Truthfully, I got into the business because I needed a new camera (Minolta SRT-101) and the only way I could swing it was to get another job. It goes without saying that I quickly headed towards the booth.

 

I continued to run 16mm projectors after I joined the United States Navy in 1958. From 1958 to 1966, I sometimes found the military's 35mm booths were like a magnet to me, and found myself in them quite frequently.

In 1966 a friend of mine from church helped me get a job in the theater at NAS Whidbey Island as an usher. I wanted to operate the booth, but was not allowed to do so because a license requirement imposed by the military. I found the only way to get this license was to go to a formal Motion Picture Projection School the navy had in San Diego.

I did not qualify for that school because I was in the wrong rate structure. The school was reserved for the Electrician's Mate and Interior Communications Technician ratings, and I was an airdale.

I wanted that school very badly, and indicated to my Superiors that if they could get me a quota for that school, I would take a leave of absence and pay all my own expenses to and from San Diego. They said "they would think about it."

I was a military man with good evaluations so they did, in fact, think about it. Several days later, one of my superiors said, "OK, will get you this quota if you can promise us that you will graduate from that school as the class Honorman." My answer was "YES, SIR!"

They obtained the quota. Now, my higher-ups went to work. One said, "Hey, if this guy wants to go to this school this bad, why don't we just cut him a set of TAD orders so he doesn't have to burn up his leave time?" Then word came down that they were going to cut some TAD orders. Shortly after that, the navy said that this was BS, and decided to pick up road expenses and per deim as well.

In 1967, the United States Navy sent me to that school, all expenses paid, and I graduated as Honorman by breaking the school record. The wash-out of that class was about 60%, and the No.2 man was a full 10 points behind me in scholastic standing.

I obtained my license in April 1967, and have been "in the booth" one way or another since then.

This goes to show that if you want something bad enough, go for it. If there is a will, there is a way.

Now it is time to pack my truck up with some old equipment I have accumulated for years and haul it across the plains to North Dakota and pass it on to someone who is just starting out in our industry. What goes around comes around.

I was working at a local airport in the summer of 1990 as a "lineboy" (That means I was the call-you-when-I-need-you janitor). Since the money really sucked I left after two months. In December of that year I found an ad in the local paper for "Concessionists", so I called. The manager only hired women for that position, but wanted me to come in as an usher. Six months later I was training upstairs because all the other operators were kids who didn't want to work. My training was on/off until I was operating by myself in the fall of 1992. In April of 1993, I was promoted to assitant manager (a job I detested), but returned to the booth full time in 1996. In the nine years I've operated I have learned alot by mostly teaching myself, but since Film-Tech went online, I've learned more here than anywhere else. This website is one of the few reasons I keep operating in a business that is daily becoming infested with more idiots than anyone can possibly imagine.
 

In 1981, a good friend of mine purchased a single-screen theatre in Cloverdale, CA. Until then my projection experience was strictly 16mm, almost all of that from school. In 1977 I got to see my very first 35mm booth, Simplex E-7's and Peerless Magnarcs, changeovers the whole thing...

I assisted with painting and cleaning up this theatre in Cloverdale, and got to look around the booth, and this time got to get some hands-on experience with figuring how it all worked. They had hired a projectionist that did my initial training on how the system (Brenkert 60's, Magnarcs, Simplex soundheads, Ampex mag penthouses) and I began training with old prints of such 'classics' as 'Guardian Of the Wilderness' and 'Beyond And Back' gradually honing my changeover skills to perfection. Finally in June of 81 I projected my first show to a paying audience... 'Take This Job and Shove It' I was nervous as hell seeing that this time it wasnt for an empty house... I would begin getting shaky and sweating as the reel end neared... then click! Another successful (well mostly) changeover.... I ran that booth all summer until i had to go back home to go to school, and would come back during the holidays and some weekends to fill in and keep the skills up... That was how it all began...

Aaron

Most of the excellent first run theaters were 1 or 2 screen houses w/Union Projectionists, and a great deal were still using change-overs. One theater ran a platter on one screen, and changeovers on the other. It had 2 seperate booths on the ground floor with the consession stand between them (a pit style quasi stadium seating). 1 projectionist who really had to bust his ass! Hot, unventaliated booths w/w.c.'s behind the projectors.

Whenever we went out to the picture show, I always had to see the "booth", and was always in awe of the Projectionist! One of my funny stories occured when my Mom took me to a lecture at the University of AZ--the lecturer being none other than Harry Lang. For those of you who are not familiar with this name, he was a NASA scientist who was also highly responsible for special effects in such films as 2001, Moonraker and Star Wars. As part of his lecture, there were a great many props from Star Wars on display. The lecture was given in the old campus theater, and part of his lecture also included clips from these films. Well, I got a chance to meet him after his lecture, but being very young, and not quite realizing just who he was, I blew him off so that I could go see the "booth"!

