Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Opening A Brand New Theater--Any Suggestions?

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Topic: Opening A Brand New Theater--Any Suggestions?

JC Cowles
Film Handler

Posts: 77
From: St. Paul, MN
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 10-07-2001 05:53 PM

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 10-07-2001 09:45 PM

Ideally, don't have ANY screw-ups the first day! While there's plenty of opportunity for screw-ups even in a well-run theater, it gives a pretty bad first impression. I'll never forget going to see "Dracula" the first day the UA Market Square theater in Sacramento was open (happened to be a Friday the 13th), seeing the last show of the day and having the film go out of frame TWICE due to bad splicing, each time not getting fixed til someone went out and complained! That was plenty of strikes against them right there- they were dumb enough to splice out-of-frame in the first place, they didn't get it fixed by the last show of the day, and they didn't even have someone by the projector to fix the framing when the part they KNEW was going to be out of frame came up! I only saw 2 other movies there since then, both of which also suffered from incompetence. I was pretty impressed with the big auditorium I saw "Dracula" in, which had curtains, but UA shows slides now so I bet they don't get used anymore.

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Joshua Lott
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 246
From: Fairbanks, AK, USA
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-07-2001 11:07 PM

Trained staff and experienced management and projection staff. That will help you out more then you can imagine. The more people that know what they are doing the better. There are always going to be "little" things. Nothing ever goes off perfect. You just need to be ready for those things. Have back up plans for everything you can. Try and see the problems before they happen.

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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene

Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-08-2001 04:45 AM

Mark Gulbrandsen and I worked on opening up one called "5 Star Cinemas" here in UTah. It WENT HORRIBLE. FIrst of all the ownership gave mark NO TIME whatsoever to get it going, and then the equipment was all fried and shot. I found myself under the platters tying wires together while prints were running. AND YES CONTROL CARDS DO EXPLODE!!!

Dave

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Andy Bergstrom
Film Handler

Posts: 44
From: St. Cloud, MN
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 10-08-2001 09:54 AM

J.C.
Training cannot be overemphasized. Try to have a dry run 2 or 3 nights before using the parents of the employees you have hired. Can you recruit a few of the employees from the other Megastar in Maple Grove? Can you send some employees up to the Maple Grove location to train? The more you get the new employees involved, the more comfortable they will feel.
Be sure to run all the prints thru if possible before opening night. Try running 2 or 3 projectionists every shift opening weekend. There is safety in numbers!

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Michael Barry
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 584
From: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-08-2001 11:07 AM

This may sound like I'm being facetious, but I'm not: If you can go the extra mile, then install Kinoton projectors, lamphouses and platters. This will pay dividends in the immediate and the long term. The superior performance on-screen will be apparent to all, and the lack of headaches via the excellent reliability will be appreciated by your projection staff and for that matter, all staff and patrons.

If it is at all possible, do it! Just ask Gordon, Mark G or Larry Shaw if they agree.

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William T. Parr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 823
From: Cedar Park, TX
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 10-08-2001 12:20 PM

J.C. All I can tell you is be sure your people know what thier suppose to be during and when to be doing it. I went through the same thing with the Century 16 in Corpus in June of 99. I was the Projection room manager for this particular opening. After the third day I was called downstairs by the manager for what I figured for sure was going to be an Ass Chewing since all the other mangers had gotten thiers chewed for things not going right or being done properly in thier areas. To my surprise I was told that my area was the only one running like it should. Everything started on time and was in frame when it hit the screen. This coming from a staff where only I and the other two assistants in the booth had any expireience, everyone else were new to Projection Booth or Theatres in general. My assistants and I only had 3 working days in the booth to get them ready as this theatre was still being built out on opening day. So the only advice I can give you is, be prepared for the unexpected and do not count on anything running smoothly.

