This is topic AMC "There is a Difference" in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-09-1999, 08:50 PM:
Hi, I just recently signed up to the forum after reading some of the messages posted. I can't stop laughing after reading some of the comments made on AMC and their employees. I used to be one of them. I came up through the AMC chain, and let me tell you, they are totally crap. I started at age 16 as an usher, and was never trained in the booth until I reached management position. I work in a 4 house, and management takes care of booth operations. Well, my first night managing, I was dealt with a brain wrap. The last 15 minutes or so of Instinct, and the film spirals up on the brain and beyond. I have never seen a brain wrap until this moment. Remember, I was just trained. lol.... I was scared to death. I knew I wasn't going to have the show up and running quickly, so after finally being able to get myself away from that frightening sight, I gave out passes to our patrons, and went upstairs to start with that dreadful adventure. Some people understood and some didn't. I am 20 years old, and not that experienced in the booth, but am doing a lot of reading on the subject on my own, and spending a lot of time in the booth. A new company took over the AMC buidling, after Regal kicked our butts because AMC never updated our facilities, and our buyer booked us with Regal's left overs. Man, those prints were torn up. I know you guys are probably saying to yourselves, "yeah, and I bet they were even worse when they left AMC." LOL.... I've learned a lot in a short period of time and I can honestly say, I believe I take good care of the film. The actual prints we did wind up getting first run stayed in good condition, unlike major scratches and scenes missing from our cross town coutnerpart. Now, I am currently working with Grandslam Cinemas, a new subrun theater chain as an assistant manager. We still run with AMC's old equipment in the booth, but our boxoffice is now finally automated. We run Simplex XL projector heads, with Strong Lamphouses, analog sound. The theater is under renovations, but our sister theater in Quakertown P.A. should be opening by December 1st. Believe me, I have plenty of stories you would die laughing about when it comes to AMC, but I'll save them for a day we all need a laugh.
Posted by Carl Welles (Member # 59) on 11-09-1999, 09:21 PM:
Why wait? Let's hear them.Granted at AMC "there is a difference", but their new slogan hits right in the bullseye, "changing the way people see movies".
Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-09-1999, 10:19 PM:
Oh man, where do I start with the stories? Well, for starters, the general manager I workered for is a junk collector. The projection booth was literally crowded with pieces of wood, old television parts, and who knows what else. It was a shame because every time the NCN slide man came to our theater, he and the GM would get at it with each other. The NCN guy would be sick to his stomach to actually go up to the booth. Lets just say, I was sick to go up to the booth. Now, the booth looks a lot different, I spent two days cleaning up that booth after the GM left.
Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-09-1999, 10:25 PM:
Oh yes, here is another one. A friend of mine used to manage for AMC, and he was telling me about one time he was working and he noticed a lot of people walking out of the auditourium after watching 007 Tomorrow Never Dies, and they were saying how confusing the movie was. They didn't get the ending and that the movie had a big twist in the middle. Well, the manager went up to the booth later on after closing and somehow noticed after looking at the print that the reels were mix-matched. The projectionist went from reel 3 to reel 6, than 4, 5.
Posted by George Roher (Member # 91) on 11-09-1999, 10:43 PM:
"The projectionist went from reel 3 to reel 6, than 4, 5."...That would definitely be "Changing the way people see movies." 
Actually I think their slogan should be, "Sending you home with a pass and a headache."
Posted by Tim Spencer (Member # 58) on 11-09-1999, 11:16 PM:
I'm curious if there is a nationwide tracking system for theater chains to see which chain on average hands out the most passes per screen. Does this exist and how far in the lead would AMC be?
Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-09-1999, 11:25 PM:
You can probably put it best by saying if theaters were chosen on how many passes were handed out, AMC would be the exhibitor hands down.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-10-1999, 03:18 AM:
Your stories don't say much for Regal, either. If the prints are already crap when you get them, then they have a long ways to go. Of couse, Regal will probably always have a long way to go. They didn't build their 'empire' like many other companies did by learning as they go. They just bought all of the crappy houses they could, so they could say they are the biggest. Carmike did this awhile back so they could say they were bigger than UA.
