Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ratted on my theater

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Posted by Tracy Bellar (Member # 3049) on 05-07-2005, 01:18 AM:

Well I tried to get my theater owner to report the two damaged reels I mentioned in the you suck topic. The owner didn't have enough time to deal with it so I called our distributor and gave print numbers and they were happy to hear it. My theater owners current policy is that only the owner talks to the distributor. He doesn't like anyone to know or talk about his business. He would never report damage because he just hopes it slips through and he doesn't want to get charged for anything. Our Distributor said it is no problem and they just wanted to know so the reels don't get circuted to another booth. probably no charge for the damage anyway.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-07-2005, 01:20 AM:

I used to replace damaged reels whenever we needed. Once, Buena Vista charged for two replacement reels. It was more than a couple hundred bucks. Something close to $900, if I recall correctly.

But, whatever. You can't go showing crappy reels.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 05-07-2005, 03:28 AM:

I can back Manny up on that. Only damaged reel I've had to replace where we caused the damage the charge from Universal was $400.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 05-07-2005, 04:01 AM:

Tracy - your owner's policy re: distributors makes sense. The proper move would not have been to speak with the distributor. You should have called the approopriate depot to report the damage/order a replacement.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-07-2005, 05:05 AM:

I agree also-let the owner handle these sort of things. Nothing irks the one in charge having someone below him taking his job away from him and possibly making him look bad.

I've seen that before and did the same-reported print damage to the office people, but they turned down the need to replacement (being a discount house) due to the possible charges from the film company saying that we did the damage.

Small time owners seems to have a "knee-jerk" of a time with employees who show any form of intelligence or that has "the thinking cap" on.

It can show a threat to the harmony of his operation.

-Monte

Posted by Anslem Rayburn (Member # 1267) on 05-07-2005, 05:23 AM:

I have been at my current location for 4(four) years. We had one bad film go out, and the depot called to ask about it. From that day on, the person in question was not allowed to make-up/break-down film. And we had no more problems...

That person now manages a 14 screen chain in our town. I have heard nothing but bad reporst about scratches/sound.

It doesn't surprise me, as I know how he handles film.

BUT, as our auditoriums ares smaller, we no longer recieve "A" product from a specific company (rhymes with REAMworks) and we only expect other's to follow. Nevermind that the theatre (THEATRE) in question has been open for only 6 months and has a reputation for scratching the (h e double hocky sticks) out of movies.

When I asked an old employee (who now works at the competitor, as their lead projectionist) if they used film cleaner, he said:

"I guess so"

I said "do you use PTR or dry media"

And he replied : "I'm not sure"

I asked him if he re-wound between shows, and he said NO.

If a distributor is only worried about auditorium size and not film quality, what chance do we have????????

I can't suddenly make my houses larger, can I? I truly believe we have the best presentation in town. It doesn't seem to matter, and I am at my wit's end. Please tell me what you would do...

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 05-07-2005, 09:25 AM:

It's my understanding, short of putting up more money for an advance or possibly putting up a high guarantee, they'll go where the seats are if they're greedy enough, and believe me they are.
Why bother with your properly run smaller theater when they could be making more primary revenue from admissions and secondary revenue from damaged reel replacement?

Moreover, owners and managers need to understand the importance of maintaining accurate information about a print.
I keep an inspection report, for example, of every print I build up, it stays in the booth for 1 year after the print leaves.
If I find a print that's got damage out of the can, I'll be on the phone with ETS or Technicolor that instant.
The faster you bring it to them the less likely your theater will get hit with the charge for the replacement reels. They'll probably blame the last guy.

However, if it's damage you're causing you need to find the source of the issue and correct it.
A lot of scratches can be avoided, the most common for us being edge scratches opposite the soundtrack from the centerfeed rollers riding too low or someone being lazy and not cleaning the guides regularly or a combination of the two.

It is unfortunate however that a lot of people in the business (owners, managers, etc.) havn't really got a clue about it to begin with and as such will allow their ignorance to stand in the way of the success of the operation.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 05-07-2005, 04:54 PM:

Tracy-

I hope you don't run into trouble for ignoring your owner's directive, even though he is being a jerk about it. So, if he does get charged for damage that was not caused by you, so be it. You can only point out to him that you received damaged goods. If he is too unconcerned or lazy to deal with it, then that's his problem. If the film company catches up with him and charges him, then he can't say that you ddin't warn him.

There may come a time when it costs him (and again there may not)in terms of customer satisfaction. Lots of times people don't bitch- they just go away and never come back.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-08-2005, 12:04 AM:

Tracy,

Rather than rock the boat, I suggest another tactic that I believe will achieve the same results and not get you in trouble:

Establish a booth log.

Keep it up to date... Even if you are the only one doing it.