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JC Cowles
Film Handler

Posts: 77
From: St. Paul, MN
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 10-08-2001 08:19 PM

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 10-08-2001 09:33 PM

This may seem like a miniscule thing, but go to another theater and get some junk leaders, policy logos and sound snipes that they are throwing out and keep your new stock locked up. It's amazing just how fast you will find your leaders, policies and sound logos trashed on a brand new complex with all of the construction dirt and untrained staff. A month down the road once things are cleaned up and a good staff trained, you will have nice pristine presentations all around. Now that's not to say that everything cannot be done right in the first place, but I've yet to see a complex open up this did not happen to due to the fact that the manager is more concerned about having every projectionist in the building trained on building prints and such instead of letting the experienced operator handle everything until the theater is up and running smoothly, at which time the experienced guy can start training the new projectionists one by one properly. This also applies to splicers if you have access to some old ones. These new kids in all of the panic of a new opening tend to do stupid things like leave splicers on top of a platter they are about to start. The money men will not be pleased when you say "can I have 30 new policies, 4000 feet of threading leader and 2 new splicers" a month after opening.

I must disagree with the Kinoton comment above. While the equipment may be the best in the universe (I cannot comment as I have never seen any in person), if you REALLY want to improve your overall presentation, the first priority should be to spend the money on getting film cleaners for every screen. Even junk equipment and a filthy booth can put on a good show if the prints are clean. There are hundreds of people who can back me up on this one.

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999

posted 10-08-2001 09:42 PM

JC:

I know a guy that was the manager of a theatre when it was built several years ago.

The whole time the theatre was being built and readied, he constantly asked the mgmt. for time to train the brand new crew. He never got a chance to do much more than give them overviews of their jobs.

When the projectors arrived, they were not the new ones that were promised. They were rebuilt Century C's (I Like These!) The platters are not all alike either.

The opening night was pure hell.

There was dirt on every print due to the construction that went on until an hour before showtime, several of the automation systems crashed, and there was no sound in three of fourteen theatres.

The management blamed my friend for everything. He got fired the next day.

I KNOW he tried to get everything done. He told me all about it for weeks before the place opened.

The theatre closed for a week while the new manager took over. When it reopened, there were no problems.

Opening night was fun. Other than dirt, the film I saw was fine. When the ticket computer crashed for the third time, I think that is when my friend had had enough. He's with UA now, and happy. (and the theatre is still open!!)

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JC Cowles
Film Handler

Posts: 77
From: St. Paul, MN
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 10-09-2001 12:13 AM

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 10-09-2001 12:26 AM

Film cleaners on every projector and a twice a week changeout for the first month will keep your on screen presentation sparkling, but those pads will start to look REAL nasty so expect that.

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Pete Naples
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1565
From: Dunfermline, Scotland
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 10-09-2001 06:23 AM

You are right JC, ideally the place ought to be complete before the crates come in, however this doesn't happen. Dust is always a major problem.

If your install is complete in time, run the booth for as long as you can, but forget that the theatre is not open. After all it doesn't make a whole lot of difference if you're showing to an empty house.

Re: Kinoton. I am having dreadful trouble with some new'ish machines, they are less than three years old and are so problematic that thoughts are being raised about junking them and replacing them with somethign that works. The mechanics are fine it's the electronics that are nothing but trouble.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-09-2001 07:56 AM

I second Brad's suggestion of making film cleaners a priority on every projector. But don't use DRY media cleaners --- construction debris (e.g., cement dust, drywall compound) is very abrasive, and will quicky turn dry cleaning media into sandpaper that will scratch your prints.

If possible, isolate the construction area with plastic sheeting. Cover the platters and film overnight and during active construction. Vacuum up dust and debris quickly (a central vacuum system is best, as portable vacuums and shop vacs usually put some dirt back into the air). Wet mop and clean floors and work surfaces frequently. Don't forget to have the ductwork completely cleaned, or you will be fighting airborne dirt for years to come.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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Jason Burroughs
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 654
From: Allen, TX
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-09-2001 02:30 PM

On combatting dust there a few steps that you can take that may help

1. KEEP FILM OFF THE FLOOR
2. Clean platter surfaces rollers, and projectors regulary and thorougly
3. Avoid using the top platter, as the dust settles it will easly become the dirtiest
4. Make sure management get the air filters changed, during construction they will use very corase filters that only captures large particles, instead of the normal filters, also make sure they get changed regularly.
5. Cover platters and projectors when they're not being used.
6. Keep cleaning and cleaning the projection booth, tops of sound racks, lamphouses etc more dust and dirt you can get cleaned out, less will end up on your prints.

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