Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Education of a Service Engineer

This is topic The Education of a Service Engineer - who helped you? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 01-09-2007, 08:38 PM:

Since there's not really a school for sound service engineers, most of us entered this arena through the help and generosity of those who went before us. Who were some of the people who helped YOU get started in this business?

Today, as I reflected on the passing of Jim Ezell, recalling how he inspired me to pursue the service field, I also thought of someone who was instrumental in my education... but for whom I don't want to wait for an obituary to say so.

Louis Bornwasser.

Back when I was a kid projectionist at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, Louis's knowledge, skill, patience, and exceptional ability to clarify complex principles were an inspiration. I became his biggest fan; everyone at the theatre used to call me "Louis, Jr".

His continuing advice and encouragement gave me the confidence to land my first service job. (So, thank you, Louis!) [thumbsup]

Who took you under their wing?

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 01-10-2007, 12:07 AM:

Sorry to hear of Jim's passing. There was a time I saw him at every show and opening.

My mentor was Bob Gillespie of RCA, a mix of old and new school.

He worked hard, played hard, was funny as hell and was an inspiration to many young operators.

He would spend hours with you at your theatre chasing gremlins if you were into it. If the operator was not enthused he was happy to give everything a once over and off to the bar.

Another was Ed Bearden who was something of a genius with things mechnical or electrical. Very creative and could invent an elegant fix out of whatever was in the trunk.

Posted by Jeff Lacey (Member # 3217) on 01-10-2007, 12:46 AM:

While I am not a service engineer, I have been able to service my theater myself due to the time and effort of Ron Rudy, who retired from the biz few years ago. I believe some members of this board know him well.

Ron Rudy is a great teacher, tech, and an all around good man. I owe much of my ability to run a successful theater to him. I know that without his expertise, I would never be able to half the stuff I do to make sure that we never have a dark screen and that our patrons have the best presentation as possible. For that, I am eternally grateful! Thanks Rudy!

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-10-2007, 12:46 AM:

Even though I was also never taught formally in the field of service engineering - just learning on my own from reading and studying the manuals of both sound, light and machine, I picked up so many talents from the RCA engineers that MANN THEATRES, the company I was working with for so long, whom was under contract with - mainly one name one comes in mind of a Mr.Paul J. Swickert(sp) from California.

Kindly old gentleman would come into our area and I would do the best to pick up as much tekkie info as I can in the short time that he was at our theatre. He would also, in his short time, being patient enough to show me as much that I needed to know-due to the fact that I really showed interest in this specialist field and he was willing to help me to where when he would call up for the service appointments, I would have the theatre all ready for him and would be his aide in the calls. Luckilly, we were under a quarterly contract, thus I would see him the four times a year.

Then, Paul was assigned to a different district and I would gain some info from the other RCA engineers that would come into our district and assist them as well.

But, in all when I began in this projection field, that we had a local theatre owner who was an journeyman electrician and very skilled in electronics, thus he would do service work for the small 'indie' houses around where I lived at and it was this time that I began to show the interest in this skilled field. Even then, I would pick up on things that other projectionists wouldn't even bother to fuss with.

With my three year tenure with Edwards Cinemas (before the REG acquistion),the chief engineer of this company also lent his hand to me for my quest of technicial knowledge and I very am grateful and, to this day, owe him tons of thanks for what he was and what he did for me.

In this very recent time, I must with the deepest of gratitude is to give tons of thanks to Mark G. for the tremendous help that he has given and shared with me in my on-going search to improve myself in this field service world.

Plus, I must also give Tristan Lane this whole-hearted thanks as well for the help that he has given me with all the tips that he has shared with me as well.

Being where I am now working at, I'm dealing with borderline dinosaur equipment and have to make the best of it to keep this small company that I work for on the straight and narrow.

-Monte

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-10-2007, 03:22 AM:

I'm not a tech either, obviously, but have learned a ton of stuff from all the techs that have done the Montana route over the years.

Tom Bateman (now deceased), National Theatre Supply
Greg Nuismer (does general tech, but he loves sound the most) - freelancer
John Eickhof (now doing a desk job?) - Northwest Theatre Service
Mark Gulbrandsen - CLACO Equipment & Service

...and a couple of others whose names I don't recall at the moment. And not forgetting to mention all the guys here on film-tech.

Posted by Chris Erwin (Member # 176) on 01-10-2007, 09:11 AM:

Three names come to mind when I think of those who have really taught and helped me.

In no kinda order:
Louis Bornwasser, Jim Boyd, and Tim Reed.
(o.k. looks like alphabetical order [Smile]

)

Their work and advice is ever evident in my booth and as a result, we have an excellent presentation that we are proud of.

I really need to get down to Louisville. Louis-Lunch is on me. Genny's Diner?

Tim-been meaning to shoot you an e-mail forever ago. Will be in touch!

