posted 12-12-2004 03:29 PM                       

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"The Projectionist"

Lee Tucker does his best work in the dark for the likes of U and the Hollywood Bowl

Because studios occasionally decide to hold major premieres at backwater theaters using a makeshift assortment of geriatric gear, the very best projectionists are master troubleshooters, drawing on an arcane assortment of engineering tricks and archaic knowledge.

And the best of the best--the one guy who's never lost a show--well, that would be Lee Tucker.

Tucker was not always the perfect projectionist. He started out making ends meet as a dockworker in Wilmington, Calif. At around age 25, he called his grandfather, George Flaherty, who was the first VP at IATSE, the guild that encompasses everything from projectionists to stage hands. His grandfather got Tucker in at Technicolor. "I learned processing during the day and came in at night for projecting," he recalls.

Eventually he landed at Goldwyn Studios, where he stayed for 35 years, working his way up to chief projectionist. During his off hours, he became one of a few technicians on the Bel-Air circuit, where he showed films to everyone from Ronald Reagan to Audrey Hepburn to Barry White.

It was at White's house that he met Michael Jackson. He ended up helping him build his dream house theater at Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara. "I was working in Hollywood and heading up to Neverland so frequently that I got my helicopter pilot's license so that I could fly back and forth," he says.

If his reputation was solid before the Neverland theater, afterwards, many of the industry's most notoriously picky auteurs wouldn't open a movie unless Tucker was running the camera. And it's still that way.

"He's the best," says U's Greg McRitchie. "We use him for premieres all over the country, in lots of theaters where stuff can go wrong. He's a real MacGyver; no matter what the problem is, he can fix it."

And because of this, even at 68, Tucker still works nearly every day of the week and on most weekends.

"I don't drink, I don't do drugs; this is my rush," he says. "There's so much adrenaline that comes from running film for a big opening or the Hollywood Bowl or even in somebody's house. How could I ever give that up?"--Steven Kotler

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posted 12-12-2004 03:41 PM                       

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If his reputation was solid before the Neverland theater, afterwards, many of the industry's most notoriously picky auteurs wouldn't open a movie unless Tucker was running the camera.

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