Posted by Michael Cunningham (Member # 210) on 11-10-1999, 04:42 AM:
Well Joe, at least one of the companies Regal bought up (we sometimes refer to them as the 'Borg') had a "decent" projection reputation. I originally worked for Act III which was the first company to test and install Dolby Digital and has always paid a fair amount of attention to improvements in theatre technology and film handling. I don't mean that I am offended by your earlier statement, just pointing out that even within these huge corporations you can find caring operators. Mike
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 11-10-1999, 05:06 AM:
I used to refer to Hollywood as the borg.. After the Hollywood GM who took over the theatre I was at said "your attempts to resist my changes are futile"...This was the same manager who said, direct quote, "customers don't care about the presentation, as long as the concession lines are short and they have cupholders."
After 6 weeks, I couldn't take the lunacy anymore and quit... Friday night.. 7:00... Along with the entire booth staff...
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-10-1999, 07:42 AM:
I'm at a loss to understand how it is possible to get the reels in the wrong order when splicing them onto a platter. Do these people not know how to count (or read)? The only possible justification for doing something this stupid would be if the print arrived without heads or tails or any sort of markings to indicate which reel was which, but that's (fortunately) a fairly rare occurrence. I usually ran 6000' reels and never mixed up the order of the reels (and never pre-viewed anything, either, due to lack of time); with 2000' reels, I always marked the leaders with a large piece of painter's tape with the title, reel number, picture format, and sound format written on it; the writing was so big that even a blind projectionist wouldn't mix up the reels.
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 11-10-1999, 09:52 AM:
"I'm at a loss to understand how it is possible to get the reels in the wrong order when splicing them onto a platter."Actually, I was thinking the same thing. I've been in a hurry, and spliced reels out of frame, but never in the wrong order.
It takes me about 40min to make up a 6 reel show; another 20min if I have to add snipes, trailers, etc. (Our 'standard' show is: exit; (3) 30sec ads; (3) trailers; policy snipe; "Be courteous" snipe; "Our feature presentation; snipe;" "THX" snipe.
Am I too slow?
Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-10-1999, 12:42 PM:
I do not understand myself how the projectionist could have gotten the reels mixed up. It just goes to show that some places have careless people up in the booth and the main target area that suffers because of the mix up is the audience. I can't stand seeing dirt, scratches, etc. let alone watching a movie that is in the wrong order.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-10-1999, 04:40 PM:
We just got an EX-AMC employee in our booth at TT17. Appearently, working at AMC is 'party time', or something. This guy worked in the booth for a year and he can barely thread.Just a question?--- Does AMC use special projectors or something? I had him splice up a trailer pack for me and I dropped it in. Well, EVERY damn splice was out of frame! All cut one sprocket short. That's why I ask. I wonder if they use a special 3-perf format or something!
Posted by Erick Ojeda (Member # 216) on 11-10-1999, 05:41 PM:
The AMC I worked for used Simplex XL projectors, well atleast I still use those same projectors under Grandslam Cinemas who bought out AMC Vineland 4. I visited AMC Oakview 14 in Orlando, and they used Christie projectors. I also visited the AMC Highland Lake 12, which used to be a Cinemark and was bought out in the Orlando, Fl area, and they use Cinemanicca projectors. The bad splicing you are encountering with the new employee is due to the slack in training. I personally had to learn a lot on my own. I'll be honest with you, when I was first tought how to thread, I was specifically told to throw the leader on the floor after getting enough slack to thread through the gates. Then pick the leader up, and walk the leader to the platter, and finish threading. As you know, that is a no no because dirt will get on the mylar leader, which will then hit the trailers. I threaded like that for a while, until I was told differently by a projectinist outside of the AMC chain. It's this type of training, that gives AMC projectionist the rep they currently hold. The showmanship is not there. I know personlly because I was in their chain. I do have to say that there was one AMC that did have a good presentation, and that is the AMC Deptford 8. They weren't bad, but most AMCs are. It is in large part due to the bad training, and basically, the way a lot of managers run the operation. (not very good). I know I am not the best manager out there, but I do strive hard for true showmanship. I had to begin to aquire this type of knowledge out of the AMC chain.
