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Author Topic: Should the projectionist on duty ever be the floor manager on duty at the same time? Kevin Wale Expert Film Handler Posts: 167 From: Guymon, OK USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 11-26-2003 08:39 PM                     At any size theatre. Singles, Twins, Gigaplexes. I know smaller theatres often have the projectionist do other duties but should those duties ever include being the manager on duty on the floor?  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-26-2003 08:44 PM                     You could get away with running a single or a twin without someone in the booth at all times. Personally I don't like the idea, keeping an eye out on the equipment while it's running is always a good idea.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-26-2003 09:51 PM                    We try to avoid those situations. When I run the booth I stay upstairs. I manage one sometimes two days a week but sometimes I will do some office stuff while I am running the booth. Offices are upstairs so I have imidiate access to the booth.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-26-2003 11:24 PM                     Hypothetical situation: You're the projectionist and the floor manager. You're talking to a customer because she thinks the prices are too high and the popcorn isn't hot enough and the movie started 1/2 a minute early... Whine, whine, whine! You're trying to be the polite, diplomatic manager that we all should try to be. Suddenly you get a call that there's a problem in the booth. It doesn't matter whether it's major or minor. It's supposed to be your job to handle it. You MUST attend to it! What do you do? Drop the complaining customer? Let the OTHER 100 customers in the theater suffer through a badly presented movie? That's a nasty Catch-22!  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 11-27-2003 12:19 AM                     Got the whole thing worked out: 1. Get rid of the anoying customer. - "CUSTOMER SERVICE IN A MINUTE OR LESS" Nod, and acknowledge her complaint by repeating back to her the complaint. This shows her that you paid attention to her. Let her know that you will follow up on her complaint and that her patronage is valuable. Then issue her a pass whether she deserves it or not. Giving her 1 pass is better than letting those other 100 customers hang. (If you can, always carry around 2 passes in your pocket, so you don't have to go to the box to get them) 2. Go up and fix the problem. 3. Follow up on the complaint, just like you promised. This way when she comes out of her movie, she will see that the dirty counter or whatever she was complaining about is clean. Nonetheless, IMHO, the projectionist should NEVER be the floor manager at the same time.  |  IP: Logged Pete Naples Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1565 From: Dunfermline, Scotland Registered: Feb 2001 posted 11-27-2003 09:37 AM                     Round these parts it would be illegal to run as described above.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 11-27-2003 10:35 AM                    For a couple of screens with everything well maintained and in good adjustment and failsafes on takeup and a tension switch on the feed it's probably not necessary to be up there continuously watching the platters spin. But someone needs to be looking into each auditorium every few minutes and the manager/operator should go up to the booth every so often as well. Best to start the show from up there so focus can be optimized for both trailers and then the feature. And more frequent visits early on to tweak focus as the lenses and gate components warm. But to sit there for two hours with little or nothing to do seems unnecessary. I'm not sure at which screen count it makes sense to keep someone up 100% of the time.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-27-2003 11:51 AM                     In a multiplex such as 4 screens or more, the answer, in my opinion, is No due to many of the reasons cited above.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-27-2003 12:02 PM                     5-screen Art House. I own it and I run projectors. Monday through Wedenesday we run one Manager/Operator per shift. Tuesday Night (Bargain Tuesday), Thursday - Sunday Matinee we run two managers per shift. Today, Thursday, November 27th, 2003 (Thanksgiving) we will be running three managers and no staff.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-27-2003 04:32 PM                     I'll cling to my belief that the projectionist is the projectionist and they are to be in the booth when any show is operating with the exception if they are actually checking on the/an auditorium. This applies to singles on up. I don't get on planes without pilots and I don't patronize theatres without full-time projectionists. When DCinema comes, well talk about relaxing the rule. Steve  |  IP: Logged Franklin Armstrong Expert Film Handler Posts: 106 From: Orlando, FL, USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 11-27-2003 09:19 PM                     Any Theatre with more than 4 screens should have a projectionist upstairs End of Story!!!!!!!  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-27-2003 10:08 PM                        Please relay this post to all the multi-giga-maxi-plex companies out there. I have seen 18 plexes run by downstairs managers -YIKES!  |  IP: Logged Stephanie M. Brosche Film Handler Posts: 14 From: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Registered: Oct 2003 posted 11-28-2003 12:55 AM                     [QUOTE] I have seen 18 plexes run by downstairs managers -YIKES! /QUOTE] I have run a 12 screen under those conditions, and it was completely assanine. The layout of the building is such that from the booth one has absolutely no concept of what's going on downstairs unless an employee comes up to inform you. You can't watch employees or customers. Furthermore, the show times are scheduled in such a way that you can't leave the booth for up to 30-40 minutes at a time, until that set is completed. If it had been a weekend I would have lost my mind.  |  IP: Logged Jennifer Pan THE JEN! Posts: 1219 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: Nov 2003 posted 11-28-2003 01:04 AM                        that would definitely be hard if a projectionist was a manager on the floor, I'd probably take it out on someone from all the stress.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-28-2003 10:38 AM                        All of you who see multi-mondo plexes with floor mgr/operators no doubt would have found that plenty of these screens had detail problems... soft focus, framing off a bit, sound too high or low. At worst, maybe the whole print rode the top of a roller because it wasn't threaded right to begin with... scratching the whole print for all future shows. I'd have to agree that even with as few as 4 screens, there always seems to be something to do upstairs... with accommodation for auditorium checks, bathroom breaks, etc (nope, we were never a union booth!)  |  IP: Logged

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