(For reference - the topic was under Film Reviews -Lilo & Stitch)

As a general manager of a 14-plex, being in the business for 14 years, and working at over 30 movie theatres in my life -there is one thing that will always remain true:

THE GENERAL MANAGER HIRES THE STAFF INCLUDING PROJECTION (99% OF THE TIME). THE ATTITUDE, PROFESSIONALISM, AND DEMEANOR OF THE GENERAL MANAGER TRANSFERS INTO THE REST OF THE STAFF INCLUDING PROJECTION.

If you disagree with this - then you have not been in the business long enough to understand it.

In corporate office situations - the same rings true company-wide. If a home office has a bad attitude - then usually that rains down upon the many locations the company has. {If the company treats their employees unfairly- then that company's patrons get treated poorly.}

As the saying goes "Sh*t runs dowhill". Pardon the really bad expression - however it is absolutly true.

Thank you - and I am not trying to be rude. However in our business - we have to learn to work as a team. Projection and downstairs staff. We all work together to give our patrons the best experience. It is the General Manager of the location that leads their team into a successful business atmosphere.

{After all the GM who hired me (John Zampi R.I.P.) always said that a movie screen is a reason for people to walk past the concession stand - which we ALL know is what pays our bills.}

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"Running through life at 24 frames per second"
 

Anyway to make a long story short, she has told me directly to my face over the last month that "presentation no longer matters. All that matters is getting the customer's money and getting them out the door." Since that day, her attitude toward the booth has been very clearly, exactly that. We also have plenty of equipment problems in the booth requiring parts, yet there has been no support from the tech department. Even with all of this, that has not detered me from putting on the best show possible, given what I have to work with including the new attitudes. It is called PRIDE and even though the popcorn may taste like crap or maybe the auditoriums were poorly cleaned or the bathrooms are a mess, I will not let my presentation drop in quality if I can at all prevent it. We have 3 auditoriums only running in dts because I brought in spare drives after the company's drives died! We have dead platters and yet I have brought in led assemblies that bit the dust to keep them on screen! Yes the management is important, but I could sit here and give you a TON of other examples of thetaers where the management did not give a flip and yet the booth personnel busted their butts putting on a good show regardless.

I agree *generally* that the managers need to set up a proper atmosphere and it absolutely helps the pride in the workplace and desire to put on an even better show, but in all honesty, the BEST presentations I have personally witnessed that were truly flawless have ALWAYS come from projectionists who went out of their way to put on a flawless show and had ZERO management intervention. This is not to say that it can't and does not happen otherwise, but I've yet to see it. I would make a humorous comment about "maybe it's just Dallas", but I saw this same thing happen when I was in Colorado too. Of every theater I've been to, serviced, known a friend who worked there or worked there myself, I have yet to see a flawless presentation from one that had direct management intervention. Sure they were plenty adequate, but not flawless. Perhaps we are rating things on a different scale here.

How many theaters are out there where the GM sits on his/her butt in the office and NEVER EVER works the floor. I'm talking about never lifting a finger to do ANYTHING, except perhaps shoot money down the tubes to the box office or watch the security cameras or a television or surf the internet. Then of course there's the whole question of actual hours in the theater in the first place. If I was to ask for a raise of hands (which won't work because this forum uses real names and the members would regret it) showing how many managers show up late in the afternoon and leave before the last round when they are scheduled for a double, you would probably be shocked at the large numbers. In fact, I can honestly sit here and say that easily less than 10% of the GMs around the Dallas area are NOT ever the first person in the building in the morning and are NOT ever the last person out. This sort of thing is VERY COMMON and is most often found in the super large complexes. This kind of manager does absolutely nothing for the theater, but sign paperwork that his/her assistants prepare, yet by your argument just because that person is "the manager", that person is automatically responsible for a fabulous presentation??? Hell no. Now in Evans instance the GM may very well indeed be an excellent manager and may be pushing his employees to give the best show possible, but that is certainly not par for the course. (That being said when I was managing theaters I was on the floor constantly, even though I also had to run booth.)

