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Author Topic: new job opening Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 05-11-2005 12:47 PM                     Yesterday I "parted ways" with my employer. I believe they will be looking for a new tech. I am thinking of possibly starting my own service company. Any suggestions? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Anyone know of any good locations, besides Omaha!! Rick  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-12-2005 01:02 AM                     Doesn't surprise me much. The tech division at Strong has always had a high turn over since I've been in this buisness. I wouldn't wanna live in Ohmaha myself... pretty boring unless you chase twisters and eat alot of beef. But ther is a good surplus place there! I think you'd also rather be back with your family..... I was in buisness for a long time near Chicago before moving to SLC. With all the paper work, insurance policies, and stupid excess operating expenses it takes today today you would have to come up with ALOT of customers in a short time to survive or make a passable living at it. Having even one chain to service or part of one is no a guarantee to sucess! It was a rollercoaster ride at times but over the years overall I did pretty good but then burn't out. Best bet is to find a progressive dealer that you have gotten along with in the past and work for them. The sheer volume of paper work thats got to be done today to run a small buisness is simply a joke and unless you work 24/7 and do the work and the paper work it really requires a good accountant to tackle and keep straight so you can be out working and bringing in the bucks. Then there's health insurance and you have a family, then liability, auto expenses, test equipment, theft insurance, employee theft, and so on. Finding a good accountant that will understand the accounting requirements of this type of buisness can also take a good while to weed through. I've fopund that most accountants aren not capable of dealing with the monthly sales/service type stuff. I didn't find a good one till my 7th accountant! Large format is pretty much a dead issue, Sales and serivce is difficult without more than just your self to do it, and the others HAVE to be knowledgable, those employees will cost you some bucks to have around. You may also consider exploring the digital field. In the forseeable future there is probably more of a prospect there than anywhere else in film. I see film as being in its desintegration mode at this point in time soon to be replaced by something else and with at least some of todays exhibition eliminated by ever changing marketing strategies. So you decide..... Were I to change fields today I would become a CNC programmer / machinist. There will always be a future there..... but don't tell Will that..... Mark  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-12-2005 11:39 AM                     One thing I've found talking with techs who do service calls/installs between New York and Chicago are the number of guys who aren't out there. And when you consider what Mark just said - thats why. Recently on an installation I helped with, the contractor told me he has used guys as far south as Tennessee to work in places like Ohio and Indiana. The closest tech I can call on lives about an hour-and-a-half away and he is only part time. It seems as if their is a market out there for more guys, but with many theatres chains using in-house guys, coupled with cheap independents who refuse to call out a tech for any reason, it seems as if starting your own business in this market is a huge risk. Good luck.  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Fuentes Mmmm, Dr. Pepper! Posts: 1168 From: Corpus Christi, TX United States Registered: Jan 2004 posted 05-12-2005 12:42 PM                     Isnt starting any kind of business a huge risk? Mark if tech work in film isnt the way to go anymore, and digital might be the way to go, would pursuing a career in installing and servicing sound equipment be the best bet? There's always gonna be a need for that, right?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-12-2005 12:44 PM                     One of the interesting things that added greatly to my buisness was the added advantage of doing alot of location dailies work plus designing and selling custom dailies units and VistaVision equipment. I personally worked on or supplied equipment to over 35 films in just 7 years time and sold a half dozen portable dailies units. That part of my buisness was as steady as the regular service end. After that many films I got pretty tired of the work and flying off to all parts of the country to do set ups. So when I moved out here I sold all but one set of dailies equipment and one VistaVision projector off. Today of course there is little call for actual film dailies although I have still done some out here in Utah on occasion.... The problem with installs is that they are far apart and don't happen even on a weekly basis so its normal for a dealer or chain to bring in techs from all over. This has been done as long as I've been in this field. Today, my main problem with ever running my own buisness again is that the paperwork part of it actually consumes more time than the service end. Jeremy, Yes... absolutely and this is what alot of dealers will be doing in the future. Digital projctors will probably never be repairable on an actual replacement part basis, just on a board swap basis. So the need for a real electronics tech is minimized. Mark  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 05-12-2005 12:55 PM                       quote: Mark Gulbrandsen the need for a real electronics tech is minimized. I've been saying this all along. What happened to projectionists 25 years ago, is slowly happening to service engineers. Many circuits are already paying glorified projectionists to do their sound work for little more than minimum wage. And, the bona-fide service companies (at least, up until the point I left) have been without an IA contract for 10 years. With the union out of the picture, we had our benefits cut (some were eliminated entirely) and, other than a couple of token raises, made essentially the same money as we did when the contract ran out. It's happening, ladies. It's happening.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-12-2005 03:51 PM                        Out of curiousity, how is service handled in other parts of the country? Around here (Boston area), pretty much everyone (chains and independents alike) uses either NCS or a local dealer (BL&S, etc.). Is this situation different in other locations?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-12-2005 06:35 PM                     Tim, The real electronics techs that are still around then will be troubleshooting the digital projectors at just the board level and doing the usual sound system and xenon type repairs/maintainance. In place of platters there will be a server system of some sort. So... I'm not saying there will be no need for an experienced tech but that the needs for one will be less than they were. All the real board troubleshooting will be done back at the factory the projector was built at so long as the boards are actually even going to be repaired, not just tossed out. Mark  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 05-13-2005 01:13 AM                       Mark, I don't disagree. Although, I would wager the pay for those techs will go down, as has been the trend. Scott, many circuits have taken service in-house. They are non-union gigs and pay comparatively little. Consequently, the level of skill required to gain employment in the field has dropped. When I started with Altec, they required at least an Associate's Degree in electronics or they wouldn't even talk to you. RCA was the same.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 05-13-2005 08:52 AM                     When looking a product design...they all are striving towards the single chip in a box approach....thus no troubleshooting or repair. It isn't that they are there yet but the 1.3K machines had something like 5 boards inside...I've haven't peaked at the 2K insides yet (haven't had to repair any) but one would think the board count will be less. Look at the sound...The CP100 had how many cards?...then jump ahead to the CP500 and now the CP650...we are down to just a couple of main boards and a daughter card or two, depending on how the system is configured. The DA10 which filled a 3U chassis was only less than half full in a DA20 and is now on a daughterboard in a CP650...with the logical progression of that sort of technology...just what service work do you think will be on future products? Tweek work may continue to provide a need for technical people (tuning rooms or even optimizing video) but out and out service work is going to dry up. These systems do move air...with air you will get dirt, with dirt you get regular maintainence but do you need a tech to clean a filter or two?...will you call the tech before it is too late and you don't know why the big TV refuses to work or is now damaged from the heat? Even sound has already moved to a rather simplistic design for most chains...they by their brand D box, hook up their brand Q monitor crossover and plug in their V type cables to their brand Q amps. Is it the best system? Not in my opinion but it certainly works and turns an inferior tech into a lower cost installer. Most big chains are not interested in putting out the best or even very good shows...in fact they would rather not have to show the movie, digital or film, and just sell the food. Every dime spent on the showing of the movie is considered a dime wasted. Now independants are another story.  |  IP: Logged

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