During my second year of Jr. High School, I was registered for shop class as an elective, and we were going to do some projects that I was really, really looking forward to! But then, to my horror, I learned that my Mom withdrew me from shop and put me into a "drama" class! Boy was I pissed--and did I have a fit!! Well, it was not an acting class. It was a media class. This is when Beta was still new. Well, we learned all about video taping and camera operations--and even produced our own show. It was through this class that I got involved w/16mm. We had machines in school that were so tempermental that I was the only one who could get them to work. Consequently, I was constantly called on to run films for other teachers and classes!

So, I had decided on a career, but oh crap, 1978 started to see the downfall of I.A.T.S.E. in AZ, and my chosen profession being flushed town the drain! What was ironic was, maybe for those of you who are old enough to remember S.R.A. from grade school--our career guidance counsolers had career info packets on the Projectionist trade. So I went on with my life-college, traveling, the Air Force--more college..

It was maybe 5 years ago that the Projectionist Bug really hit me again when I hooked up with a very reknown collector who taught me many things, and introduced me to some very rare equipment!

So I went into Century El-Con to see a flic, and as usual, asked to see the "booth". Lo and behold a rarity, they employed Projectionists there, and I was hired on. I was able to apply my extensive mechanical background to this trade.
 

<ripple dissolve>

One of my relatives owns the Bison Twin in Jamestown, ND. When I was helping out at the farm one summer, I asked my grandpa if he would take me to see the theatre. My grampa shrugged and said he would call him. A few days later We had to run to Jamestown to get a tractor part, and stopped by the mall. I got the grand tour of the place just after they had installed DTS and a CP-45. I went nuts up there, couldnt stop looking and fiddling with the XL's and the funky looking Xenex II lamps. I eventually asked who did there service. leimen said a company in Minneapolis called MTS performed their service work.
meanwhile my grandpa had to drag me down the stairs to get me out of there. I was 12 or 13.
And then some time passed.....

The next summer we were in minneapolis camping and on a trip to valley fair. I asked my dad if He would take me to MTS and nose around. After an hour of aimless searching, we found the place. We asked nice and were directed to TJ Hopland, a service tech. He loaded me up with a box of parts and said that I should really check out the Fargo Theatre when I get back to town, and ask for Dave Knudtson.

more time elapsed.....

Eventually I asked my dad to call up the Fargo and ask if we could have a booth tour. We went down on a saturday in June, and got the grand tour. I couldnt pick my eyes off the floor. He even had a small screening room in the basement. Dave was going to run a reel of something for us and I asked if I could thread it. Dave handed me the leader. about 3 minutes later he checked my threading of the Super Simplex and RCA 1040. He said I was the first person he had seen thread a projector right off the bat without any training. Sure my loops needed work, but I learned. I asked if I could come down next weekend and hang around. He said that was ok, so for the next year and a half, I looked forward to saturdays when I would be allowed to run the "Pig" upstairs. In those days, I had to stand on tiptoe to thread the upper roller on the reel arm. Then things tapered off durring the grand remodeling, which cost some 3 million. Dave gave me a devry 230 projector to keep me ocupied durring the summer. That projector is still sitting next to my desk, half painted, half unpainted. Since then I have run movies off and on for 2 years, filling in when they need me.

And so this week, a friend is going to pile his old stuff in a truck, drive those 1500 miles though mountains and plains, and help a 16 year old punk kid get into the industry he loves so much

To me there is something magical about the movies. I cant describe it, in all honesty. I just fell in love with the machinery and the wonderful films I have run. I still do this today, keeping my brenkerts running that polyester and carbon sticks that some call outdated, I call fun. It is a magic and love I hope I never lose.

Josh

Ok, I started working at the Gloucester Cinema the day after I turned 14 (Finally, I could work in a theater, law says you have to be 14!). From the age of 10 I knew my first job was going to be at the local theater (other than my paper route). I started out as a concessionist and made my way up to supervisor after a couple years (a position made just for me!).

My boss's rule was that you had to be 19 years old and licensed to run the projectors (In Mass you only have to be 18), so a month before I turned 19 I started training on the babies. Time went by, I got my license and was a manager there for about 9 months. The place got bought by a new owner and I found a better job as a GM (who does all the projection work) at Patriot Cinemas and thats where I am now.

I guess I just always wanted to work in the movies but it wasn't for the projection aspect. Honestly, I'm content being a theater manager....it's just what I'm good at. BUT, I know if the time comes when I'm out of the booth for too long I'm going to go crazy!
 

Josh,
There is indeed pure magic behind film. Don't ever let that fade from your mind! The best magic comes from the light reflected from the screen. Next time you are watching a film, turn around and look at the glow in everyones face from the light on the screen and try to imagine what they are thinking at that moment. The effect is really neat.
Mark @ GTS

"There is indeed pure magic behind film. Don't ever let that fade from your mind! The best magic comes from the light reflected from the screen. Next time you are watching a film, turn around and look at the glow in everyones face from the light on the screen and try to imagine what they are thinking at that moment. The effect is really neat."