So yes the manager's attitude has a HUGE impact on the theater's performance in general, as can be seen throughout the building now, but that is NOT always the case when you have people who care. Please don't give me that nonsense as an absolute. Also, I have many years under my belt as a manager and as a whole have more years worth of experience than you. I have been around long enough to know how things really are. Yes the concession stand pays the bills, but NO ONE WILL COME TO YOUR CONCESSION STAND WITHOUT THAT MOVIE! Of course both must work together to make a successful theater, however you can have a movie without the concession stand and people will come, but people will not come to the concession stand without the movie. Sure you can't make money off of a movie without selling concessions, but you HAVE to have that movie to even bother opening up the concession stand. THAT is the cold hard fact of life.

This topic also belongs in Film Handler's Forum. Moving.

In any case, I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with you that a GM with a good attitude and who fosters a good work ethic among ALL the employees will therefore probably positively affect presentation quality, whether it's directly or indirectly (i.e. whether or not they ever actually work in the booth).

Anywho, in the case of the theater Evans was at, the GM probablly knows how to properly motivate his management staff, who are the ones running the booth.
 

When that mgr. says "presentation no longer matters", is that really her speaking, or is it her perception of Regal's attitude now that they're running the show? If she was really dedicated to her work, and the work situation changed for the worse like that, I would think she would try to keep doing the best job possible (just like you are doing). Don't get a rep among peers for running a crap location, regardless of the reasons. Look for other opportunites if you have to, but don't just give up with the current situation and get a rep as a bad mgr.

I've worked in so many cinemas where there has been a 'Them and Us' approach to the day to day running.

I believe in the Manger running front of house and the chief running the Tech department.... but the bottom line is we are serving the same people....

Managers seldom understand the needs of the projection department and projection seldom 'cares' about front of house!

I have a constant dialog with the manager about Interlocking shows. I insist that 30 min be allowed between a film finishing and the next show starting. He allows only 10-15min. His argument is run late if needed. My argument is my staff will try to run to time as they don't want to finish late! I'd rather have the time allowed and run later so they finish 'on time' than encourage them to rush and risk damaging a print.

Now things run well most of the time, however when a problem does happen where do you think the finger of blame is pointed.

I am fortunate in that I was a manager for 9 years and fully understand the pressures of running a building, not just unlocking the doors and letting the punters in.

3 min turn arounds, rushed lacing on interlock.... who has to sort it all out at the end of the day..... US!

Mind you the front of house have it as bad in their own way. How do you clean an auditorium with only 3 or 4 min, get a full house in and be happy and smiling at the same time.

So who's to blame?

It's easy to say the manager... but he's under pressure of his own, targets to meet etc etc.

Presenation does not suffer unduly at my theatre, we are automated, Non-sync fades out and in, as does film etc etc. We don't have auto len's turrets so the feature is always seen 'On Screen' and in focus! All shows run exactly the same and its very tightly controled. But its just a factory, a process, nothing more.

I have a very long history in cinema, and take a great pride in my work, but is it really appreciated today. The bottom line is the film starts and does not break down! Run to the time sheet and get on with it. When it goes well thats what you are paid for.... when it goes wrong, its your fault.

To be honest its business as usual.... thats the way its been since I've been in the business and thats the way it will continue.... Think about it in a few years time when 'E'cinema has taken hold.... one guy running 20 screens and not actually 'seeing' any of them. The same guy could well be running a number of remote sites never actually seeing any of them.

I should add that I have an excellent relationship with the manager and I have NO problems with parts to maintain my equipment, I installed it I repair it.

Depressing it may be, but its reality...... now I'm off to cut my wrists, long ways.... its harder to stop the bleeding!!

As far as my comment on the concession stand. I know where my paycheck comes from - and yes - there has to be a well-presented, good movie on the screen to get the patrons in the door. But as much as the film companies are taking now - do we really make money off our ticket sales --no. My paycheck comes from those people walking in the door and buying my concessions. I happen to have an awesome crew in my projection booth and I have to 'give a shout out' to John Moon -who came here from IMAX - but does an awesome job with 35mm.
 