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 01-10-2007, 09:29 AM:

Well I am not a service engineer but I have done a lot of on call work for our three local theatres including the one I work at and pretty much installed last year with our companies engineer whom I give credit to learning a lot of things. But, it was John Harvey who taught me a lot of things in the early years and I credit him for being the one who taught me more about trouble shooting and being aware of everything and not just a guy who threads a movie and pushes a button.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 01-10-2007, 10:27 AM:

I love Monte's remark about a kindly old gentleman coming to town. I also remember those days and I am starting to resemble those remarks.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 01-10-2007, 10:49 AM:

Besides a couple of RCA engineers (long, long ago), I'd have to say that I picked up a lot from the late Vern Klingman. Aside from flat-out knowing his stuff, Vern seemed to have a talent for walking into a new project without preconceived parameters he couldn't get past. He kept an open mind, an even temperment and applied himself equally to everything I saw him take on.

Maybe the progress of this business is growing a different crop of engineers... I don't know. But it doesn't seem that people like Vern are being replaced by those who have a real instinct for the job... at least not easily.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 01-10-2007, 11:27 AM:

Vern Klingman came from the booth like a lot of us and thus had an insight and interest in what he was doing.

Vern was Dolby's first choice for the cinema tech job that I eventually got.

I was the first tech they hired who had actually worked inside a movie theatre.

Posted by Bob Koch (Member # 1062) on 01-10-2007, 01:18 PM:

Three. First when I started with RCA in 1949 and was sent to Salt Lake city there was Emil deNuef old enough to be my Father and a wonderful man; taught me everything, even how to drive in the snow. 2`nd; Elbert m.[alias Al] Lewis my competitor when I came to Sacramento, he worked for Altec and always helped me. Had a memory like you would`nt believe and knew EVERYTHING about a projection room. Was my friend and mentor for over 50 years. Lastly, Sam Chavez,who brought me from my place of darkness dwelling on such things as,Photophone, Mirrophonic,ERPI,Universal Bases, 41,42,43 and 86 and and 87 amplifiers into a new, brighter, lesser paying and enlightened world of no arc lamps, automation Dolby and THX and multiplexes. Only thing that remained the same was the powers that be`s lack of enthusiasm for spending any money in the projection room

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 01-10-2007, 02:07 PM:

There was a very knowledgeable older gent that taught me projection, but no one taught me the servicing of projection equipment. Not because no one would, but there just wasn't anyone servicing the theaters I worked at when I started in 1976 and I didn't know who to ask. I went to the library and found a few Cameron books, which I thought were the greatest thing because they actually had real detail about projectors (even thought they were out of date even by then.) I also found SMPTE journals; you know, when they actually had articles about film in them.

I got very good at 'bootstrapping' and finding out information for myself in those pre-internet days, but admit it would have been nice to have someone to answer basic questions.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 01-10-2007, 02:38 PM:

Going down that path there where some good people when it came to technical roadblocks that required a more helpful push [Smile]

J.T. Finley - Altec. Very practical and ready to answer every dumb question. Edward H. Howe - National Theater Supply and Holiday Amusement. A boss who was a good teacher. Jim Moon - RCA. He was very giving of his time and enjoyed his work. Elias Duchese - Altec then independent in Puerto Rico. Very creative tech who was happy when he was whistling Mozart. Norm Lauterbach and Ira at Wolk. Give a teenager a break on his parts order!! Alysson Defaria - U.A. and Dolby Los Angeles. A prince in a family of technicians; alway finished a job better and twice as fast as expected.
These magicians are long gone...I hope I continue improving on these pathfinders. [Cool]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-10-2007, 02:40 PM:

I've been doing booth work for 26 years now but I didn't learn this trade from others of this trade in the beginning. I worked several other jobs that primed me well for this work. Jobs at Panasonic, Canon USA, and in Broadcast Television gave me the combined knowledge that allowed me to work in this trade. Aside from that I was always the home shop machinist type and built many steam engines and other thingys in the shop. So I am self taught as far as machining/mechanics and real world training for all else would apply to me. I am not a projectionist although I served a short stint in Local 110 in the early 80's when they attempted to get me to jump sides when I freelanced for Willis Johnson... Today I'm glad I turned em down as I'd most likely still be stuck in the Chicago area. Later on I learned alot from the likes of Bob McRae, Sam Chavez, Lonnie Jennings, Ben Kehe and Corky Coble... "The Dynamic Duo", those at THX, one whose name I can't mention here that sells horn loaded systems, and others at the major vendors including Jim Ezell. Its all these people that I have to thank for all the knowledge they have unselfishly shared with me over the years. There were also other unselfish techs whose names I can't remember along the way that I met who were happy to share their knowledge with me. Today I always try to do the same for other inspiring techs so they can keep things running.

Mark

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 01-10-2007, 06:42 PM:

I came in from broadcast & cable. Bill Sanders/Christie was once with Altec. George Paleveda spent 30 days with me getting started in Louisville. But the best was Norm Schneider Sr. (father of the one from Smart) was my district manager at Altec. He, personally, lifted the W.E. speakers in placed at the Biograph Theatre in NYC and never left the job until retirement. about 1926 to about 1973. He was the main one...he was THERE during the sound era. Louis

Posted by Cameron Glendinning (Member # 3516) on 01-10-2007, 07:55 PM:

This is a lovely thread, thankyou Tim.

