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This topic comprises 8 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Topic: Thank-you Technicolor F@#K YOU!!!!!
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Rachel Carter
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 248
From: Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA
Registered: Dec 2000
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posted 02-02-2001 01:38 AM
This is the last straw....I know there has been numerous threads complaining about broken technicolor reels....I was always very annoyed but dealt with it. Today while putting together Vertical Limit what happens? A broken reel flys and hits me in the face...NICE BIG BRUISE AND CUT! It's bad enough having to fix the damn reels so they will work...now we have to go sllllllllllllooooooooooowwww as anything for our own safety??? This is ridiculous!!! Should everyone have to wear protective eye gear while working with technicolor reels??? Why doesn't Technicolor just put out some damn money to get new reels??? Then they wouldn't have to worry about a projectionist suing them for lose of eye sight!! Sorry, I'm just really pissed off right now....that should never have happened. I was going slow as it is. I'm sure there are many other story's like this...anyone want to tell? ------------------
"Blood is thicker then blondes" - From the movie, Save the last Dance. FUNNY!!!!!
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John Pytlak
Film God
Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 02-02-2001 06:16 AM
Rachel: Ouch!!!Brad Carroll is the Manager of Exhibitor Relations for Technicolor Entertainment Services (TES). When the pain subsides, call him at (818) 562-8372, or write him at brad_carroll@technicolor.com. ------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
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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Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 02-02-2001 07:49 AM
Rachel, you have a perfect right to expect a reasonably safe workplace. Things like reels flying apart and hitting you in the face are no different than the workers of the industrial revolution getting caught in belt driven machinery that had no guards over the belts.I strongly disagree with John. _Write_ a clear letter to Technicolor, copy to NATO, copy to OSHA, copy the President of your circuit, copy your attorney, describing what happened. Talking on the phone to a Technicolor conciliator will get you _squat_ unless you consider a technicolor t-shirt compensation and want the event brushed under the rug as quickly as possible. Your injury is covered by workman's compensation insurance. Notify the manager immediately _in writing_, copy someone else in case it gets lost. Even if you think the injury was minor, SEE A DOCTOR. I've had reels fly apart on me ever since the plastic reels became more popular, and I'm sure others have as well. Everyone is well aware of that problem and the "burns" one can get from trying to stop a reel about to fall apart. There is the makings of a product liability lawsuit if Technicolor doesn't demand better quality reels and retire the junkers. Stuff like this ticks me off, when 50 cents for a couple of bolts can prevent an injury, but some bean counter pressures an engineer to cut corners.  Seeing a doctor _will_ upset the people at corporate, even if they don't say so, because it counts against their insurance. If you think there is any retribution because you went to a doctor, you have other legal rights that can be very nasty to the employer. The best thing is to let the employer know that they should be mad at Technicolor, not you. Include something to that effect in your statement, that you were performing your task in the required manner as safely as you could, when this event occurred.
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Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 02-02-2001 01:46 PM
The point is not so much the worker's comp for you, but that this is the type of information that gets collected by OSHA on workplace accidents, and gets major problems fixed. By not reporting minor accidents where you were lucky, you create a false impression that everything is OK. If everyone who was hurt by these reels over the years had reported it, something would have been done by now. You happen to have a classic example of the dangers involved, showing the liability in a way that can get things changed. If you had damaged an eye or worse, there could have been a civil suit that could have cost Technicolor millions. We all want to tough out the little injuries and not bother with paperwork and regulations, but let me give an example of what _could_ happen: Eventually one of these reels will fly apart at the wrong time and in the wrong direction, and the startled person doing make-up will get a flailing hand caught between the super-strength film and a 6,000 foot reel, while it is wrapping around at 60 mph. The film won't break, but a hand or arm probably will. Will the victim be considered stupid for getting caught in such a situation? Possibly, but small accidents do lead to big accidents in unexpected ways, and faulty shipping reels are a hazard that can be easily and cheaply removed. For now, I would suggest that you destroy any broken reels and ship those sections of film back on cores. You've more than earned the right. If someone complains, tell 'em what happened, and that you have no intention of stopping the practice. Put the discomfort back on the people that cause it.
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Ken Layton
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1452
From: Olympia, Wash. USA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 02-03-2001 12:00 AM
Rachel:Yes, we would like to see the damage. Just email the photo to Brad and tell him which forum and which thread title to paste the picture to.
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 02-03-2001 12:47 AM
Yes Rachel, please email me the picture and I'll put it here on this thread (or on the front page to the site if you so desire). Send one of yourself too with the cuts and bruises. These reels have been a nuisance and a hazard from the second time each one was used. Joe's review on TES is about as accurate as it gets! Unfortunately money is all that seems to matter to them. Just use the "search" function here and do a search for "TES" and then do a search for "technicolor" and see what you come up with. The posts here are what the studios who ship out of that company SHOULD be listening to and NOT the political bs press releases from TES. Those press releases remind me of my high school pep rallies yelling "WE'RE NUMBER ONE! (We didn't win a game for 16 years straight.)There are some excellent points here, but as I'm just now catching this thread, the one thing that I'm surprised wasn't mentioned is that of course YOU weren't badly injured, but if this practice continues someone sooner or later WILL be injured...and I mean worse than you were. How would you feel if that reel had've actually punctured your eye and for the rest of your life you had no sight from it ever again? Perhaps the temporary solution here from the projecitonist's end is to simply throw away any reel that has any defect or does not hold together completely solid. If TES complains, direct them to this thread and explain you refuse to use it for your own safety and the safety of all future projectionists who will continue to get that defective reel. I know this has always been my practice, but when over 50% of their films start coming back without reels, they will HAVE to purchase new ones. Maybe instead of buying the 59 cent reels they'll buy the 62 cent reels that will stay together.  This thread really belongs in the Film Handler's Forum so it is not missed. Also, it IS directly related to film handling. I am closing it in Film-Yak and opening it in the Film Handler's Forum.
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). I'll give technicolor a call and bitch...I'll also send them a copy of my incident report. I'm just glad all I got was a cut. 
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