Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: How many theatres still have more than one projectionist?

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Posted by JC Cowles (Member # 914) on 08-17-2005, 01:22 PM:

I'm just curious how many theatres out there still run more than one projectionist at a time--not including over-lapping shifts. It shocks me when I find 20+ screen theatres with one poor sap running his or her butt off trying to thread film and start projectors on time. Does this even exist anymore?

Edit: And I'm speaking more in terms of multi's, not specialized screening rooms, IMAX or Omni and such.

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 08-17-2005, 01:49 PM:

We have two people in the booth on Thursdays: One runs the shows, the other does all the building up and breaking down.

-Aaron

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 08-17-2005, 01:57 PM:

Only one projectionist here. 16 houses. There are 2 people onboard thursdays, one to run the projectors, one to make up movies. I think it depends on the booth layout. I know of a few muiltiplexes that have several small booths instead of one large booth. In that instance, I could see needing maybe 2 people, but with one big booth, I dont think more than one projectionist is necessary.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-17-2005, 02:24 PM:

LHM's Gateway 12 in SLC has a full crew of operators since they run full time. Four guys, including the booth manager, rolls the shifts. Mgmt people don't deal with the upstairs-they've got better and more important things to do downstairs.

When I was booth manager at a 21, I had five employees under me. We took care of upstairs and the mgmt personnel took care of downstairs.

Posted by JC Cowles (Member # 914) on 08-17-2005, 04:08 PM:

Frank,

I worked in a theatre with two separate buildings when I worked at . Three projectors in one and 8 in the other. We only had one projectionist, although Management was projection trained and could help start films if you had be in the other building. Har Mar 11 in Minnesota. It could certainly be done, but when problems arose, if you were in the other building, they could quickly get out of hand, like a brain wrap.

Posted by Don Sneed (Member # 955) on 08-17-2005, 04:39 PM:

In the states 1 or 2 projectionist will run a 16 + screens....now in Japan things are different...a 16-screen will have 8-projectionist on duty at any given time, a 12-screen will have 6-projectionist on duty...go figure !! But I will say for the Japanese projectionist, they keep their machines & booth spotless, it is so clean you could eat your dinner off those machine, I been in booths over there that is 10 years old & you would never know it by looking at their clean machines & booth, it looks brand new....I wish all USA booths were kept this way..

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-17-2005, 05:25 PM:

quote: Don Sneed
...I wish all USA booths were kept this way..

..the same reason that Japanese automobiles are far superior than the US built ones...

That country has what some other countries try to have, or just don't want to talk about it, and that is called -> PRIDE and CARING about their employees.

I've owned 8 Japanese vehicles (5 of them Toyotas) in my lifetime and you can see the quality in these..(and I now own a Suzuki wagon...6 yrs running and has never been in the shop..)

quote: JC Cowles
It could certainly be done, but when problems arose, if you were in the other building, they could quickly get out of hand, like a brain wrap.

Place like that should invest into wrap detectors for their platters to minimize this potiental hazard being that the workforce is stretched out to the max.

-Monte

Posted by Heath Dutton (Member # 3265) on 08-17-2005, 08:18 PM:

Hey, 16 screens here...

We typically have only one person running the set.

On Thursdays we have up to 4 projectionists here at the same time (2-3 building while one runs the set, or two running half the set while building, all depending on how many prints we are to receive).

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the hours of 3-9 (peak hours) we will have a second projectionist so that the set can be split in two. This is just for insurance (if a technical difficulty occurs one can handle the problem while the other runs the set).

I would like to have two here at all times, but the company wouldn't have it.

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 08-17-2005, 08:37 PM:

6 projectionists for 12 projectors? Thats rediculous. I admit 1 projectionist for 16 screens is bad, but cmon, theres gotta be a nice medium there somewhere.

Posted by Will Wheatley Uhl (Member # 2103) on 08-17-2005, 08:50 PM:

I thread all ten houses myself....
I buildup and break down every print...
Im the only one who said, "Clear splicing tape is better than white"...
Im the only one cleaning everything...

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-17-2005, 09:56 PM:

quote: Frank Dubrois
but cmon, theres gotta be a nice medium there somewhere.

Them Japanese have the bucks to do this. Plus, they have a reputation of quality to uphold and they're going to do it no matter what.

...I like to see the US entertainment market try to keep up with this...

