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Author
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Topic: Projectionist Salary??
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Zach McQuaid
Film Handler
Posts: 37
From: Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 09-20-2004 08:37 AM
There is Most definitely a Union over here on the east coast. In fact, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo... these areas are pretty hardcore. Also, Buffalo, Rochester NY, Syracuse... these are strong union areas. Here in Erie, the Union actually disappeared after Cinemark moved into town and bought out the local GC. It seems however, the furthewr south you go, the less prominent it is though. I lived in Greensboro for a while and it seemed relatively "unionless" down south of the Mason Dixon line. Union booths are what separate the $16.00/hr projectionists from the $6.00/hr "usher-b's"
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-24-2004 05:27 PM
Bill must have the best job in the world. ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
For those who do one-off shows (at colleges, etc.), how much do you normally charge per show? The work would normally include arriving about an hour before the start of the show, inspecting and repairing the film (usually older 35mm prints in less-than-pristine condition; sometimes gorgeous prints, sometimes 16mm, etc.), and then running it (usually taking up onto shipping reels). For most films, that's a three-hour time commitment, plus it takes away an entire evening's worth of potential work. The booths that I have run have usually been well equipped (thus, I don't need to supply any equipment), although I sometimes have to arrive >1 hour before showtime if I've never run the booth before or haven't run it for a while.
When asked at venues which don't have a standard pay schedule for this, I've responded that my "usual" rate for this is about $50 per show, flat rate. No one complains about it, but I don't want to over- or under-charge anyone. What is a "fair" charge for this? Keep in mind that theatres in this area typically pay projectionists upwards of $11-12/hour.
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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-27-2004 04:36 AM
quote: Scott Norwood
For those who do one-off shows (at colleges, etc.), how much do you normally charge per show?
I'm reluctant to state publicly or concretely what I charge, since it varies according to the venue & type of show.
Most of the colleges & some of the historic theaters around here have switched to poor video that somebody there pushes the button & turns on.
I've done only 2 35mm shows that were a part of a film festival which ran video who knows where, but got me to run the 35mm at a multiplex. They were nearby, I charged $75, mostly since they were non-film-related, non-profit-type groups. However, the politics involved in just moving the makeup table, not to mention cleaning the nasty rollers, & going from there was more than it was worth. The time-consuming spiel from the booth & mgmt guys regarding "Don't change anything", "Do you know what you're doing", & "What are you going to do with that stuff you brought in" sort of rankled coming from folks who weren't even running in digital due to maintenance issues & had horrible, willfully uninformed, & careless booth behavior & condition. For those, I refer them to a nearby multiplex projection chief for whom I know to have a good reputation & will be sort of known to the theatre.
That leaves the theaters with a variety of issues regarding traveling distance, booth maintenance unknowns, etc. Absolutely charge for travel costs (gas & lodging). One theatre I work with is such a dream for professional, informed staff & management that I lowball them considerably. Otherwise, if it's a Frankenstein job of bringing the dead back to life, I sometimes require that I be there a day before & have to estimate a little high knowing I might go in the hole jacking the thing up, repairing needless damage in the booth, fixing stuff in the front end, dealing with peculiar staff & management, etc.
For an outside-rental commercial film festival, in an historic house that I knew pretty well, I charged $16 an hour plus hotel expense & gas cost to the city; for a week long, all-day festivel I thought it would be a pleasant diversion & accumulation of change for a week off from the regualr gig. It normally would have been, but the added hours due to condition of the film prints, schedule changes, organizers' disorganization & demands, etc. making pre-show organization fly by the wayside, etc. quickly made it seem less like a $16/hour walk in the park. If the theatre staff hadn't been so great, I'd not work with those renters again.
Like Scott, I mostly do shows for gratification. I'm not going to put on a bad show or wreck a print, & my requirement is that
the people in the seats have a great movie & want to come back to the next one. Otherwise, what's the point?
I think though that I usually spend more time & am more valuable as a sevice call, & the projection comes as a spiff. A national cinema service quoted one theatre I was at $90/hour plus mileage for a tech (I spoke with the tech afterwards who said, "I don't know how much they're paying, maybe $45 an hour", so you know at *least* what that overhead was). So I'm really very cheap, but that's because I only like venues that are not always ready to go, but are very interesting & enjoyable for me. It's sort of symbiotic.
I've found out that you don't work for free or for a plainly token cost, no matter how good the mission of the show is or straightforward the operation. Unfortunately, a lot of occasional film venues are run by administrations who only think something is worth as much as they pay for it, & if it's free, it has no worth. Amazing & time-consuming booth & front end damage because "we've got a guy who'll fix it" is typical.
As always: Know who you're working with. Other than that, you've got to estimate around it for unusual situations.
I don't take jobs at theaters that I know have been using union projectionists previously. I believe that people should be paid enough to make a living for their investment of time & expense to acquire knowledge & skill. Otherwise, you cheapen the profession. And I think it's an honorable one.
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Daniel Alt
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 111
From: Lakewood, OH, USA
Registered: Mar 2004
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posted 09-30-2004 09:50 AM
Scott, I'm a projectionist for a college film society, so I can address your question.
We do get paid, but not a lot, and the scale hasn't increased for a long time. The scale is by the hour for 16mm (since it's so little work, we're basically getting paid to sit in the booth and read) and by the number of shows for 35mm. There is still a posted schedule for 70mm, but we haven't shown a 70mm movie in seven years. (And with our new sound readers, we will no longer be able to, sadly. Hard to justify the $$ for the 70 bypass kit when no one is releasing prints any more)
The big problem is that attendance has plummeted since I was an undergraduate. When I was in school, there was no web, and so the internet really wasn't an incentive to stay in your room like it is now. Crowds of 200 to 300 for each show on Friday nights were commonplace.
Now if we get 200 for THREE shows, it's cause for celebration. We had 13 people show up total last Saturday evening. The only reason the projectionists are getting paid at ALL is that the concenssions stand and student activity fee are subsidizing showing the movies, which is at this point a money losing proposition.
I miss the huge crowds, but I still go, because I like playing with the big toys. (And on nights when I'm NOT the lead projectionist, I go because I like playing bridge with the student staff)
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-30-2004 03:56 PM
It never would have occurred to me to charge different amounts based on the format. I guess I could see an extra charge for, say, converting equipment over from 35mm to 70mm and back, but even that isn't a big deal (the most time-consuming effort is changing out the spindles). Heck, I've been known to charge $50/show for video, too; it's less work, but it actually ends up taking more time in most cases, since video decks need to be rented, picked up, and returned. Plus, most venues have cheesy video setups that require tweaking to produce halfway decent picture and sound quality. I probably should charge more for video shows, actually.
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