Where'd you learn to become a projectionest? How can I learn how to operate a projector and the other booth equipment?

Do the unions teach you or will they?

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Andrew McCrea

Get a job at a movie theater.

It worked for me. I worked doing all of the menial duties like being an usher, doing concession, and selling tickets in box office. Eventually one of the assistant managers taught me how to do projection because he didn't want to do it. We were supposed to be assistant manager level before we knew such stuff because we still had the union and they would work 5 days a week (1 union guy per theater). It eventually was known that I was running the booth, and no one seemed to care. Not even the union guys. Well most of the union guys anyway. I was promoted to assistant manager anyway and worked that job for awhile, which I will NEVER do again!

Eventually I took a job as projectionist at the non-union United Artists Theaters for awhile. I eventually came back to Mann and all of the union guys had been driven out of the booth by the evil scabs and made into "techs". They were just as lazy in that area as well. Now before anyone chimes in, I know "union" doesn't mean "lazy", but these particular fellows certainly were. They gave "union" a bad name. At least their main man, who we'll call "John" did.

But the moral of the story is it would be best to have an actual job to learn projection.

Do I know it all? NO! Absolutely not.

But I'm still learning.

When you are 16 your local cinema can hire you. They will be eager to get you to work. But their insurance and worker's comp rules may not allow them to place you in the booth until you are 18.

First, let me say to everyone who might be offended by this, that I'm not knocking anyone or their job, or who they work for. Those of us who have been projectionists have all been there, and struggled with the way the business has evolved. I'm merely relating my experiences to someone who's at an impressionable age, and trying to save him his future.

Andrew, you look like you're about the age I was, when I decided I wanted to be a projectionist. Everything was still carbon arc and 20-minute reels then, it was very exciting! And it was hard for an awestruck youngster to even get IN a booth, much less learn how to operate one.

Luckily (or maybe un-luckily), I found a mentor who took me under his wing. Even then, he kept trying to talk me out of it; he knew the craft was on its way out. He was right. Several years later, I found myself desperately searching for a way to make a living, doing the only thing I knew.

Fortunately, I found I could still make a decent wage by becoming a sound service engineer, so I taught myself the electronics by reading books. At the present time, service work generally pays a liveable wage, but I can see the writing on the wall for that too, just like the projectionists 20 years ago.

There have been many times over the years that I wish I'd taken my mentor's advice and pursued one of my other dreams: to become an animator, or a streetcar conductor (just kidding about that last one).

So, the best advice I can give you is something I hope you will take to heart; if you must become a projectionist, do it only during your school years, while you are learning another profession. You can always get some used equipment and have your own booth at home, as a hobby. But don't rely on being a projectionist for a living, because you can't.

Life is too short. There's no point in getting involved in a field that has nothing to offer.

Please, save yourself while you can!

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Better Projection Pays!

When I went to college, computers filled entire rooms, and we punched our FORTRAN code onto cards to program the computer. Today, there isn't much market for FORTRAN programmers, but many of those people still work in the computer industry because they were able to translate the logical thinking good programming requires to new programming languages, or to management skills.

I received my degree in Electronic Engineering in 1970. So long ago that vacuum tube theory was one of the courses. I recall one class where the professor passed around an integrated circuit chip, stating in awe that it had the equivalent of a few hundred transistors on it. Yet the communication theory, Maxwell's Theory, electron theory, solid state physics, logic, etc. I learned in other course still apply today. (And so do the economics, sociology, psychology, English Composition, and other courses that make up a "liberal" education).

Even the "hands on" skills you learn as a projectionist will translate to future careers. Unfortunately, today projection is sometimes treated as a minimum wage job that anyone "off the street" can do with a few hours training. Yet you can see from the others on Film-Tech that good projection is much more, and a good projectionist never stops learning. IMHO, contrary to the claims of "being run at the click of a mouse", future Digital Projection systems will require highly paid and skilled people to properly maintain them, just as computer networks today require skilled IT professionals. A person having the knowledge of optics, electronics, sound, and dare I say it, "Showmanship", that a good film projectionist has will have an advantage over a "computer geek", who only knows 1's and 0's.

So if you really love the movies, do become a projectionist, and a GOOD one. But also continue your formal education to gain skills that will translate into the careers of tomorrow, (whatever they may be).

One of the jobs I applied for after college was at Bell Labs, to work on the picture phone. Well, it took 30 years for the picture phone to happen on a large scale, but it's NOT a phone, but over the INTERNET, which itself was just a dream in 1970. And what remains of Bell Labs is now Lucent Technology, with many people who started working at Bell in 1970 long gone and moving on to different careers. So even getting into a "high tech" career is no guarantee of job security, but being willing and able to learn and adapt is.

Good luck, and as the ancient knight in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" said, "Choose Wisely".

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

I've just been through the forums reading the latest posts.

I would just like to learn how to do it for a part time job.

I'm planning (when the time comes to go to university) on getting an MBA so I can do good on owning my own theatre chain. I also plan to get a degree in architecture cuz I love to draw buildings and I believe I'm quite good at it. This way, when I can expand my chain, I can do the blueprints my self!

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Andrew McCrea

Check out the tips section here. Each booth uses different equipment, so the tips offered here won't be exactly the same as may be in your local theater...but at least you can see step by step how to build prints, thread the projector and such. I am working on a breakdown page currently.