Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Age of starting Projectionists

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Posted by James Perry Jr (Member # 492) on 08-19-2001, 02:41 AM:

Just curious- How old do you require folks to be before you let them in the booth? Does anyone know of any laws about this? We always went with 18. Just curious to what everyone else did.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 08-19-2001, 02:52 AM:

See GROUND LEVEL Page 2 "Law against the age of a projectionist?"

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-20-2001, 05:12 PM:

I think being past the potty training age would be a good idea. Not only that, the projectionist should be old enough that there is no risk of him throwing the contents of his diapers around in the booth! Such a thing might violate several OSHA and EPA regulations, not to mention requiring the theater manager to fill out a HAZMAT sheet.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-20-2001, 06:25 PM:

And ya gotta be able to reach the upper spindle too.
MArk @ GTS

Posted by Ben Stephenson (Member # 741) on 01-24-2002, 09:37 AM:

I started when i was 16 and was single maning at 17, and im still at it :-)

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 01-24-2002, 01:32 PM:

If the movie's rated R, then their parents have to be in the booth with them

But seriously, at least in California it's 18.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 01-24-2002, 01:56 PM:

The original discussion is in ground page 5.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-24-2002, 02:03 PM:

I started as a projectionist at the Grandview Drive-In in May 1967, when I was 18. Before that, I had often shown small format films, and had been photography editor of my high school yearbook. I also was an electronics hobbyist, and worked at a television repair shop. I worked as a theatre projectionist while getting my degree in Electronic Engineering from the State University of NY at Buffalo in 1970. I also worked as an engineer at the campus FM radio station.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Ben Stephenson (Member # 741) on 01-24-2002, 04:20 PM:

When I first started I was a usher at the age of 16 and I had to have a letter saying he didnt mind me working in a enviroment where 18 cert films were shown, but the main problem I had was that I was not inshured to work in the projection box being 17 so on the box the manager each day was incharge of projection !

Posted by Don Sneed (Member # 955) on 01-24-2002, 08:41 PM:

I started as a projectionist in my 11th grade at high school, age 17, in 1971, in Galveston Texas, become sound engineer in 1981...still doing it !!

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-25-2002, 02:51 AM:

In NYC, the projectionist must be licensed; I believe the licensing regs include an age limit of 18. Because that license is, in effect, a limited electrician's license -- the projectionist can therefore do installation in the booth which includes wiring right up to the mains -- the test, of necessity then, is fairly extensive and requires knowledge of the electical code and the building code. So how do the chains get away with letting a high school minimum wager to go up to the booth to play projectionist? They just ignore the law. The city has yet to crack down on all the violations that are routinely practiced in nearly every booth.

Posted by Wes Hughes (Member # 981) on 01-26-2002, 12:46 AM:

I ran my first film (unassited) when I was 6 years old...Simplex XL's and carbon arcs.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-28-2002, 06:07 AM:

Wes,

I have to admit, you have me beat; I was in the 10th grade -- my high school had just installed a 35mm system in the auditorium booth and one night when everyone in the school was in the basement gym watching a pivital home basketball game, I went up to the booth and jimmied the locked door, loaded the XLs with the Disney True Life Adventure movie that was in the booth and actually got everything to work....until the teachers discovered a movie running in the theatre and called school security. I was suspended for a week, but it was more than worth it.

Posted by Darren Crimmins (Member # 1116) on 01-29-2002, 04:30 AM:

I believe in Texas one just has to be 16 to run the proejction booth, but any decent theater usually does not allow a kid that young to run the equipment. I usually will not train someone in booth until they are out of high school. To start, many (not all) in high school are not mature enough to be in charge of the equipment and you have to deal with thier 'wonderful' high school work schedule of not being able to work matinee weekday shifts. In my opinion, I have just observed that those around 18 or older are usually best for the booth.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-31-2002, 01:21 PM:

Here's a related question. What is the reasoning behind a theatre owner putting ill-trained, youngsters in a booth in which they have installed hundreds of thousands of dollars of complex machinery? These projector systems cost as much as most cars, yet no one in their right mind would give the keys to their BMW to a HS kid who didn't have a license. And what about the distributor; you would think he wouldn't want someone running his $5,000 print through equipment that if not handled properly could quickly turn into a print shredder. Why don't the distribs insist that only trained, skilled projectionists be in the booth at all times?

It's a puzzelment.

Posted by Steven Privett (Member # 718) on 01-31-2002, 03:27 PM:

You think they only spent $5,000 on that print? After hiring actors, set designers, cinematographers and everything else that goes into making a film, I could never understand how they can just hand it to someone with no experience. Presentation IS everything. The customers do have a choice and will not come back, even with a free pass.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-31-2002, 05:51 PM:

Steven is correct. Although each 35mm release print may cost only between one and two thousand dollars, it literally represents tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in production costs. Hundreds of skilled artists and craftsmen spent about a million man-hours to produce the images and sound you present every time you show the print. With a successful movie, each print entertains an average of about 10,000 people during its' lifetime. It's easy to see why "Film Done Right" is so important to the health of the movie industry.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 02-03-2002, 11:05 AM:

The thing that baffles me is that the house is allowed to take the "house nut" off the top. So the distributor is actually paying for whatever that house nut represents -- the cost of operating the screen his picture is playing on. You would think that he would insist that the house nut include a trained projectionist and that he/she be in the booth at all times while his print is running. As mentioned before, the Loews Astor Plaza (for all intents and purposes, a showcase theatre in a large market) was running one of only two newly struck 70mm prints of special release of 2001 with NO ONE IN THE BOOTH! Any rational person would think that Warners would demand that there be a projectionist in the booth while their very expensive investment was running through equipment with revolving TEETH. Seems there are no rational people over there at Warners. Through the house nut deduction they were paying for the concessionairs and porters, but not for a projectionist.

Go figure.

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 02-03-2002, 11:50 AM:

That "house nut" is a negotiated price that may not reflect the genuine costs of operating the theater.

Plus the typical contract is a sliding scale or percentages (diminishing with time) versus a typical 90/10 split over the "house nut." The distributor receives the greater amount.

Once a feature is out of first-run and second-run the contracted rentals become more favorable to the theater, like a flat percentage or even a flat amount.

If you're non-theatrical, then you're always screwed.

I agree that the distributors should demand a minimum quality for their presentations. This should include a full-time fully qualified projectionist and the correct projection and sound equipment to play the motion picture at SMPTE standards.