:55 PM                     Thank you Mr. Harris for such kind and accurate words. Your support and efforts for maintining the highest quality levels in cinema are treasured (by some of us, at least). Steve  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-13-2005 06:59 PM                     Steve, isn't the Uptown keeping both projectors and the quality operators for special showings and rentals, the likes of what Robert is (mostly) referring to? Not that this helps seeing Loews run a theater into the ground for the general public's shows, but correct me if I am wrong, the Uptown will still be a place where filmmakers CAN book screenings and be properly taken care of, right?  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 01-13-2005 07:16 PM                     Loews / Cineplex did the same thing on the West Coast. When they ran the Century Plaza Theatre complex into the ground. When they dropped the full time operator from that house and had management run the booth. The operator was there Thursday close, Friday and Saturday all day. OK, it was only a four plex theatre. Here in New York City, I think it is any Loews Theatre under 6 screens are operated by management. Like Frank Angel said in an earlier post, We lost the Loews Astor Plaza. By them cutting the full time operator to just Friday thru Sunday. And someone buying out the lease, to convert it into a live music venue. The days of the theatre chains paying for bad operators are now taking their final tolls. Now they do not want to pay to keep Good operators on staff anymore. He was transfered to their real hole in the city the Beverly Center complex. [ 01-13-2005, 08:45 PM: Message edited by: Bill Gabel ]  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-13-2005 08:16 PM                     Brad, yes both projectors are to remain but there won't be any operators beyond 40-hours (unless things change). It is unrealistic to think there are are people just waiting in the wings to show such events...sure a special one-shot screening will be okay...maybe...depending on how LCE chooses to upkeep the equipment. I missed John's question earlier about the booths. ABLE is only a store room now. Baker is where we currently work from (it is on the vertical and horizontal center-line of the screen so we don't suffer the distortions that the Cineramadome does, Charlie houses the rectifiers and has some minor storage. The original booth a the top of the balcony is also nothing more than a store room now. Returning projection to that booth would result in a horrible distortion of the image on the screen. Ya know maybe that would work...put a platter and some clapped out projector up there for the managers to use and let us keep Baker running two projector...they get their print to ruin and we could run ours in the traditional manner. Nobody would get in anyones way The CP200 can handle up to 4 projectors so it could work! Steve [ 01-13-2005, 09:55 PM: Message edited by: Steve Guttag ]  |  IP: Logged Robert Harris Film Handler Posts: 95 From: Bedford Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 01-14-2005 08:42 PM                     Steve G's comments in regard to taking the old balcony booth and making it the garbage booth for non-pro screenings may have been in jest -- I'm not certain, but it does express my sentiments. With professionalism comes responsibility and the knowledge that in handing off a booth to the next shift that everything is in order. For those unaware, I run a pair of vintage AAIIs in my basement screening room, which were put back into order by BL & S. And I enjoy the effort involved in putting on a professional looking presentation even if I'm only running dailies. Actually doing it gives one consumate respect for the professionals that do the job properly as a vocation. Equipment is difficult enough to keep running cleanly and reliably. To place a union projectionist in a position via which they would be walking into a booth for a special screening... and have no idea what the last "projectionist" had done to the equipment, takes the Uptown out of the running for me for special screenings. If management continues with their plan, they might as well bring in the wrecking ball, for a theatre without a qualified projectionist is a non-entity. Afterwards, the people of D.C. can make the short haul to Baltimore and see things done properly at the Senator. Is that also a Cardinal house? RAH  |  IP: Logged Matthew Jaro Film Handler Posts: 74 From: Gaithersburg, MD, USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 01-14-2005 08:56 PM                        Yes, the Senator is serviced by Cardinal. The projectionist is still Bill Hewitt --- a real professional.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-14-2005 10:15 PM                        I put in my bit on this over at r.a.m.t but want to add my support for Steve and Jose and the Uptown the way it should be. I was the regular relief projectionist there 20+ years ago and it is an honor to have worked there. I hear that community organizing is going on to save the Uptown before Lowe's does to it what it did to the Uptown. I do think it is important to let everyone you know who cares about film know what is going on. A question for Steve, or anyone else who knows: Is Lowes near the end of their lease on the building? Will the Pedas bros even allow them to mistreat the Uptown. After all, the reputation of the Uptown directly effects the value of the building. And the rent may be based on annual revenues. Any chance the Pedas will void the lease? Keep up the fight  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-15-2005 12:20 AM                     Update...I hear the platter is in but not in use at the moment...Reels 8 and 9 are now scratched but R-6 has been replaced. Anyone placing bets on the entire print being scratched when the platter goes on line? Steve  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-15-2005 12:36 AM                     Steveo, it ain't the platter that's gonna scratch them prints, it's them dagum manager operators!  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 01-15-2005 12:43 AM                    One of the benafits I liked about reel to reel operation was if no one showed up for the show you only ran the first 20 mins. or an hour if on 60's. Breakdown was a hell of a lot easier and less time consuming than platter operation.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-15-2005 08:06 AM                     Brado, with one, you are going to get the other...they have already scratched more film than in my 17-years at the theatre. Wait until the new form of focus comes in too...it won't be. Steve  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-15-2005 05:32 PM                     Steve, let's put the joking aside for a minute. I think you are misunderstanding my posts as if I am FOR the management and the platter. In reality, and you should know better, I am not for either. Although I have never been able to actually witness a presentation at the Uptown, I've heard enough about it to know what it is like, and it reminds me of my favorite saying "you can't improve perfection", because apparently the Uptown has/had just about as perfect of a presentation as it could possibly be. What my posts are reflecting however is a little rationality into the situation. For example, you claim the managers have already scratched more reels of film than has been scratched in the last 17 years. Well of course! They are NEWBIES! And you know what else, they did it on REEL TO REEL operation!!! This proves my long standing argument that running reel to reel does in no way ensure that the prints won't get damaged. It is all about who is operating the equipment and their level of caring and skill. Sorry, but you simply cannot argue that fact. The biggest problem here is the manager operators who are not properly trained, and in all probability don't care. The platter is a minimal part of the whole issue, so why don't we concentrate on the real issue instead? Still though, the entire situation is terrible. Whoever made this decision at Loews needs to lose his job because clearly he doesn't give a rat's ass about presentation quality or the customers. Loews needs to put the underpaid projectionists back at full hours and ship the platter away, because you can't fix what isn't broken.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 01-15-2005 09:53 PM                    The platter will act as an enabler. In the sense that it enables the unskilled to run the booth. Unskilled running reel to reel is a disaster as we have seen. (We only know about the scratched film and damaged equipment; who knows how many reel changes have been blown, reels started out of frame, etc.?) But also there's no point to it since the booth has to be attended full time. Putting in the platter makes it easier for the non-skilled to put on a show with fewer things to go wrong since it only need be laced up and started once. And of course they can leave it unattended. So day in and day out the shows will go on. The platter enables the unskilled to put on a show but doesn't prevent them from scratching the film and generally putting on an inferior show. Just as with unskilled running of the reel to reel booth. But the latter, with no labor savings, would be pointless. It's not inherently an evil device. Just the use that it is being put to.  |  IP: Logged

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