-Monte

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 08-17-2005, 10:39 PM:

Theres NO WAY theaters in the US would even try this. In my opinion, it is overkill. You could cut that number (of japanese workers to projectors) in half and still have overkill. Overstaffing doesnt breed quality. I own an american car and have had tremendous luck...I have had friends that owned japanese cars that turn out to be crap. So its all relative I spose. If they have the money to waste and (most likely) a surplus of people to fill the spots...then fine. Gotta wonder what a group like that gets paid, and how much popcorn (or sushi) would run at the concession stand. They gotta pay for those workers somehow.

Posted by Terry Velandra (Member # 2531) on 08-18-2005, 12:21 AM:

15 Screens, Two Booths, one projectionist expect for Thursday where there is two, one in each booth.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-18-2005, 12:29 AM:

Course, you have to realize that in Japan, entertainment is the extreme norm of activity and theatre business ranks on top in that catagory. People hit the cinemas in throngs, spend the Yen up the hoosegow over there in Aisa and they don't care how much it costs to get in to see a movie - one of the main reasons that studios over here release a movie that rather stinks over here, but will kill overseas, especially in the Asian countries.

Those people demand quality and will easily pay for such a commodity, thus the proprietors will ensure such a return to the customer-even if it requires the 8 operators for a 16 screen cinema.

And the proprietor will expect such care on the equipment and surroundings to ensure the longetivity of such, since most of the equipment and parts has to come from overseas.

In the olden days when some of the operators belonged to the IA, there were two operators in a single house booth in large venue houses in the large cities and this was a required arrangement.

Operators, wearing white shirts and ties-being of the professional nature, and being dressed up was deemed professional to follow the job/career.

But back then, nitrate was the norm-safety on occasion, B/W was commonly seen on the screen with a spattering of Technicolor releases, the economy was pennies to live on, no such thing as a TV set, let alone DVD, and people loved to get out to watch a movie-the easiest form of entertainment to attend and spend less than 10 bucks, which included dinner afterwards.

Time marches on....and so does changes.

-Monte

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 08-18-2005, 12:41 AM:

quote: Frank Dubrois
I have had friends that owned japanese cars that turn out to be crap. So its all relative I spose.

That might be your experience, but surveys consistently show that Japanese cars are far superior to American cars. Open up the annual Auto issue of Consumer Reports and read the repair charts - there is no comparison. The worst of the Japanese cars usually have better repair records than the best of the American cars.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-18-2005, 12:58 AM:

Now, I want to touch on this one side topic that still returns to the main topic, then I'll shut up it since it can easily go off-topic:

Do some of you remember, back in 1979-1980, when Detroit was pumping out cars that would fall apart within a year? And the Japanese automakers were "bombing" the US with their cars and "destroying" the US auto plants with their "car bombs" from the Mitsubishi M6M2 Zero dive bombers (this was an editorial cartoon that I saw at this time)?

This was called the "2nd Japanese Bombing of the US" - Bombing the Detroit plants with their Toyotas, Hondas, Datsuns, Subarus, Mazdas, etc.

By 1980, the Japanese were selling 30% more cars than the domestics were in the US. People demanded quality and they found it in the Japanese imports since the US domestics didn't have the quality. Detroit was in a whirlpool of confusion. They didn't know what to do. All they knew that the Japanese car had quality written all over it, to where theirs were written as junk. It took Detroit to finally wake up and learn to take lessons from the Japanese on how to build a good car. Did that hurt? You bet, it did-having to learn from a foreign country on how to make an excellent product. That really stung their pride, but they had to so they can still survive.

In Japan, the factory workers are treated with a high deal of respect. The owners has fantastic employment plans to ensure of their longetivity in employment with their company(ies).

There is housing plans for the employees offered by the manufacturers and benefit plans that will easily beat ours hands down. They even have exersize sessions during their work period to ensure that the workers are always in top health during production. In return, the workers are doing their absolute best in producing the best vehicles, or anything else, since they are treated like individuals, not robots and giving the feeling that they're not just doing a job, they're doing a service to the company(ies) and it's a career for the individual worker.
............................................................

With this above, is the basic reason of the 8 operators in a 16 screen cinema: the proprietor is giving the workers the feeling that what they are doing is a career, not a job. And the end results is quality and caring from the operators.