The person running the booth be it manager or projectionist/opperator is responsable for the equipment and the films they are showing. THey are responsable for giving the best presentation possable for the customer who paid for it. On a whole the general manager is responsable for the theater opperations. But everyone is responsable for giving the customer a 100% customer satisfaction.

Stop worrying about who you point the finger at to get the blame for something going wrong. Point the finger at yourself because we all are responsable. I have been in this busines for 18 years and the thing I learned from day one was that I do the things I do for me and the customers not anyone else. I treat my projection equipment as if I paid for it myself. Not with a someone elses and who cares if something goes wrong attitude. I am not out to make my boss look good I am out to please myself. The rewards of that benafits the boss and others and make there jobs easier.

It is important to get as many people as we can to buy tickets to the movies. If people have any reason not to return to the theater they will go somewhere else or stop going to movies. THey must purchase tickets at that box office before they will purchase our valuable concession products making our comission checks bigger.

I'm sorry that the Regal fallout has discouraged your manager to the point that he/she is just putting in the hours, but the real situation is that the very best managers can (an do) tell corporate exactly where to stuff it and how deep. It takes cohones, and it takes a willingness to lose everything, but it does happen. When a manager loses that battle, it is time for him or her to move on to something else. If the rest of the staff doesn't get the clue, so be it. The problem is that the point of moving on is much more quickly reached in large corporations than smaller ones.

Dennis is exactly right. I won't go into my background, but I will say that Zampi and Dugger were legends at Cobb for many of the managers.

I remember when managers (GMs to you) at (cough) were being told to work extraordinary hours and I flat out said to the owner and son that such hours were not in the best interest of the manager or the company. Hey, I only got fired twice from that company.

I'll say it publicly that if your manager has the attitude you describe, she is quietly sucking at the corporate teat until she gets laid off or retires, and that the higher ups at Regal directing her are thinking short term or personally masturbating stockholders and bankers.

There was a recent thread about a family owned circuit (Eastern Federal) that was doing things right and by doing so was in a position to be at the head of the pack. The attitude of a caring family or privately owned company can be radically different than that of a corporation, where loyalty is to the CEO first, stockholders second, customers a distant third, and employees somewhere after the guy who supplies the candy machines in the home office.

I cannot personally think of a single time when a private company sold out to a conglomerate that there was a positive change. I'm becoming more and more convinced that most public corporations are self-destructing organisms.

BTW, Ken, I've only seen a couple of posts from you, but I'm already impressed.

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Post slightly edited by moderator for offensive personal attacks against another member.

Jerry - your next offense will result in a permanent ban from these forums. Read the final paragraph in the FAQ document fully before posting again and email me once you understand our one cardinal rule here "do not insult another member". There are no exceptions to this rule. Your posting priviledges will be turned back on once I get email acknowledgement (without sarcasm) that you understand the policies of this board. -Moderator

Nontheless, I have always tried to give the best presentation possible under whatever circumstances prevailed.

This kind-of relates back to an even older discussion wherein I declared that there's probably a gene for this type of work. If you don't have the gene (or the passion) then you probably won't be a stellar projectionist, regardless of how great or horrible the GM may be.

I quit working as booth manager because the corporate nonsense had gone too far and I was tired of fighting for basic stuff like...projector oil and lube...remember that thread sometime back when Scott couldn't believe there were people out there cutting the oil & lube budget? (I think the thread was called "Manny's Strip Show.")

A year and a half later, they have INVITED me to come back to work and I must say that they are bending over backwards to accommodate me. This company has learned some hard lessons about projection (as well as customer service) and it seems that they just might be able to recover and reclaim their position as this nation's leading entertainment company.

What happened that caused them to lose their lead? They went from being a privately owned family business into being a publicly traded stock. And we're only talking about a small expansion from 6 screens to 20 or so. Multiply that by ten or twenty and that's what's going on in the U.S.A.

