International projectionist (Jan 1959-Dec 1960)

In the SPOTLIGHT LAS VEGAS TECHNICIANS Not Quite the Millenium -But Almost COMES now the admission by motion picture theatre owners that the process of presenting properly the only merchandise they have to sell — the visual-audio conglomerate on the screen — has suffered severely in terms of quality through their own laxity in terms of broken-down equipment, scrimping on replacement parts, and general overall indifference to that which was the only reason for collecting an admission price. This Gospel has been preached by IP for 27 years in print and orally by its representatives on the far-flung frontiers of national and sectional meetings. The response thereto from exhibitors was muted. Joint IA-TOA Effort Solicited Lately, the energetic head of the Theatre Owners of America, an upstanding lineal descendant of Athens by the name of George Kerasotes, dispatched letters to the manufacturers, the supply dealers, the national service organizations, and — wondrous to behold — the Iatse in which he pleaded for a joint effort to eradicate the shortcomings uncovered by the all-IA team of specialists which recently surveyed several hundred theatres in all categories and found therein presentation failings which actually distracted the audience from the visual sequence, the accompanying sound. Significantly, there was reported in IP, last month (p. 3) the statement by Dr. William Kelley of the Motion Picture Research Council that "the cost of this field study could no longer be borne by the producers alone" — an admission that the theatre owners really weren't concerned with the quality of their screen presentations. The reaction of the IATSE was immediate and positive, to the effect that what was now being proposed was a replica in detail of what its affiliated Local Unions had been doing on their own, often after midnight when the theatres closed, for so many years back. Of course, the IA would go along with the suggested program — enthusiastically. The craft has been struggling for the past ten years with more variations of the projection process than a threeheaded cat in a fishstore; and if the courageous Greek from the Mid-West can jell these efforts into a coordinated whole, he will have gained the all-out support of the organized craft. When do we start? • Settlement of the long-drawn-out negotiations for a new wage pact for the 21 IA craft units active in West Coast studio production, involving both the theatrical and TV forces, was achieved on Friday, January 30, just a few hours Graham T. Bennett, member and former president of Las Vegas, Nev., IA Local 720, shown at the control console of the lighting board (made to his specifications by Century and Izenour) at the fabulous Tropicana Club. Harold Preuss and Morris Pitcher, members IA Local 720, who nightly deliver the lumens for the stage show at the Tropicana Club. before the approach of the contract deadline at midnight. The new two-year pact provides for a flat 21-cents-an-hour wage increase for all crafts, and while somewhat below the 15% increase asked originally by the IA, provided for some 15,000 workers improvements in the health and welfare plans now in existence. The new termer allows for overtime as well as straighttime allowances. Also, the life insurance proviso is raised from $1000 to $2500. Settlement marked the return of the THEN AND NOW: INDICATING THAT THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE The boy in the left photo is the kid who worked as an "operator" at the Post Theatre in Green Bay, Wis. Date: 1908. Today, having overcome the travail of technological developments (don't mention varying aperture plates) he is a projectionist at the Music Box, Seattle, Wash. (I A Local 154). Name: Harry Miller. 14 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST • FEBRUARY 1959