Money is not an issue with this for the proprietors (course,we don't know how much these operators are being paid, but it doesn't matter to the operators-just the feeling of being successful in serving the proprietor), just doing the service rendered to the public and rewarding the employees for their service.

..a two-way street here is being practiced: you rub my back, and I'll rub yours on equal terms.

-Monte

[ 08-18-2005, 02:28 AM: Message edited by: Monte L Fullmer ]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-18-2005, 07:42 AM:

Are there any single screen houses that still have a two-man booth for regular, everyday screenings? (By this, I mean that nitrate, special shows, etc. are excluded for the purpose of this question.)

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 08-18-2005, 07:50 AM:

Two important things to note about the Japanese vs. USA. One, their government is very 'business-friendly' with lower interest rates, tax breaks, etc. Second, most of the manufacturing methodology and quality control procedures the Japanese use were written by Americans. This is especially sad, since American companies 'knew' the right way to do things, yet deliberately chose not to do so for the sake of a short-term gain.

Posted by Dieter Depypere (Member # 3184) on 08-18-2005, 08:20 AM:

There are two projectionists working in that single screen I work in (me & another one). But we never work at the same time - we are taking turns (e.g. I play mon-thu and he fri-sun or somthing like that). Big advantage: If someone falls ill the other one is able to take over the other's shift.

Posted by Ken Russell (Member # 2491) on 08-18-2005, 08:52 AM:

Just a little bit ago I heard that in the US each person see an average of 2 movies a year (a per capita thing so I see several peoples worth). In Japan that average is 28 a year. I would say such a business would warrent the extra staff. I would question though, is that cause or effect. [Confused]

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 08-18-2005, 09:55 AM:

To continue John Walsh's comment. Japan business leaders approached Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a well known American quality control and efficiency expert, to come up with a plan to revive their industry with a goal for quality...he basically developed 14 points that they followed with great success....principals that some business here avoid with false efficiency.

Posted by Carey Barber (Member # 1586) on 08-18-2005, 12:24 PM:

I work at an AMC 24 'megaplex'.

There are 2 10-projector booths, 2 single projector booths, and one 2-projector booth. (This layout really sucks)

We always run 2 projectionists for the day shift and 2 for the night shift. One of the night shift people will leave after the last start and the other will leave after the last movie is out and everything is closed down for the night. On Thursday nights there is usually a third 'extra' person who is not operating but tearing down prints.

In addition to the normal operating shifts, there are maintenance shifts and projectionists building up and screening prints.

There were previous attempts to cut man-hours but this negatively affected presentation and made cleaning/maintenance more difficult. I have found that our current scheme provides a decent balance of quality vs. economy. (Of course, a bigger budget with more projectionists should provide better presentation/quality control but I don't think the human resources folks would be very happy)

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-18-2005, 01:00 PM:

The 21 that I was booth manager at, we had 7 rooms: two rooms had 6 machines each, two rooms with 2 machines each, 3 single booths, and a "main booth" with 2 machines. "Main booth" is where our break/meetings were held, booth storage is located, all the trailers were stored, time clock was located..and my small office.

Since we were open at 11:am each day, a schedule was followed and was originated by me: one operator did the entire complex at opening, then another operator came on duty at 1:00. The opening operator left at 6:00 (or when the final matinee set was started..), the closing operator came in at 6:00. Then the operator that came in at 1:00, left after the final set of shows were started or 10:30, and the closing operator closed the entire complex with cleanup as each machine dropped. He was usually gone by 12:30a(unless we had midnight showing of certain hot movies, then the out time for that operator was longer).

I was placed on a budget of 210hrs/week upstairs. We were all on hourly wage. I managed to keep payroll under 185hrs with this schedule. Payroll was impressed that I was way under budget for booth operations (even my boss at home office was impressed on how I ran things there-we hardly had any problems and we were the only complex out of the state of CALIF).

Whereas downstairs had some struggles to keep their budget under control at times.

-Monte

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 08-18-2005, 02:23 PM:

quote: Heath Dutton
On Thursdays we have up to 4 projectionists here at the same time (2-3 building while one runs the set, or two running half the set while building, all depending on how many prints we are to receive).

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the hours of 3-9 (peak hours) we will have a second projectionist so that the set can be split in two. This is just for insurance (if a technical difficulty occurs one can handle the problem while the other runs the set).