The most successful system I have personally seen did not have the manager in charge of their projectionist (hiring/firing or corrective measures). The manager could expect a competent projectionist to be supplied by the company and have the company respond to complaint about a projectionist that wasn't working out. The quality of the operators, as a group, were 2nd to none. There simply weren't damaged films, broken equipment or messed up shows. If so help me an exciter lamp went out during a show, two administrators were paged (any show interruptions resulted in the operational supervisiors being paged). There was a very tight check on anything that might give a patron the feeling of poor service.

As to the relationship of the manager and projectionists in the above case...I've never seen it better (though some are as good)...if there is a personality conflict, the personalties were separated...with the preference given to the manager, naturally. The manager DOES run the theatre. The manager is responsible for all customer contact. The projectionist was treated as a valuable asset that manager, quite frankly, didn't have to worry about...they just worked.

I bring the above senerio up because I have personally seen it work very well. I do not say it is the only sucessful way of handling the operator and the manager, just a sucessful alternative.

The above situation is almost like a union except the "union" was onto the company and disipline could be administered (or promotion) based on difficulties or merit.

During the summers, as an incentive program, the company even had separate contests for operators and managers.

Just an alternative view point.

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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
 

You have a theater (screen count is irrelevant) and you have a good manager who runs the floor and also a good projection team running the booth. You are a customer and go see the movie "On the Line 2". You are so mesmorized by the flawless performance that you cannot keep your giddiness to yourself. So what would you choose to do? Do you walk up to the manager and say "Your projection staff must be excellent, they did a great job and I am thouroughly satisfied." or do you say "You are an awesome manager. The show rocked! You, like, need to be cloned, dude!" Of course you opt for comment #1 since it is placing the compliment where it belongs. You are letting the manager know that the booth staff is doing a great job, and that can reflect on their upcoming reviews when the time comes. The manager will be happy that he/she doesn't have to spend time worrying about projection and can spend the time worrying about everything else.

When a potential projectionist gets interviewed, it really is best if the head projectionist at the very least talks to them and makes a recommendation. This is assuming the head projectionist is a good worker. But a projectionist can discern a good or bad potential projectionist a lot better than management can. It gets frustrating when management THINKS that they know what it takes to be a booth operator and they use this limited knowledge to hire/not hire. Some managers DO know what it takes, but the rest do not but are 100% convinced that they do. They're managers. They love the feeling of control.

Also if the manager is the leader of the theater, and whether the manager is good or bad directly affects everything, then this argument should be that corporate affects everything. If corporate is bad how do you explain having a few good theaters in the chain? Also if corporate is good, how do you expect having a few bad theaters? If you see a great presentation at a theater that has a bad corporate, you need to call the corporate office and speak to the CEO and tell him or her "Like, dude! The presentation rocked! You rule! Can I have your autograph?". Of course then the CEO responds with "What the hell is this 'presentation' thing you speak of?" Wouldn't that be asinine? Instead, it would be more logical to give the compliment to the person/people who deserve it, mainly the ones who provided you with the presentation.

In my experience, many managers just like to believe that they control EVERYTHING.

Everyone has their opinions and experiences, but the best all around teamwork examples I have seen have been very close to Steve's description. In fact the best EVER team was at Northpark. The managers had nothing to do with booth except for relaying the showtimes, auditorium placement and any customer complaints (which was *maybe* one every few months, and it was always trivial). The management was responsible for everything on the floor (and they did a damned good job of it too) and the projectionists were responsible for everything having anything to do with the presentation (and our reputation still lingers today). I have worked at other theaters that had similar types of relationships, most noteworthy being the Mann Chinese 16 and the Cinemark Vista Ridge 12 (even though the Vista Ridge took awhile to get to that point), and our overall customer presentation from the front doors through the concession stand, presentation, all the way to the exit doors was excellent. The same thing could be said about the current theater I work at, until recently. Now it's more like Joe described.

