I got lucky, plain and simple.
A month or so ago I decided to take a walk down the block to see the manager of our little local art house theater to see if he could use my volunteer services again. As I strolled up to the door I saw the manager do a double take. He was in the lobby talking to an old friend of his, another pal who was deep into the movie business, and as I came in he related to me that he had just brought up my name just a second before I walked up to the door. As it goes my old friend, the young manager of the movie house, was looking to get out from under the duty of running the place and thought I might be interested. Looking into his eyes I could tell he was a bit weary and that he needed a break. Two full time jobs, a handful of kids, a newborn, yeah, a busy life will do that to a man. So, of course, I said to him, "sure, when do I start?"
So, a few weeks ago I got into the saddle and have been riding hard ever since. Five days a week I train and I sweat and in the midst of it all I am finding that I am truly having one hell of a good time. I work with dandy, talented and enthusiastic young staff, all of them real, true movie heads. They are all well versed on film new and old, watch them at all hours all the while doing all sorts of other young gal and guy stuff, hanging out with friends, gaming, attending classes, playing music, taking trips into the city to, of course, catch rare and delightful movies that don't always make their way across the pond to the peninsula.
It's a grand bit of volunteer duty, learning everything from the fine art of making movie popcorn (one scoop of p-corn, one large spoonful of specialty oil and one small touch of a delightful mystery powder that truly turns plain old popcorn into movie house gold!), to cleaning windows and scrubbing sinks. These days I find myself doing wonderfully mundane things like sweeping floors, changing the letters on the marquee, building and breaking down films and, most importantly, threading the projector. Believe it or not I turned away from volunteering with this bunch last fall because I just couldn't wrap my head around the ins and outs of that damn piece of machinery. But this week I successfully threaded not just one but two films perfectly, much to my satisfaction and to the quiet amazement of my college bound colleague.
Love that job, love the endless popcorn, the movie passes to other houses in the chain, the midnight screenings to check out the films we built only hours before. I love the camraderie, the spirit, the walls up in the projection booth papered with films I've seen, I own or have immense respect and love for, sight unseen. I think that if nothing else happens, if this job only lasts a few months, I will look back at this moment, at this chance to run my little local movie house, as the watershed career moment I have been craving for years, a job I truly wanted and needed and just didn't know it at the time.
Gosh, screen 'em, Dano!
Action!
A month or so ago I decided to take a walk down the block to see the manager of our little local art house theater to see if he could use my volunteer services again. As I strolled up to the door I saw the manager do a double take. He was in the lobby talking to an old friend of his, another pal who was deep into the movie business, and as I came in he related to me that he had just brought up my name just a second before I walked up to the door. As it goes my old friend, the young manager of the movie house, was looking to get out from under the duty of running the place and thought I might be interested. Looking into his eyes I could tell he was a bit weary and that he needed a break. Two full time jobs, a handful of kids, a newborn, yeah, a busy life will do that to a man. So, of course, I said to him, "sure, when do I start?"
So, a few weeks ago I got into the saddle and have been riding hard ever since. Five days a week I train and I sweat and in the midst of it all I am finding that I am truly having one hell of a good time. I work with dandy, talented and enthusiastic young staff, all of them real, true movie heads. They are all well versed on film new and old, watch them at all hours all the while doing all sorts of other young gal and guy stuff, hanging out with friends, gaming, attending classes, playing music, taking trips into the city to, of course, catch rare and delightful movies that don't always make their way across the pond to the peninsula.
It's a grand bit of volunteer duty, learning everything from the fine art of making movie popcorn (one scoop of p-corn, one large spoonful of specialty oil and one small touch of a delightful mystery powder that truly turns plain old popcorn into movie house gold!), to cleaning windows and scrubbing sinks. These days I find myself doing wonderfully mundane things like sweeping floors, changing the letters on the marquee, building and breaking down films and, most importantly, threading the projector. Believe it or not I turned away from volunteering with this bunch last fall because I just couldn't wrap my head around the ins and outs of that damn piece of machinery. But this week I successfully threaded not just one but two films perfectly, much to my satisfaction and to the quiet amazement of my college bound colleague.
Love that job, love the endless popcorn, the movie passes to other houses in the chain, the midnight screenings to check out the films we built only hours before. I love the camraderie, the spirit, the walls up in the projection booth papered with films I've seen, I own or have immense respect and love for, sight unseen. I think that if nothing else happens, if this job only lasts a few months, I will look back at this moment, at this chance to run my little local movie house, as the watershed career moment I have been craving for years, a job I truly wanted and needed and just didn't know it at the time.
Gosh, screen 'em, Dano!
Action!
1 comment:
That sounds absolutely glorious. And that theater is such a cute little place. I really need to get down there to catch a film sometime soon! You sound like you are having a fabulous time, and that itself, is fabulous! I'm so happy for you!
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