townsfoe

Things like this aren't always caught by projectionists anyways. The doormen are typically responsible for walking through the auditoriums to check on the pictures (at my chain at least). If it is a weekday where payroll demands that doormen have to be doubling as concessions staff, this could go unnoticed by the staff for some time. While it would technically be better to have someone free to check all the time, sometimes we just have to hope the machines work. In the ase of this happening, I'm shocked that someone watching the movie didn't immediately go find a staff member to attack and then try to get a refund, which would get the problem fixed very quickly. (Politely telling someone that there is a problem with the picture gets it fixed just as quickly by the way.)

Because of the huge amount of time you put into the place, are you somewhat relieved to get the digital projectors? My theater uses the Christie machines, and that eliminated the need for a projectionist on payroll; I just took over that department. I spend about 1-2 hours in the booth between Tuesday and Wednesday, and I don't have to do anything else in the booth until the next week's movies arrive.

I currently manage a theater for one of the larger chains, and I've always had dreams of opening up an independent smaller theater or drive in. What were some of the biggest burdens/issues that you encounter that you didn't really expect? Is film buying and booking a hassle or time sink? We have an entire department devoted to that; I couldn't imagine how much it would add to the workload if I had to deal with the mess it appears to be.