As sad as this may seem, Joe is right that many managers THINK they know what they are doing, when they really haven't a clue. These are the managers that cannot frame or focus a film, much less thread up a movie without scratching it. That being said, I can honestly state that I have never worked with a manager who knew what he/she was doing in the projection room. Yeah they can make the movie run and get sound in the auditorium, but 9 times out of 10, the print is damaged after that one run. Projection is a skill and a craft. It is more than just sticking the film in the machine and walking away. Anyone spending time on this website should be all-too-familiar with the requirements for "film done right". A manager has more than enough to do as it is. Having to mess with the booth is something they should not have to deal with nor worry about. That is what a professional booth staff is for.

So yes in that sense it is the manager's responsibility to "set the tone" as you have put it, but past that unless the manager is personally running the booth (as with some Regal theaters), the managers should not get the *exclusive* credit, which is what started this whole discussion. It's just like giving a director credit for "incredible performances". Sure the director coached the actors, but it is the actors who ultimately gave the performances. As such, the credit should not go exclusively to the director. I am amazed some people cannot see the difference. Any manager who takes credit for a great presentation without pointing out their booth staff is a schmuck.

When I was hired on at this UA, I brought film cleaners to give every house (this was a large multiplex) and supplied the theater with film guard. I also brought in some other items, such as a platter reel, which saved a significant amount of time to assemble the prints which saved the manager payroll. This came all from me and without any financial backing from the company. I figured that with the improved presentations that I would bring, some appreciation might be in order, WRONG.

I found out that this manager in respect to the quality of presentations he was looking for, wanted...

1.)Not to screen the movies, not caring about sound dropouts or other lab problems that are becoming more and more prevelant nowadays. And figured that we would catch any problems Friday morning when customers complain. Isn't the idea to catch the problems before the customers complain? He said that we did not need to screen because we should be able to attatch reels in order and frame properly anyway, thus not needing to screen. THAT IS NOT WHY WE SCREEN. (All projectionists know that)

2.)He does not care about getting digital in theaters, only where it is most convenient for him, even though they advertise all digital theaters. I asked him about moving movies in the same sized houses to get digital since our A-chains were so poorly aligned and the analog sound was very bad, and the response was "the customers cannot tell the difference." So this tells about how he feels about quality.

3.)The managers constantly are yelling and complaining at employees bringing the overall morale down at the theater. They take our booth key up at the end of the night I guess because they thought we would steal something, even though almost everything not bolted down was my personal property. I was the head projectionist there for nine months and still was not trusted to get any sort of key anywhere in the building. The lack of trust is enough to kill morale.

I ended up quitting because the presentation that I brought was not appreciated and the projectionists I brought on did the same when they were able to land another job.

The customers will end up suffering because the presentations will now go downhill and the patrons will not attend there anymore. This GM was so worried about the bottom line he apparently was willing to sacrifice quality for quanity.

In my opinion, managers need to focus on the floor and let qualified projectionists do thier job to maintain and improve quality presentations. This will make them and the projectionists look better and give a healthier work environment for everyone.

For minor matters, such as purchase of booth supplies and hardware,
I could usually get the help of the company technician to support
my claims with a manager either pinching pennies or doubtful of the
importance of my requests through lack of technical knowledge.
Either the manager or the projectionist could bring a complaint to the union business manager, if they could not see eye to eye. This was seldom necessary. For large issues, these were negociated between the union and management when the contract was to come up for renewal. Each member would vote to approve or reject the proffered contract, and when ratified, was issued a printed copy in booklet form.

Ordinarily the management did not hire the projectionists, since they
took their positions by seniority claim at open meetings. However,
managers could make a request fot a particular projectionist in the case of several "request" houses, usually the larger Times Square
houses or the Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy. Or, the union would supply half the projection team, and the management would, by
request from the union pool, choose the other half.

