At ShoWest, a new company called "Digireel" was selling a digital projection system for pre-show ads that had a list price of $19,900.00.

Check out the Kodak DLP digital and slide projectors at:
http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/digital/av/

You shouldn't have to "kill" anyone to get projectors. If your theatre has the business, and you are willing to subject your audience to ads, there are companies that will pay you to run the ads.

 |  IP: Logged

They use the ever popular Kodak carousel with 50 slides. I don't know what wattage bulb they use, but it creates an image that's bright enough if there are no screen wash lights. While they do sell control boxes to have two (or more) slide projectors alternate, we only use one projector. We did insist though, that they have a simple control box to fade out the lamp before advancing to the next slide- it looks a little nicer. We get about 3 weeks out of a bulb before it dies.

Or you could line up the advertisers yourself, but that is a lot of work. You'd also have to take pictures and/or do some graphic art to create the slides- not too hard, but very time consuming.

So, some outlined thoughts:

Adjusting the lighting in the auditorum to keep the screen dark. Of course, you can unscrew bulbs, but will that make the theater too dark for people to see comming in?

Cutting an extra port hole in the wall with it's own glass for the projector (will your building codes allow this?) If so, my suggestion is to put it at about the same height as the regular projector port window, so the slides are easy to get at and change. This depends on your booth layout, obviously.

You could just put it on a (very!) high shelf in the back of the theater. Be aware that kids can jump very high. We did it that way at one theater, (there was a 125ft throw and the slide projector lamp wasn't bright enough so we had to put it closer) and people got annoyed listening to the "click-kaclick" of changing slides. Also, (on a shelf) it's hard to get at to repair or change slides.

In either case, it needs an outlet. The outlet must be hooked up such that can be controlled by the projectionist to shut off when the feature starts. (Ours are hooked into the automation to go off/on automatically.) If the projector can be in the booth, it might be easy to hook up an outlet. If it's the back of the theater, you might need a electrician (or someone like him!)

I'm just doing this for my university. I will be run by little old me. I was just thinking about getting a Kodak carosel silde projector that runs itself. It's only on one screen (very small screen, seats only 180) I'm looking for new ways to bring in money for out campus movies. Do you think this would be a good idea? I'll just runs ads for oncampus stuff like the newspaper, campus outdoor rec ads, RHA Ads, that sort of thing. If I did this the what would I charge per ad? Any suggestions would be helpful.

However, if you must, then Scott's dual xenon dissolving setup is THE way to go. Alternatively, at least get you a TELEX model with fade in/fade out on each slide. There's nothing more tacky than the generic model Kodak that just pops in and out and in and in and in and in and in and in and in...damnit, I need to go repair that projector again! (No offense John, but the Kodak projectors I've used were brand new and were pathetically unreliable. Does Kodak have a higher quality level machine available that could be recommended to Sara? Preferably one with fading capabilities.)

Check out the Kodak website URL I gave.

The EKTAPRO line is the professional level, and the 7020 and 9020 models have built-in dissolve.

Many of the slide avertising companies use the consumer version, which aren't designed for the abuse they get in theatre operation.

But even the stock EKTAPRO projectors haven't got enough light for really big images. So the metal-arc or xenon-arc modifications are recommended.

As others have noted, you can buy your own projector (check the Kodak website I gave), and make your own slides. For a small, one-screen university theatre like yours, I'm not sure you could get an advertising contract and a free projector. As others have said, pre-show ads are not the best of showmanship.

 |  IP: Logged

 |  IP: Logged

Is this the consumer version? If so, why does the web site say (and I quote) "the workhorse of the AV industry" as well as "world-class slide projectors for presentation professionals" in the description on the web site? These slide projectors have one very major flaw in their design. If you pull the bottom cover off and watch during a slide change, you will see a little thin arm on a gear which grabs at a little metal plate to advance the slide. If this assembly gets even slightly worn or out of alignment for any reason, the gear will spin forever constantly advancing to the next slide! After a certain amount of use, the little metal plate will develop a lip on it and then you've really got some work to do to prevent the arm from catching! Sure these are quick to fix, but they just don't last more than a couple of weeks before the assembly works it's way out of alignment again. Top that off with those weird screws they are assembled with (forgive me for forgetting their proper name) and these machines are just one big pain in the butt. Certainly with all of the great minds at Kodak, SOMEONE there can fix this design flaw for future machines. (hint, hint)