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Topic: Projectionist Salary??

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-05-2007 01:18 PM

Agreed with Bill. $8.15/hour is pathetic for a single-screen, much less a 10 or 15.

Outside of NYC and LA and maybe a few other places, there's only a very limited amount of this sort of work, however. Lots of venues only run film a couple of times each year, but do pay fairly well when they do.

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Chad M Calpito
Master Film Handler

Posts: 435
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: Apr 2006

posted 11-05-2007 01:18 PM

I do agree with you, Bill. Just out of curiosity, how much do the special venue type theatres pay their projectionists? Of course, a general ballpark figure since I am sure each company has a slightly different payscale. Would Landmark Theatres be considered a special venue type theatre?

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Bill Gabel
Film God

Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 11-05-2007 01:35 PM

No, Landmark Theatres is a chain, so same stuff [bs]

different theatre. Regular movie theatres will not pay high rates. Special venue locations can be $25-45 an hour. Special one-off type shows a few hundred. But that's working at a Studio level projectionist or running a screening room or Post-Production operators.

$10.50 was the single screen rate in Los Angeles back in 1994 from Pacific Theatres, when I did a weeks vacation for the operator there. (Vine Theatre)

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Chad M Calpito
Master Film Handler

Posts: 435
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: Apr 2006

posted 11-06-2007 10:24 AM

Thanks, Bill. [Big Grin]

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Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 11-08-2007 09:10 AM

Worst Jobs in America

quote:
No. 10: Motion Picture Projectionists
Concentration of bad jobs:
78.1 percent

It may be fun to see the newest movies for free, but not dozens of times in a row. The pay and benefits aren't so hot either.

quote:
No. 3: Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers
Concentration of bad jobs:
85.4 percent

The odd hours, low pay, and impatient customers outweigh the meager perks of working in a theater.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 11-08-2007 11:58 PM

Those are interesting figures and it has to bring one simple question: why is it working in the cinema HAS to be so horrible, especially being in this entertainment field suppposed to be FUN when sharing the magic of this segment of the entertainment world to the movie going public?

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 11-09-2007 03:13 PM

Could be selective reporting here, as in: which jobs are currently held by unsatisfied people most likely to fill-out an on-line survey about having a bad job? Essentially, the results boil down merely to telling us the site's active demographic.

Would projectionists happy with their job, with working with film, etc., answer a survey about which jobs are so bad? And if so, I'd guess it would probably be to talk about the crappy dishwashing job (#9) they had before applying at the local eight-plex. [Razz]

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 11-09-2007 06:07 PM

Course, in a way I probably answered my own question above due to the fact that a lot of the cinema businesses these days are operated by either former merchant owners, bankers, lawyers, real estate agents, group of investors and what have you that haven't a clue on how to run the actual cinema business as such.

Thus, with their ignorance of the cinema business, they degrade the operations down to where it's just that .. a "McJob" - just to keep the work requirements at a level that prevents inside competition in as well as possible outside competition to those owners.

..and, along with this, eliminating the fun and magic of working in a specialized area of the entertainment world with this "McJob" attitude.

-Monte

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Jon P. Inghram
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 124
From: Wichita, KS USA
Registered: Jan 2007

posted 11-09-2007 07:13 PM

Good thing the cost of living in Wichita is lower: I make $7.00/hour, the "head" projectionist makes $7.50/hour. We've got 5 screens plus a sports bar to run, so it's not like it's hard wor... I mean... Yes, we work HARD, it's a terribly difficult job! [Wink]

Actually, it can be stressful putting up with management which seems to have a hard time properly scheduling just 5 screens... [Roll Eyes]

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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 11-15-2007 10:20 PM

I don't care what part of the country you're living in - I don't see how anyone can live on minimum wage or anything close to it unless you're a student living at home. You simply cannot live in this country on $12,000 - $14,000 a year.

It bugs the hell out of me that management doesn't see a difference between the part-time kid who runs the popcorn machine and a skilled projectionist.

This country is quickly turning into a third-world country - rich, poor, no middle class. Jobs that used to pay enough to support a family no longer exist, replaced by minimum wage jobs without benefits frequently using part-time workers. The minimum wage was $1.25 in 1966. That means it should be at least $8.06 today.

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 11-16-2007 12:28 AM

quote: Martin Brooks
The minimum wage was $1.25 in 1966. That means it should be at least $8.06 today.

In Washington State it will be $8.07, starting Jan 1.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-16-2007 08:29 AM

In downtown Chicago back in the late 70's early 80's Loco 110 projectionists used to make 78.60 an hour! Ah, the good ole days...

But for you aspiring projectionists and just so you know and are clear on this... you can make more working at many McDonalds. $15.00 an hour to start in West Yellowstone, Montana!

Mark

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 11-18-2007 04:16 AM

quote: Jack Ondracek
In Washington State it will be $8.07, starting Jan 1.

..and in OREGON, you get a 20 cent raise when you can flip hamburgers, wash cars, sell tix and flop popcorn in bags at your neighborhood theatre for $8.00/hr. beginning Jan. 1 as a walk-on off the streets.

In IDAHO, we follow the Fed rules - being now at $5.85/hr, then up to $6.55/hr next July 24th and in 2009 on the same date, up to $7.25/hr.

AND by then, WASH and ORE should be pushing the 10 buck/hr mark for min wage...

Just what are movie theatres and circuits gonna do with these wage increases? I know that the small ones already are whining up a storm thinking of how much the percentage of profit increase is needed just to break even by 2009...and it's gonna mainly have to be in conc sales and a little in the gate.

-Monte

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 11-18-2007 08:12 AM

quote:
In downtown Chicago back in the late 70's early 80's Loco 110 projectionists used to make 78.60 an hour!

That's phemomenal. In DC in the mid 70s the best jobs paid around $10.00/hr. The low end was $3.33.

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 11-18-2007 04:26 PM

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
In downtown Chicago back in the late 70's early 80's Loco 110 projectionists used to make 78.60 an hour! Ah, the good ole days...

That'd be about what a New York stagehand makes, eh?

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