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-10-1999, 06:55 PM:
Randy- Be sure to lay down the rules with your new guy! And if he insists on partying then kick him out! Just tell him "I am Randy Stankey, and I am the law here! Do my bidding or you will find my foot in your ass!" Sounds like he used a different type of splicer at AMC or something. Does he thread with film on the floor? What does he think of FilmGuard? Is he afraid of it?
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-10-1999, 07:49 PM:
John--I'd say that 40 minutes per film is fast. I usually inspected the next week's films on Thursday nights during the last show of the previous week's films, so I was alternating between threadups, changeovers, making up the new films, and breaking down the old films. It's hard to judge exactly how long I spent inspecting a single film, but I'd say that inspection and makeup onto large reels would take me about an hour for a typical feature in average condition. Makeup for small reels (2000') takes just as long, since more cue marks need to be measured (though there is significant time savings at the end of the run).
I'd usually arrive at the Theatre around 6:00pm (for a 7:00pm show) and leave around 11:30pm after the end of the film which started at 9:00pm. In that period of time, I'd have two or three features inspected and ready to run on Friday and two features broken down with leaders re-attached and in their shipping cases in the lobby, ready to be shipped out.
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-10-1999, 09:44 PM:
Well, on his first day, he said, "Wow! The booth is SOOOO big! -- I know a guy who would be ROLLER BLADING up and down the hall!" (I think it was him!) ---- My answer to him was that I am just a grunt-employee just like everybody else. I would fire him MYSELF and tell the manager later! -- I'd just tell him, "Get the F--- out of my booth!"As for the splicing... I caught him SMACKING it like a stapler! When I asked him if he knew how much those things cost, he just shrugged. HECK! The last time a splicer got broke, (got flung off a platter), it took more than 3 MONTHS just to get the replacement handle!
I ride this kid like a bicycle every day I work with him. He's either going to get the idea that this isn't 'party time' and quit, or he'll wise up. It's a pitty... we NEED at least one or two more good people! (Hint)
I haven't really said much about FilmGuard to him. Basically just, "That's a film cleaner. Ever see one of those before?"
Answer: "Film cleaner? What's that?"
Posted by George Roher (Member # 91) on 11-11-1999, 12:09 AM:
"This guy worked in the booth for a year and he can barely thread."...Randy, you have to remember that he probably spent 70% of his time behind the candy counter and likely had to thread and build at lightning speed in order to help management combine those two jobs. But don't put up with any crap. When he does something wrong, just keep yelling, "This ain't AMC, this is a REAL theatre!" And you'll have to build a custom masking-tape detector that will alarm anytime he tries to sneak masking tape into the booth.
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 11-11-1999, 06:08 AM:
A third of my booth staff is ex-AMC, and all of them are really good projectionists and were very well trained...Of course, they wern't well paid... Which is why they work for me now...
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-12-1999, 04:02 PM:
I don't use masking tape. I use BLACK GAFFER's TAPE! 
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 11-13-1999, 01:54 AM:
But duct tape works so much better...
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-20-1999, 06:36 AM:
"I'm at a loss to understand how it is possible to get the reels in the wrong order when splicing them onto a platter."I once worked in a theater where the same show had been running for four days already. I was rewinding the first reel of cartoons when I noticed something odd. One of the cartoons was in back to front, I mean, it started at the end and ended at the start! It had been this way for FOUR DAYS and NO ONE had noticed a thing. I bet the kids were having a good laugh at Goofy standing on his head, though.