Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: How To Make a Living of Projection

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Posted by Greg Routenburg (Member # 1742) on 06-30-2003, 01:40 PM:

Hey everyone,

I'm a house projectionist at a theatre in Toronto. I am finding it difficult to cut it financially and I was wondering how other people have solved this problem. I really enjoy this field but need to find a way to make it work for me. If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 06-30-2003, 02:46 PM:

Hi, Greg! I'm sorry, this probably isn't going to be what you wanted to hear, but take it from someone who has been there, and now regrets he didn't choose another field when he had the opportunity - before starting a family and having dependents.

I couldn't find a way to continue as a projectionist over 20 years ago. That's when I went into service. The job of projectionist has been "over" for at least a quarter-century now. By and large, the only remaining "good" jobs (if you can call $12 an hour good) won't be that way for long.

Further, since the service end of the business looks like it's headed in the same direction (becoming de-professionalized; the placing of unskilled, overworked, not-much-better-than-minimum-wage-paid workers to do the job, under often ridiculous circuit policies), I've been out of that since being laid-off of my last gig.

I have amassed a lifetime of skills useless to employers in other fields -- certainly not enough to make a liveable wage and support a family.

Please, get out now and gain an education in something with a future.

Posted by Joe Beres (Member # 678) on 06-30-2003, 03:08 PM:

Tim is essentially right, but there might be a few options out there. Either way, I can't recommend a college education enough. You look young, and even if you are a few years out of high school, it isn't too late to get into school. If you want to get into the service end of the film exhibition game, get an electronics degree. No matter what, keep your options open. Decent paying projection jobs are few and far between, but there are a few places to look for them: Colleges with film programs (a few still run 35mm screenings for their classes), art museums that have a film and or multimedia element to their programming, and specialty screening facilities (for dailies, etc - there might be one or two in Toronto)

Gordon McLeod might be a good person to chat with. Look for him to pop into the Film-Tech chatroom.

Posted by Greg Routenburg (Member # 1742) on 06-30-2003, 04:27 PM:

Cheers guys, a technician job would be great, it's just finding a place that needs one. I studied Computer Networking and Electronics in college but unfortunatly the computer field is dead aswell. Does anyone know of a technical company that I can apprentice under?

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 06-30-2003, 05:12 PM:

Alot of the things that Tim and Joe stated above are right on the money. The chains are never going to pay what you are worth anymore, without you having to work every position. One problem you may have with college screenings is hours and budgets for programs. I have a friend that handles film services at a college and he tells me about cutbacks and things. The real money in projection is at specialty screening facilities. Like the studios, labs, post-production houses and the network screening rooms. It's not just knowing Flat or Scope, or SRD or DTS formats. You have to know all production film and video formats. I left the theatres because you could see the writing on the wall. The local was giving more away than they were keeping. I became a Studio Projectionist in Hollywood and after afew years was able to transfer to New York.

Posted by Ron Lacheur (Member # 1126) on 06-30-2003, 05:21 PM:

Greg,

I was in your position about a year ago. I really love doing projection work, but there's no future in it unless your doing something specialized ( IMAX, studio projectionist ). When I worked at the theater, I got talking to the union projectionist and he said don't even bother. He quit before the last negotiation because he saw the writing on the wall.

He suggested I check out the film production end of things as that is booming here in Vancouver, ( and in Toronto too ). You might wanna check into that, the pay is really good. I just have to get some experience before I can apply for a permittee.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-01-2003, 01:46 AM:

my suggestion to you is this. Look harder into the computer field. Get into the programing end of it. There are jobs out there but a lot of them want you to already have the experience. Try to find something that is entry level that you can work your way up into a better position. If you still want to run projection you can. Just treat it like a hobby in your spare time. A couple of days in the booth can cure the itch. Once you get it the itch will always be there. It's called loving the job more than the pay. Unfortunatly that will not pay all the bills.

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 07-02-2003, 12:31 PM:

I've been involved with software programming for almost 30 years now. I work for a large telecommunications company and the current trend is to send the programming and related support jobs "off-shore" where the work can be done cheaper. My advice these days is not to get into any profession that could be easily outsourced to another country to save money.