Of course, with corporate takeovers of the swelling movie chains by
corporations without prior exhibition experience, there was a concerted effort to destroy unionism and depress wages, sometimes to the point of disallowing the very title "projectionist." but unions still operate in cities in the US and Canada.
I have worked in theatres where managers had worked for decades in
the same theatre or for the same employers, and in others where managers came and went after only a few months. More than once I
reported to work to find the manager gone, and corporate reps and detectives examining the safe and the books. At least one manager
disappeared owing money to everyone from the doorman to the shoe store across the street.

Although the projection staff had a good deal of separation from management (I submitted the time sheets for payroll for the booth,
and worked out vacations with my co-workers) the manager set the show schedule. In my last position, I determined the trailers to be run.
Once I worked with a manager who moonlighted as a DJ, who was a real
audio enthusiast and took pride in getting our theatre the finest sound system in the area. Other managers had no interest in the booth at all. I could sense the pressure they were under from their
corporate hierarchies, and the impossible loads of inventory paperwork, hiring, training, supervising, etc. for long hours and meager pay. I learned the disrespect they received from their superiors, and the fear then felt when the corporate inspection team
appeared. I was thankful to be spared all that, in my ivory tower
of the projection booth.

But the ivory tower came to an end when, to renew a contract with a large chain, the union leaders recommended, and the membership approved, eliminating 15 positions (including mine) and permitting
management to allow unlicensed, non-union "assistant managers" to
run the machines. My single screen flagship theatre was soon converted to a row of clothing stores, and my former landmark theatre
became a drugstore and office supply store, keeping only the front landmarked facade. And the chain converted its art-deco movie palace
from a single, to a quartet, to a multiplex. As for me, I retired.
"Sic transit gloria mundi!"

By the way, I didn't notice that this thread had been continued here in FHF under this thread because I expected it to be done in ground level, so I looked there before starting a thread there (which is now gone). I saw the topic here, "who sets the tone at your theatre" and figured since it was in FHF, it was about setting up sound systems, and didn't read it. Sorry about that.

About the Lilo and Stitch review thing --
I was just adding a positive statement about that manager to my post because I feel I should compliment someone whenever I can. If I'd know it was going to cause such a fuss, I wouldn't have. I looked back at the statement I made and the way I worded it showed that I put some humor into it. (should be cloned???) Lighten up, folks!

I know that it takes staff working together as a team to have consistently good booth operations and customer service. The manager can't do it by himself. However, I've been closely watching all the theatres in my area since 1997 and I pick up on many little details from all of my experiences, not only from movie presentation quality, but from other things, like cleanliness of the facility, friendliness and behavior of the staff, and many other little things.

I'm not going to say everything I said in my original post on the thread in ground level (where this probably should be), because when I wrote it, I was not aware of the development of this thread.

I'll say that based on the data I've collected, my observations, and the simple fact that presentation quality at Regal River Oaks 8 in Decatur, AL has remained consistently excellent through changes in both booth staff and floor staff over the years, that the manager is responsible for the quality of presentation at that theatre. He's been in the business for many years and is a very experienced booth operator and manager. He used to train people for booth, and I'm sure he trains every new booth person he gets very well. He puts more effort into quality checking and control than other managers, and it shows. If I owned a theatre, he'd be the manager I'd want to run it.

If the manager I spoke of, Ralph Freehauf, left Regal River Oaks Cinemas 8, I feel certain that the presentation quality would drop off a point or two on my rating scale within a year. Currently, the presentation quality at River Oaks is measurably better than at any other theatre in my area. I see cleaner, more dust free, more scratch free prints time and time again, perfectly focused, in frame, with plenty of brightness, along with excellent, problem-free sound, time and time again. This theatre is my "reference" by which I tend to compare others.

I have plenty of data to support my claims: (being a mathematical person, I feel this is important):

Regal River Oaks Cinema 8 description file and presentation quality reviews

Compare this theatre with other theatres I rate (follow links near the top to the other theatres' descriptions and showing lists and see how much more problematic any of the other theatre are).

Again, I never thought the simple act of paying a compliment to someone I felt deserved it would cause such a fuss. I don't dish out compliments like that unless I feel they're appropriate.