We do one projectionist on all days except building days, which one projectionist builds during the day, while 2 other projectionists share the breakdowns, moves, and set threading at night. Usually it works out that no more than 2 projectionists are on the clock at any given Thursday.

By the way, we do 2 interlocks five days a week (open caption stuff), which requires moving prints 2 or 3 times a week and having to reschedule showtimes.

With regard to the Japanese system: My booth would be just as spotless if I could have 8 clones of me working simultaniously like that. But as things are, you just have to make do with what you get and do your best to get as much done as you can.

BTW using the goldberg platter reel, I've never had to have more than one person building, even when we get 8 prints in. The sucker is a life-saver!

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-20-2005, 10:01 AM:

At Lakeville, we ran two single person shifts for 18 machines, and I still managed to build prints on Wed. & Thurs. Albeit Lakeville is just one long hallway for as many shows as they run At Rosemount & St. Anthony Main, the managers and assistants run the shows. Although, last I knew, at Willow Creek, the 12 screen booth is staffed by a total of two people; now that's heart for your job.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 08-20-2005, 04:35 PM:

1 Projectionist per shift
6 Screens
No thursday help

We have a booth manager (me) and a projectionist as well as the supervisor and GM who are trained operators.

Posted by Will Wheatley Uhl (Member # 2103) on 08-21-2005, 12:22 AM:

If the average american watches 2 movies a year, than I must be some sort of super american or moderatly advanced japaneese. I think Ive watched 95% of the movies that came out this year. So, I think I might be edging on 50 0r 60 for this year alone.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-21-2005, 12:39 AM:

Statistics, business models, whatever. What really makes the difference here is attitude. Japanese people in general have a great attitude towards work and a highly developed work ethic. They take pride in doing a job well.
Some here do too, probably most or all of those who visit this website, but we all know that that kind of attitude here is really rare. Most employees are lazy and lack initiative, that's the sad reality. There is no work ethic here.

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 08-21-2005, 02:00 AM:

That's also because here in the states, most businesses do not actually care about their employees. They spend most of their time trying to get away with spending as little as possible, which includes poverty-level wages for skilled labor.

There is also the point of upbringing. It's not they are more "proud" in Japan, it's that they are simply used to working in a strict environment. It should also be pointed out that they only have to concentrate on two machines. Any of us here should be just as capable of performing well in that circumstance.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 08-21-2005, 09:39 AM:

I've always heard that statically Americans work more hours per week then any other people in the world.

I don't think Americans, as a whole, are lazy. We wouldn't have the worlds largest economy if no one worked. But I do think that a lot of Americans under 25 are soft and lazy. They have, for the most part, not yet entered the competitive workforce in the sense that they need their job to survive.

There is a book by Micheal Barone called "Hard America, Soft America" in which the basic premise is that Americans at 18 by and large suck and that Americans at 30 and up are some of the finest workers in the world.

Once Americans get older and need to feed the kids or pay the mortgage, they get working.

A lot of theatre workers are young people.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 08-21-2005, 01:47 PM:

quote: Matt Fields
I don't think Americans, as a whole, are lazy. We wouldn't have the worlds largest economy if no one worked. But I do think that a lot of Americans under 25 are soft and lazy. They have, for the most part, not yet entered the competitive workforce in the sense that they need their job to survive.

You're absolutely right.
I had to work to survive at around 16 and began working with good management who are responsible for molding the work ethic I have today.

Unfortunately, much of the common sense we take for granted hasn't even been plugged into the common theater employee.
However, with good screening efforts to weed out the hopeless and some effort you can mold a "kid" into a useful member of society.
If their first job (which it is for a lot of them) is a slack-assed environment that doesn't encourage them to be the best then they won't be the best.
It's important to anyone in a roll of responsibility, especially those with subordinates, to set a good example and accept nothing less than excellence.
I'm not saying rule with an iron fist here, cause that doesn't work, but being fair and firm is what it takes.
Being responsible and never leaving your work undone sets a good example.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 08-21-2005, 01:50 PM:

quote: Matt Fields
I've always heard that statically Americans work more hours per week then any other people in the world.

That may be... I don't know. However, I read somewhere that Americans tend to get less done in their work time than in some other countries.... something about breaks, non-job-oriented computer use, daydreaming, loitering around the water cooler... stuff like that.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 08-21-2005, 02:33 PM:

Jack-

That could be. I'm not one of those "Americans are perfect" people, but I don't go in for American bashing either.