I am not a tech, but would like to quickly praise some of Sydneys finest.
Peter Williams, David Scanes, Spiro Asarloglou, Jason Richards, Ray Derrek, Johnny Yue, Scott Hayton and Dave Muller [thumbsup]

As for my work with cinema speaker systems in the 90's. I would like to thank Philip Noice and Gethan Craig for explaining to me that there was a problem! Fred Pickering for both his passion and countless free advice, his life time worth of audio and acoustic's experience was vital for the development of the products I made.

Posted by Mike Babb (Member # 1379) on 01-10-2007, 08:47 PM:

Nice topic...

I started with Brian Wilson and Bud Shepherd from National Amusements in Boston, then Dick Allers, Bruce Shroeder, Al Beers, Ron Rudy, Jon Bartow from ASC here in midwest...then my current boss Ken Angst, ex RCA/NCS, now independent with a bit of Louis Bornwasser sprinkled in throughout...

Also I should mention Dolby has been great helping with the D-Cinema transition...

Posted by Brian Rene Pattison (Member # 3652) on 01-13-2007, 12:13 AM:

I also am not a tech but I would like to thank those who were patient and taught me so much, Ken Agnst, Duane Smoke, and the projectionists in my old local. I should also mention Scott Eals from NCS.

[ 01-15-2007, 10:39 PM: Message edited by: Brian Rene Pattison ]

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 01-15-2007, 11:29 PM:

I took an interest in being a projectionist when I was in elementary school. For those of us old enough to remember SRA from those days they had a job description/career folder about being a projectionist.

From the earliest age I was facinated by my parents 8mm camera and projector. Every visit to a theatre revolved around me hanging around in the booth with the IATSE projectionist.

Later, while in Jr. High school, I became the schools "unofficial" projectionist, usually being called out of class to help a teacher with the av equipment. In fact the school had one 16mm B & H that everyone depended on, and I was the only person able to operate it. But during Jr. High school is when the downfall of union projectionists occured.

Later in life, I got back into it. I was easily able to apply my knowledge as an FAA Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist and my ligfelong exposure to industrial equipment to servicing projection equipment.

I guess what has always impressed my customers is my lack of ego. I guess they experienced several techs with know-it-all attitudes. They were impressed by my use of tech manuals and willingness to get on the phone with the various manufacturers to troubleshoot and repair equipment. Spent a lot of time on the phone with Bevan Wright, the folks at Strong and a few others.

K

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 01-16-2007, 02:44 PM:

Ego is probably a good thing with techs. I know mine is certainly well developed! Louis

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-16-2007, 05:39 PM:

I already knew a lot about sound systems before becoming an official tech, but there are several names I should drop as they have been incredibly helpful in learning all the tricks of the trade for sound and projection, both hands-on and thru correspondence:

Dan Eiseman
Robert Hawthorne
Norm Brown
Lonny Jennings
Norm Cerda
Ken Jacquart
Brad Miller
Clint Koch
Pat Moore
Rick Salts (sp?)

-Aaron

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 01-16-2007, 08:24 PM:

quote: Will Kutler
I guess what has always impressed my customers is my lack of ego.

Will:
You sure revealed your ego in this thread! [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-16-2007, 09:04 PM:

Or should we think of him as Will "Oilite" Kutler"? Yea, I know.... Will, you call me "Cast Iron" Gulbrandsen if you want but.... Dammit at least cast iron age hardens!

If I were a customer I would be unlikely to hire someone with a lack of ego.... Would have me wondering if he could tackle the job [Confused]

.

Mark

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-17-2007, 12:10 AM:

quote:
Or should we think of him as Will "Oilite" Kutler"? Yea, I know.... Will, you call me "Cast Iron" Gulbrandsen if you want but.... Dammit at least cast iron age hardens!

(That's funny..! [Big Grin]

)

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 01-17-2007, 02:13 AM:

There is a big difference between ego and competitance. For example, look at these so-called hot-rod and chopper builders on tv. Most of them have their face up their backsides, but man do they have egos! I have known many a builder who would run circles around these tv clowns any day of the week!

Cheers

K

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-17-2007, 07:58 AM:

Yea, but if you were even just making those guys daily per dieum you'd be a clown too, they also get a pretty high salary on top of that!

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 01-17-2007, 12:50 PM:

From both sides of the fence, guys: [Wink]

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.
~William Temple

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.
~Abraham Lincoln

It wasn't until quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know!"
~Somerset Maugham

It ain't bragging if you can back it up.
~Dizzy Dean

If I only had a little humility, I would be perfect.
~Ted Turner

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
~Malcolm S. Forbes

It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
~Author Unknown

It is always the secure who are humble.
~Gilbert Keith Chesterton

In all that surrounds him the egotist sees only the frame of his own portrait.
~J. Petit-Senn