International projectionist (Jan 1963-June 1965)

Amity Granted Century Foreign Distributorship \mit\ International Distributors. Inc.. Amityville. L. I.. N. Y.. has been appointed a non-exclusive foreign distributor | except Canada I for the Centurv Projector Corporation, it was announced recently In Vdolf R. Schwartz, President of Amity. Schwartz, Manager of Branch Operations for Westrex International until his retirement last August. will travel extensively to strengthen and enlarge the \.I.D. network of overseas dealers. Schwartz lived for several years in Australia, India and Trinidad as manager of the Westrex branches in those countries, selling and servicing Centurv projectors and sound systems. Facilities available Vice President of \.I.D. is Charles Friedman. Friedman operates Pyramid Power Products, Inc. at the Amityville address, manufacturing engine-driven power plants which are frequentl) used in theatres abroad as standhj power sources during main line power failure-. I lie plant. >tm . tml export packing facilities "i Pyramid are available to VI. I), for the export operation. Schwartz, who was associated with Westrex and it predecessor, ERPI, for thirty-five years, says the over Seas market for \inei iean-made equipment has displayed a health) resurgence due Larger] to the marked expansion in 70mm and drive-in theatre presentation. Money available "Exhibitors abroad demand high quality equipment," be savs: "maximum reliability in equipment performance is essential to bold breakdowns and servicing to a minimum and Century projectors and transistorized sound systems are the answer Importers and local dealers can now get more dollar exchange to assur« this protection. Dollar scarcity in most countries is history now. The awakening of Africa and the developi ment of Asia, for example, supported b) L. S. aid. are gratifying and healthy signs. Latin America also continues to be an excellent market for the importation of U. S. theatre equipment." "Inflationary rises in European production costs are a contributing factor." Schwartz says. iP I NTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST Cinerama Voyage to Moon' Set for N. Y. World's Fair A voyage to the moon via the revolutionary "Spacearium" film process will take place within the "moon dome" of the Transportation & Travel Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. Announcement of the space show was made jointly by Fair president Robert Moses and Nicolas Reisini, president of Cinerama, Inc., at ceremonies marking the start of steel construction for the pavilion, last of the major exhibition buildings to rise at the Fair. NEW YORK \ "voyage to the Moon" via a revulutioiiarv new Cinerama motion picture process never before seen here, will be offered t>> \ i—it<>t — to the L96 1-65 New ^ ork World's Fair at the Transportation and Travel Pavilion, ii was announced recently l>\ Fair President Robert Moses and Nicolas Reisini. President of Cinerama, Inc. I he announcement was made at ceremonies marking the start of steel construction for the Transportation and Travel Pavilion, last of the major exhibition buildings to rise at the Fair. The film exhibition will be shown within a 96-foot-high "moon dome" that forms the northern end of the pavilion. Called Cinerama-Spacearium-360, the unique film process that will simulate the moon voyage was developed by Cinerama. The Federal Pavilion at the Seattle World's Fair featured a film entitled "Journey Into Space". It attracted more than six million viewers. The process provides for a film to be projected from below into a huge domed screen th?.l completely surrounds the audience — on all sides and above. The 18-minute film depicting the moon voyage will utilize all information on space flight and lunar science presently available, according to Reisini. The "Spacearium" project involves: the world's largest projection screen: the world's largest and wid April, 1964 est-angle projection lens: an outstanding undertaking in animation and stop-motion photography, and a realistic trip into space. The film utilizes a new lv-designed Cinerama lens to achieve its startling effect. The lens projects the film 360 degrees horizontal I \ and 180 degrees vertically. Thus, the viewer is actuall\ enveloped in the picture, which is above and on all sides of him. Scientists who have acted as advisors to Cinerama in the preparation of the system say that the entire projection concept is a highly sophisticated stej) far beyond the planetarium. Cinerama will assume full operation of the theatre at the Fair. In operation, the domed screen will be tilted forward at a slight incline, in keeping with the pitch of the auditorium. Viewers will stand behind tiered rails which make up the theatre. The slight forward incline is for theatrical visibility and to help focus attention on the central point of the show, which will be approximately 10 degrees above the horizon in the center of the screen. Although action will take place all over the domed screen, a central focal point is necessary for continuity. Because of the size of the screen, Cinerama technicians feel they need the greatest possible film area from which to project the show. The actual prints will be loaded into continuous magazines for projection on the special equipment. iP