I think the American economy is so sucessful because of strong property rights, a strong banking system, lots of natural resources, and lower goverment regulation and taxation compared to many of our other "Western" counterparts.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 08-21-2005, 02:43 PM:

That quote would probably be more accurately "Americans spend more time AT WORK than most countries."

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-21-2005, 02:58 PM:

quote "I think the American economy is so sucessful because of strong property rights, a strong banking system, lots of natural resources, and lower goverment regulation and taxation compared to many of our other "Western" counterparts. "
But the balance of trade figures show don't bear that out

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 08-21-2005, 03:22 PM:

Gordon-

Are you saying that because we import more then we export, the US economy is bad shape?

Doesn't that just mean it is cheaper to make those particular goods in the other counties?

What about our low unemployment, low interest rates, low inflation (creeping up because of gas prices), high percentage of home ownership, and steady growth rate?

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-21-2005, 04:16 PM:

It is currently in fair shape but a nation can only so long send out cash if none comes back in or they are forced to devalue there currency by "printing more" which triggers massive inflation.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-21-2005, 05:21 PM:

quote: Gordon McLeod
But the balance of trade figures show don't bear that out

Gord,

Just remember that next time you are down here taking advantage of and doing work in the good ole U.S.!

Mark

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-21-2005, 08:01 PM:

Mark, what a sad way to answer to what Gordon said. Which is nothing but a basic economic thruth, not even a personal opinion.
Gordon has a lot of work experience and a very solid technical education. When he comes to work in the US, I don't think it is because he is "taking advantage".
On the contrary, he is making a valuable contribution.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-21-2005, 08:58 PM:

Michael,
You don't know that Gord and I go a long way back. I always chide Gord about working down here, and its always in fun, Gord also chides me back on alot of things. Fact is that Gord has also had me work up there and I would gladly reciprocate with him if we were short of help down here, in fact he'd be the first tech that I'd call.

Now about that stack of aging platter motors of yours that you have been abandoned in our office, we are nearing the time to take them over to D.I. to dispose of them......

Mark

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-21-2005, 09:05 PM:

Mark - apparently our office hasn't sent you the updated credit info yet? I will look into that tomorrow. That is a business matter between our companies, not for public discussion. You don't want me either to say publicly that all the ones which had been repaired and shipped to our location died after a few weeks, right?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-21-2005, 09:32 PM:

Michael,
I have no problem at all with that being said publicly because we stand behind out work. As I have said to you several times in the past all you have to do is to return them and they will be taken care of at N/C... just be completely sure that they ARE the ones we repaired because we do mark them to identify them. We almost never have returns of these repaired motors as they are all run in for 8 hours in the shop and platter tested.... but anything is possible...

No Problem!

Mark

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-22-2005, 04:09 AM:

quote: Richard Fowler
Japan business leaders approached Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a well known American quality control and efficiency expert, to come up with a plan to revive their industry with a goal for quality...he basically developed 14 points that they followed with great success

Here that site below with the 14 points in more detail:

http://www.lii.net/deming.html

-Monte

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-25-2005, 08:40 AM:

quote: JC Cowles
I worked in a theatre with two separate buildings when I worked at . Three projectors in one and 8 in the other. We only had one projectionist, although Management was projection trained and could help start films if you had be in the other building. Har Mar 11 in Minnesota. It could certainly be done, but when problems arose, if you were in the other building, they could quickly get out of hand, like a brain wrap.

And then we wonder why there are so many YOU SUCKS posts. I lay this right in the lap of the distribs. It simply boggles the mind why they don't simply write into the Master Contract that there shall always be a qualified projectionist in the booth when their print is running. This means in the same room as the projector, not three blocks away in another booth that happens to be in the same building. If the multiplex is designed badly like most retrofits are, then this will give incentive for new builds to do it right or incur the extra cost of having to man multiple rooms. But either way, print safety shouldn't be left to the happenstance of architectural blunders.

Here is another question about the need for more or less operators in a complex. Is it mandatory that ALL films open on Friday? I mean, do the distribs say when a title has to open? I have only worked art house and subrun venues so all I know is that we play a picture whenever we book it, our choice. When I did work First Run, it was long before they had films open around the freakin world all on Friday we opened many titles on Wednesdays. My point being, couldn't a theatre decide to stagger openings -- open some titles midweek so as to take the pressure off preping prints all in one night?

