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Author Topic: Borat Toronto film festival screw-up Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 09-20-2006 05:41 PM                     Does anyone know which theater and what kind of equipment they had at this screening that had to be cancelled? I also heard that Michael Moore was there and claimed that he could fix the projector, if it was even the projector that messed up.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-20-2006 05:51 PM                     I was told that it was a simplex xl and the intermitent flywheel screws sheared off  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 09-20-2006 05:56 PM                     Thanks, that is exactly what I wanted to know.  |  IP: Logged Dan Lyons Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 698 From: Seal Beach, CA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 09-20-2006 08:11 PM                     What would cause something like that to happen? Maybe someone poured their soda in the oil bath and cause the screws to rust.  |  IP: Logged Alexander Smith Expert Film Handler Posts: 128 From: Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Registered: Jun 2003 posted 09-20-2006 08:42 PM                     If the report about the flywheel screws shearing is true, that type of thing could happen at any time. Not just when you've got a screen full of customers expecting to see a preview show. It _could_ have happened on a quiet Monday evening, but it happened when the media were watching. Unlucky. Alex.  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 09-21-2006 08:30 PM                     It was a Simplex XL. The machine is left in the venue booth (a live theatre and lecture hall) but used only for Festival shows and checked out annually beforehand. The intermittent failed. I don't know about the screws, if they were loose I think there'd be a hellacious noise for quite a while before they'd shear off and I've never seen those screws work loose before. Several people (not necessarily experienced people) worked on the machine after it stopped, so reports are pretty unreliable. Michael Moore sure got a lot of publicity, good for him! When he posed by the projector for photos he didn't know he was looking at the back where the film does not go, so I doubt if he could have fixed it. Probably next year there will be a spare intermittent in every booth.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-21-2006 12:00 AM                        YouTube has a poor-quality video of Michael Moore dinking with the broken projector at that Toronto Film Festival showing of "Borat" in September.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-21-2006 02:36 AM                        Boy, he really looked like he knew what he was doing!  |  IP: Logged

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