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Author Topic: Projectionist License Marcial Feliciano Ramos Expert Film Handler Posts: 108 From: Puerto Rico Registered: Oct 2003 posted 11-14-2003 10:04 PM                     Want to know if in the US and outside the projectionist need a license? If yes, want to know how i can get one?  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 11-15-2003 11:11 AM                     In New York City the projectionists needs a license. You pay a fee and and take a test. The fee is $200 and you pay $65-75 for the two year license.  |  IP: Logged Dennis M Dow Jr Expert Film Handler Posts: 141 From: Bloomfield NJ USA Registered: Oct 2003 posted 11-15-2003 03:01 PM                       quote: In New York City the projectionists needs a license. Do the managers who run the smaller theaters have licenses or has it been waived for them?  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-15-2003 07:07 PM                     In Massachusetts you also need a license. You just have a take a really cheesy VERY outdated test to get it, true or false questions.  |  IP: Logged Randy Loy Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 Registered: Aug 1999 posted 11-17-2003 08:41 AM                     Pennsylvania also still requires a license for projectionists. The short test is written only but has been updated somewhat to include xenon lamp safety and digital sound formats. My exam was administered by an inspector from the state Department of Labor and Industry. Rachel, does Massachussetts provide a study guide or a suggested reading list for candidates preparing for the projectionist exam? I was surprised that Pennsylvania does not. However, I found that through general knowledge of booth operations and participation in Film-Tech (including the Manuals section) I had no problem.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-17-2003 02:06 PM                     MA does not have any recommended study materials, beyond the relevent regulations (CMR is the Code of Massachusetts Regulations): 520 CMR 3.00: Use of Cinematograph and Similar Apparatuys for the Exhibition of Motion Pictures. 780 CMR 407: Motion Picture Projection Rooms 780 CMR 408.3: Projection Rooms 780 CMR 613: Motion Picture Projection Rooms, Screening Rooms, and Sound Stages (If you ask the folks who administer the test, I think they only mention 520CMR3.) Oh, there is also the applicable law, part of Chapter 143 of the Massachusetts General Laws: Inspection and Regulation of, and licenses for, buildings, elevators and cinematographs. --jhawk  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-17-2003 03:29 PM                     quote: Rachel, does Massachussetts provide a study guide or a suggested reading list for candidates preparing for the projectionist exam? Yeah, what John said!  |  IP: Logged Carmine Occhino Film Handler Posts: 27 From: New york city Registered: May 2003 posted 11-18-2003 04:56 AM                     "Do the managers who run the smaller theaters have licenses or has it been waived for them? " I believe whom ever is running the projector, for an audience, manager or not, is required to have the license.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 11-19-2003 01:52 AM                        The still on-line GCC site had a "primer" for the MA license exam: http://zulugruv.home.texas.net/gcc/primer.html  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-19-2003 07:03 AM                        quote: Do the managers who run the smaller theaters have licenses or has it been waived for them? Although the chains mounted an attack to completely eliminate the licensing requirement in NYC, they lost. So the license has not been waived -- we still have to pay the annual fee. So they went another route and put a lot of political pressure on the department to make the tests (3 hr written and a practical) so easy that their ass. managers would take it and pass. My understanding is that even with the watered down written test, only three of the two dozen or so that the theatres sent to take it actually passed. In 1997 I was part of a team put together by the Department of Consumer Affairs to author the written test; at that time, it was not an easy test as it covered in some detail everything from booth operation to buiding codes to electrical codes (the projectionist license here is a partial electrican license in that it allows the person to perform some limited electrical work in the booth that otherwise would require an electrician). That was then, this is now -- presently I don't know if the "real" test is still being given or if the "anyone can pass" test is; I heard a rumor that the new commissioner of the department threw out the watered down test and went back to the real one, but that was only rumor. It could very well be that testing may not even be given any more and that the license has become purely a fee license like a street vending license or business license -- its fuction only to generate money for the city, not one for public safety reasons. I am sure the chains would love that -- in other words, they could just buy a license. Frank  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 11-19-2003 08:42 AM                     Frank New York no longer does a practical test just a written one. This happened about 2 1/2 years ago.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-19-2003 08:48 AM                        What did the practical test in NYC involve? Did applicants have to actually inspect and show a film, or were they just required to do things like make proper splices and demonstrate the use of a volt-ohms meter?  |  IP: Logged Carmine Occhino Film Handler Posts: 27 From: New york city Registered: May 2003 posted 11-19-2003 08:52 AM                     I was told once that a projector was involved and you had to troubleshoot certain problems  |  IP: Logged Michael Goucher Film Handler Posts: 34 From: New York, NY USA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-19-2003 05:18 PM                        In 1973 when I took the exam, it was in two phases, a written test which covered electrical and projection issues. In those days the variety of equipment found in operating projection booths was amazing, some dating back to earliest talkies days. Once passed, the ticket to the practical test was mailed to you and you needed to be "hands-on" knowledgeable about carbon arc projection, any one of a number of sound & projector heads, and film handling, of course. Almost always, the film piece was tails out with a head leader on it. If you fell into the trap, you got banged another testing fee, and a 9-month wait (at the time). I understand nowadays it's a walk-in exam.  |  IP: Logged Larry Shaw Expert Film Handler Posts: 238 From: Boston, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-19-2003 06:41 PM                        When I got my Massachusetts Projectionist license in 1971 things were different. In the booth of what once had been the state censors' screening room the "practical" test was given by making the applicant wire the booth! The 2 machines (regular Simplex with Strong 1kW carbon lamps & rectifiers) switches, changeovers and fuse panel had all wire connection points terminated in copper studs with wing nuts. There was an enormous pile of various gauge asbestos wires with ring lugs on the ends. The test: wire the booth (while being quizzed on fire-safety topics), inspect the print, run a show. Let's bring back the good old days! Wonder how many of today's operators could pass?  |  IP: Logged

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