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Mark, Yes indeed, you are right on target!

I am going to help Josh build his booth. And when it is done, it will run well.

Josh said: "It is a magic and love I hope I never lose."

Well, Josh, knowing you, I don't think you will ever loose that magic and love. It got in your blood, and it will always be there. Even many old timers will tell you that. Keep up the great work and attitude.

Paul

While I was in Collage at the University of Montana, I met Ky Boyd. He was a movie enthusiast. At the end of his freshmen year there was an ad in the school paper for Film Coordinator. I strongly encouraged him to apply. He got the job and was the first Film Coordinator who ever turned a profit at the university. He went on to become Director of Programming at the school and he got a masters degree in Arts Administration from the University of Cincinnati.

One day in 1985 while he was visiting me in Denver after I had graduated, we went to the movies. In the window was an ad for help wanted. He encouraged me to apply. That is how I got my job with Landmark Theatres. I worked for them for five years as an assistant manager and manager. It was here that I learned to project. When I started working for Landmark theatres, they were all union with carbon arc and changeovers. It was while I was there that we changed over to platters, xenon and ultimately 70 mm. It was in 1990 that I got to run the restored Lawrence Of Arabia at the Esquire Theatre. Later that year we twinned the Esquire.

I took a year off to go bicycling in Europe in 1990.

In 1991 I got a job as a projectionist at a 10-plex with United Artists. I worked with them for 6 years at two different theatres. It was at The Greenwood Plaza, which is next to the corporate headquarters that I got to get my hands on all of the new digital systems. This is where I met Joe Redifer.

I quit UA in 1997 and went to work as an audio video installer for 2 ½ years. It was this time that I started contributing to Film-Tech, even though I was no longer in the cinema industry. I did do a lot of audio and video installations in new movie theatres.

In the year 2000 Ky and I opened a 5-screen art house in Santa Rosa California. Which is where I am today.

 

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I fell into the job by accident, really. I had just finished school and wanted a year out, so took a part time job at the local part time cinema, where i learned how to work the machines. Then i left and went to university, but i alway's kept my hand in when i was back in town. I dropped out of uni for various reasons, the main one being boredome, and went back to work while i figured out what to do next.

Thats when i learned we had aquired an old 1 screen that used to be a theatre (as in plays) to be refurbished to a four screen, and would i be interested in taking a position as senior proj? I thought, what the hell, and here i am, 7 years on! Although a lot of the time during refurbishment (it took a year) was spent keeping the old place ticking over, i was actively involved in helping to 'build up' the four screen, and it really was the most amazing thing to be see the place changing over time. That was a great summer even though sometimes we were in at 9am and coming out at 2am at times. I thought i'd leave once i saw the project through, but i never got round to it! I've been close a few times though (either by choice or some monumental **** up!). But, hey, i get to sleep in a lot, have late nites and you couldn't ask for better management.

Even though i'm a technically minded person, a lot of the time i hate being in the booth (well all four booths to be precise), but after the last few months when i started regularly logging onto film tech i feel i am getting back into it, it makes a big difference when you know you aren't alone with all the probs you face at times. Being a independent, the only other projectionist's i know are people i have had working for us! So big thank you to film-tech for getting me interested again in my job!
 

I was fortunate living in New York, where a lot of live TV shows were done in the early 60's, Studio One, so I was constantly auditioning for parts with my real interest in becoming a producer and/or director.

I picked up a job as the second assistant manager for a newsreel theatre in Times Square. This allowed me days off to audition and work the late shift from 8PM to 3AM. The theatre also had a nice little room where I could sleep after closing the theatre. I worked there until In 1961 my number was pick from the draft and after passing the physical I joined the Marine Corps before I was drafted in the Army.I enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps ( Not Basic training) but after that experience I unlike Paul who was in the Navy got to work at the Base Theatre at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

In 1963 they started building the New York World Fair which would run for two summers in 1964 and 1965. The company that I had worked for at the newsreel theatre signed an agreement to run two exhibits at the Worlds Fair. One In the United States Pavillion, called the American Journey and the other for Cinerama in the Travel and Transportation Building. I was asked by the company to head up these projects for them and with some pull from the US Ambassador to the World's Fair I was assigned to the United States Pavillion by the Marine Corps. This was great duty and I reported directly to the Ambassador at the American Journey and worked closely with the Cinerama Executive VP Howard Minsky on the exhibit "To The Moon and Beyond". This was a 360 degree theatre Dome Theatre. After the Worlds Fair was given of of General Manager of the theatre circuit which was in an expansion program. I gave up my thoughts of Hollywood and married my high school sweetheart and that is how I got started. Semper Fi.

Actually I wasn't but most of my friends thought I could out smoke my friend Rod!! .......and so did I. I still can't understand why he didn't cast me. One day, I will ask him.