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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
 

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"Running through life at 24 frames per second"
 

I agree that a manager's place is on the floor, supervising and assisting customers. Having said that, it is important that a theatre manager understand what constitutes a "good" film presentation and support his booth staff by ensuring that requests for parts and service calls are handled promptly. If there are problems in the booth, then it is the manager's responsibility to either fire the employee or complain to the union (where appropriate). When the booth staff is performing well, it is the manager's responsibility to provide rewards, either financial or otherwise (maybe purchase some piece of equipment that would make the projectionists' lives easier). I don't personally like the idea of the manager-operated booth, but there is something to be said for managers who have some understanding of what type of work goes on in the booth and what types of problems might occur.

In most cases, the manager is the one who sets the minimum standards for employee performance. I'm sure that someone like Brad would put on a great show even in a poorly-managed theatre, but that's an exceptional case. If the manager doesn't care about quality and doesn't respond to requests for equipment or parts, then he will usually get what he deserves. Although I don't have the equipment inventory that Brad does, I have often loaned mundane stuff (e.g. house reels, sync blocks, splicers, etc.) to theatres to ensure a top-notch presentation, but I feel much better about doing this when I know that the manager will appreciate it.

Unfortunately, poorly-run companies often seem to get in the way of good management, with the result that good managers tend to quit and work elsewhere. This is bad.
 

But seriously, folks. Who among us has never worked for a bad manager? And who among us wants to blame a bad manager for any bad work we might have done? Not me. I think the concept of "work ethic" is pretty basic around these forums, isn't it? After all, none of us is becoming a millionaire in the movie exhibition business, are we?

I think, in a sense, we owe Evans an apology for blowing his statement out of proportion. He didn't mean to insult anyone and I don't believe he did. He didn't want to cause this kind of contention and it's unfair to say that he was the cause anyway.

What is the point of this thread? The whole "who sets the tone" was actually a poor choice for a subject title, as it was not actually the topic being discussed when this was moved into this forum and has steered it into a direction off of the real topic. If I had a way to change the subject title, I would change it to "who deserves the credit for a good presentation?"

If I was on the floor and a customer came up to me and said "excellent popcorn!" I certainly would not take the credit. That credit would not by default go to the manager either. That credit would go to the person actually popping the popcorn and whoever taught them how to do it so well. (Which of course may have been the manager, maybe it was just another concessionist.) I can't believe the amount of people who can't understand the difference here.

Remember, most projectionists work for peanuts. The only "payment" they get other than a piss poor wage is their pride and compliments for a job well done. That being made clear, it is quite insulting to the projectionists for a manager to receive full credit for a stellar presentation if the manager is not an active projectionist.

That being said I would like to make a couple of comments regarding Darren's post from the first page of this thread. I have only known Darren for a year or so. This guy is always busting his hump to put on the best show possible and constantly spending his own money to better booths he works in! I filled in at his UA theater for 2 shifts the first week he was there because they did not have enough staff to run the booth shifts and I would like to share a story.

Opening weekend of Harry Potter. #16 auditorium. Last show of the day. I am shutting down the east booth (there were 2 in this complex). There are 2 movies running in this booth, one still running in the other booth. I power down #13 and am walking toward #16 to check on things. As I get about 30 feet away I hear a noise and see film hanging over the edge. Running as fast as I can (up a short stairway) I miss saving the print by about 2 seconds from dumping. (Stupid "auto-timing" cards coupled with an RPM rate well over 40 was the cause of the dump. Darren had to retime them all and never had another dump the entire time he was there.) I immediately stop the projector, turn on the booth light (where I see a large crowd looking back at the booth...not happy) and repair the damage. I have it going again in a couple of minutes. After a couple of minutes when I feel comfortable enough to leave it, I go to the manager's office and explain that Harry Potter dumped. The managers don't give a flip! "Did you get it running again?" "Yes, but it was down for a few minutes and I wanted you to know so you would be prepared to take care of the customers." "Nah, we'll see if anyone complains." (Completely careless about the entire situation.) I later found out they did not even bother to have a staff member downstairs when the movie let out. They got the customer's money. Screw 'em, right? The show had a legitimate presentation problem all day long with the digital cutting in and out on a couple of the reels in that auditorium...and now the movie actually stopped in a climactic scene...and the managers did not care! That's one hell of a "tone" these guys set.