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 08-25-2005, 10:11 AM:

quote: Gordon McLeod
but a nation can only so long send out cash if none comes back in

Somewhat true, however, at it's core a US dollar is only worth something in the US. Therefore, every US dollar paid overseas must come back to the US at some point. Otherwise, the US is getting a lot of goods and services for free because none of the money is getting "redeemed."

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-25-2005, 12:54 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
Is it mandatory that ALL films open on Friday?

I agree on your statement. I remember when Wednesday to Tuesday was the film week for the theatre industry (in fact, when I was with EDWARDS, they still operated their business in the Wed, to Tues, schedule), but in the early 70's is when the format was changed to Friday to Thursday.

I call it greed, but someone can clarify and correct me on this. Friday openings brings out crowd a lot better than a Wednesday opening, thus the percentage take at the gate became higher and film companies got their take faster.

Why of some Wednesday openings to sorta fit in the releases between strong movies-try to get ahead of the crowd, or some other special venue.

Nope, film companies actually have massive control on when their films are to be released. It can be quite a political war out there betwen studios and circuits if certain points are not talked about and accepted between the two. Thus release dates are mandantory and set.

-Monte

Posted by David Yauch (Member # 2754) on 09-02-2005, 04:59 AM:

We have 2 booths. 12 projectors in one and 13 in the other. The layout is shaped like an H, so that from the middle of each booth you can see the middle of the other booth as long as all doors are open, but they are a pretty good distance apart(far enough so that 1 operator standing by projector 5 wouldn't be able to hear an alarm in the other booth). As a result we keep 2 operators at all times until the last shows have started. Depending on the amount of movies coming and going each week we have between 1-3 people coming in for filmwork.

Posted by Mary Cosgrove (Member # 2095) on 09-05-2005, 03:19 AM:

I work at a 30 plex and am also annoyed by the lack of booth staff. Mon-Thurs for normal people running the sides there is 1 opener, 1 midshift, and 1 closer. At least over the weekend we get 2 openers and 2 closers plus on Sat an extra body who works on fixing things between starts.

At least when there are issues that do require a 3rd person to help out in booth to fix the problem and make sure everything else starts on time there is almost always someone on the floor who is qualified and competent enough to run the projectors. Although I should point out that just because someone is qualified to be in booth doesn't mean that they are competent enough to be allowed in booth!

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 09-05-2005, 07:03 AM:

At a 30-plex you really should have at least two projectionists working at any given time. An opener and a closer having to start a set by themselves? That leaves little time for pre-thread cleaning, frame verifying, double-checking focus and sound, and heaven forbid something goes wrong with a projector or you have to make a quick repair.

I wouldn't stand for that and take issue with whoever was in charge of making that staffing call. The excuses they would have for doing it are nothing compared to why it shouldn't be done that way. That's bad theater handling...

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 09-11-2005, 12:42 PM:

quote:
Although I should point out that just because someone is qualified to be in booth doesn't mean that they are competent enough to be allowed in booth!

What an excellent philosophy for a 30-plex!

Posted by Tommie Evans (Member # 2674) on 09-12-2005, 02:29 PM:

We have 25 screens here, two projectionists at any time when shows are running and one to either open or close. We have a 6 full timers and 1 part timers. Usually one runs either 13 or 12 screens, this includes film make-up, trailering etc.

Also we have an interlock with a 3min 43sec delay between projectors, it's a bitch [Eek!]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-12-2005, 03:42 PM:

quote: Tommie Evans
Also we have an interlock with a 3min 43sec delay between projectors, it's a bitch

Oh wah.

Try a 40 minute delay between machines buddy!

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-12-2005, 05:53 PM:

40 minute delay on running projectors showing the same print?

WTF is it...a 90ft tower with 40 loops? A 90-loop, 40ft tower?

A loop cabinet?

2 theatres a 1/2 mile apart with the print strung on telephone poles?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-12-2005, 07:43 PM:

It's called a delayed interlock, and I think I'm the only one who has ever done it. Yes it was done intentionally so that one print could have two different showtimes. It was discussed somewhere in the archives. In it's simplest form, it was a ton of rollers mounted on the ceiling to create a sort of loop-cabinet.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 09-13-2005, 02:59 AM:

here's the link.