Get a notebook from Wal-Mart, et. al. (Cripes! They only cost a buck or so!) Keep it in a safe place at the booth desk or in a drawer somewhere.

Every day, when you come to work, write down the date and time you start work. When you leave write down what time you go off-shift. Everything you do, no matter how trivial, you write in that book.

When you fill that notebook, put it in a file cabinet and save it. If ever there is a problem and somebody has a question about who did what or when something happened there is a record of WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY or HOW.

If the time ever comes when somebody questions how film got damaged, there will be evidence as to who is responsible. Furthermore, if there is a recurring problem with the equipment such as a problem with the sound system or a lens that won't stay in focus it's easy to go back through the logs and see the patterns.

Let's say that there has been a dozen calls to check the focus on projector #3 in the last week. That should be a clue that there is a problem. However, if there are several people working in the booth and none of them communicate to each other how often they have to go to projector #3, the problem could go unnoticed for quite a while. With a log book it would be easy to see how many times you got called to check the focus.

Properly kept, a log book could save your ass some day! AND it won't (shouldn't) get you in trouble with the boss.

The theater where I started out has log pages for each and every day they have been in operation since the doors opened NEARLY TEN YEARS AGO! [Cool]

Posted by Tracy Bellar (Member # 3049) on 05-08-2005, 12:38 AM:

After I called them I reported the damage anonymously. I didn't leave a name and asked that they just pull the reels out and inspect them because they were not the best. I did it in a way that didn't connect back to me. I just can't stand to get crap on a thursday night and it's the right thing to do. I gave him a chance to do it. I wasn't trying to get him in trouble. They talked like it was no problem so he probably won't be charged. But like you guys told me before it needed to be reported. I took a while weighing my decision and figured it had to be done. The owner owed it to every theater that might recieve the print. I wished it would not have come to this. I wish the guys I'm working with would take more care and this could have been avoided in the first place. It was a damned if you do and a damned if you don't thing.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-08-2005, 02:53 AM:

Being vocal about problems SHOULD be a way to make improvements and correct weaknesses in any system, projection booth or film depot, but many times, yes, it does come with a price. For the critisism I made in this forum about Criterion's deplorable prints that we got at the musuem, the head of the US office in IL (they are a Canadian outfit) who evidently reads these posts, let it be known to the people at the museum that he was more than a little upset about being outted in these threads.

So yes, this did caused me a bit of explaining to do when the museum people wanted to know what he was talking about. After my explanation that this forum was all about quality film presentation and the way to acheive it, they had no problem with my letting it be known how unhappy everyone was with not only the condition of Criterion's prints that should have been junked years ago, but pretty much their entire business style. I explained that my critisism is ONLY about presentation and the quality of certain of their prints. She told me that his come- back was that someone else on the forum said the prints they got from Criterion were OK. I am going to go back to re-read that thread, but I vaguely recall only one post saying they had gotten some good prints from Criterion -- which is hardly a redemption of our getting junk.

If fact, I also posted on this forum the odd condition of the SEVEN YEAR ITCH print they sent, where the emulsion was pealing off the base. On my own, I contacted Robert Mack of Filmack Studios to discuss the condition and if he knew of any solution as the print in every other aspect was pristine. I asked if perhaps ScotchGuarding just a few feet on the heads and tails might solidify the emulsion and allow splicing tape to be applied and removed without harm to the emulsion. I then wrote a letter to Criterion reporting the condition and that they might want to contact Bob as he expressed a willingness to help solve the problem (and they are right outside of Chicago).

I also said that I personally would be willing to work on the print -- I thought that applying a strip of mylar per-punched tape about 8 frames on the heads and tails of each reel would allow splicing tape to be applied over the mylar tape instead of directly onto the emulsion. I offered this work free of charge; I am a preservationist at heart and the thought of this otherwise mint print loosing three and four frames at every reel joint with every breakdown and build was almost traumatic for me. For this concern for one of their prints and for my efforts to help, I got not a word of response to the letter from Criterion. Not a note saying they were interested in saving this print, not a one line postcard saying thanks but we are not interested...I got nothing. So much for their concern for print integrity; so much for their management style and so much for their appreciation of even common courtesy.

Yah, I was called in to explain what this guy was ranting about, but I know my critisim was fair and level so I made no apologies. I will say it again any time it needs to be said and right to Pete's face or whoever the guy is at Criterion is who is so pissed that he's been outed here. Send us another faded piece of garbage print and you will hear it again -- CRY-TERION SUCKS.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 05-08-2005, 12:33 PM:

Frank, how unfortunate they were concerned about being "outted" instead of being red faced for having poor prints.

And Tracy, whom ever you talked to at the film co. probably didn't think it was a big deal, because they really didn't understand the consequences of what you were telling them. The mentality of the film co's today seems to be that we are just another step in the marketing of the DVD.