Darren took that theater's presentation, which was EASILY one of the worst in town, straight to perfection, despite the "we don't give a crap" attitudes from the managers. I can vouch that on the first weekend of his working there, every single print in the building that was ran before he got there was scratched...most of them being horribly scratched. (Remember, this was his first week on the job.) I screened one of his other prints of Harry Potter there on it's last week, some 3-4 months after it's release and it was absolutely perfect from the first frame to the last. The same can also be said for the print of "Lord of the Rings" I also screened on it's last week at his theater, again some 3-4 months down the road. Darren is definitely in the top 10 list of the best projectionists I have ever met/worked with of all time. Really good operators are hard to find these days. It amazes me how some management can just run them off.

Now I could go either way on the management is responsible for presentation argument on the grounds that it should be taken on a case-by-case basis. Personal pride in my work is very important to me, however there's an invisible bubble between myself and projectionists I don't already know that makes me question their motives constantly. It's very easy for a somebody who starts as floor-staff to want to be promoted and in most Corporate environments, this usually means a management position. Management positions (In this town, anyway) include booth shifts. So if somebody is in it for the extra payday, they'll more-than-likely do whatever it takes to make the money and that's all. Somebody raised with a respect for the business, on the other hand, might have a different outlook.

On the whole, I'd say there's no such thing as a forumula governing behavioral patterns in the booth or on the management side, but I know that I'm just starting work in a corportate environment and my GM takes the booth and the presentation VERY seriously, and continues to pursuade me that Regal, and the good folks that sign my checks, are starting to take us booth monkeys much more seriously than they have in the past.

In other words, the rumor making the rounds is that now that Chapter 11 is over, presentation is starting to make a comeback. But, like I said, if a GM doesn't give a S*** and he's training booth personnel to be lazy, nothing can stop it asside from personal pride.

We're all right and we're all wrong.

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So if old projectionists don't die, what happens when new projectionists get old?

Edited to contain my potty-mouth.

quote:

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Had Evans said "congratulations goes to the manager and his booth staff", then I would have read that and found it to be a fair statement and wouldn't have even said anything.

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OK. I'll go back and edit the post that caused all this. The staff of the theatre do deserve congratulations as well. I say that often in comment cards that I fill out and I feel that I more than give credit to everyone at the theatre in my lengthy list of complimentary comments that are on the description file for that theatre (link in a previous post of mine on this thread).

However, at this particular theatre, I feel that the manager is the one responsible for keeping and training the right kind of staff members that do a great job and work as a team.

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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
 

I set the tone in my theatre!!!!.......

<Both "Bass" and "Treble">

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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

just my .02

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--Sean McKinnon
Manager
Loews Cineplex Entertainment
Liberty Tree Mall 20
Danvers, Mass
<A HREF="http://www.enjoytheshow.com" TARGET=_blank>www.enjoytheshow.com</A>

Steve must have mistyped "Tribble":
http://www.skotophile.com/StarTrek/Tribbles.html

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Still glad to see all the posts on this thread.

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"Running through life at 24 frames per second"
 

Troubleshooting could be a different story. That is where factory training enters the picture.

Although I could be wrong, I don't think computer courses are really needed to operate the equipment, unless the program has to be written or debugged. If I am wrong in my assessment, please correct me.

The manufacturers provide the software, you load it in just like any other program. Loading the DPL program, I would presume (but I have to admit I do not know what is involved) it could be done by anyone who is computer savvy.

If you can operate a CP-500 you'll be able to figure out how to run a DLP projector and it's associated computer pretty fast.