BoxOffice® Pro - October 2012

SECRET
WEAPON
Meet Ashley Bradley, Rogers Cinema’s mechanical wizard
THE SMALL-TOWN GENIUS
WHAT GOT YOU INTO THE MOVIE THE-
ATER INDUSTRY?
My mom worked for the company, and I could
see how much she loved it. She defi nitely liked
the atmosphere. She worked at the corporate
office, so I decided to apply.
DID YOU EVER GET TO WORK WITH
HER?
Yeah. When I was in college, I would go up
[to the corporate office] to fi le, just kind of do
stuff to help her out, nothing too important.
WAS IT AWKWARD WORKING WITH
YOUR MOM?
Not at all! It was fun.
WHAT’S AN AVERAGE DAY FOR YOU?
There isn’t an average day at Rogers Cinema!
Most of the time, I work in our corporate
office booking movies, scheduling showtimes,
website management, and marketing. I also
visit our seven locations in Wisconsin and
Michigan, doing whatever is needed there.
WHO WAS A KEY MENTOR FOR YOU
AND WHY?
Scott Koran, Rogers Cinemas’ owner and
president, is a key mentor for me. Scott has
taken me under his wing to teach me everything
there is to know about the movie theater
business. He is a tough teacher, but he is also
understanding. He pushes me to my limits to
make me a better employee. I owe all of my
success to Scott.
WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN ROGERS
CINEMA’S SWITCH TO DIGITAL?
Basically Scott needed someone to step
up and take
charge of the conversion, so I just moved into
it. Marshfield was the first site to convert to
digital, which is my home site. We were the
guinea pigs for the conversion. We had no idea
what to expect. Sonic [Equipment] was the
company that actually did our conversion for
us. They walked us through everything. Even
so, we were just kind of winging it.
Eventually, my role was learning to use all the
new equipment and teaching all of the managers
how to use it. Going from fi lm to digital
was a challenge. I would be at work at 6 a.m.
and work until 1 a.m., just removing all of the
old equipment.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL
MOMENT OF THE PAST YEAR?
Learning how to fi x digital projectors.
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU’VE BECOME THIS
VERY IMPORTANT PERSON AT ROG-
ERS.
I think so. [Laughs]
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TEACHING THE
MANAGERS THE INS AND OUTS OF
DIGITAL PROJECTION?
At fi rst it was a bit overwhelming, because
I was very unsure myself. Sonic did a
good job of teaching us, but it was like
learning a brand-new job. We had to
be shown everything. We even had to
learn how to change a bulb. It took us
almost a full year.
DO YOU HAVE ANY
ADVICE FOR THE-
ATER OWNERS
ABOUT TO GO
THROUGH DIGITAL CONVERSION?
Just take notes. Don’t let it get overwhelming
because it pays off in the end. Going digital
was the best decision we could have made. The
presentation quality and sound quality are just
outstanding. And Sonic really did a great job.
WHAT’S ONE UNEXPECTED SKILL
THAT HAS HELPED YOU AT YOUR
JOB?
My farming background. My family has been
farming forever. Growing up, we had a 300-
cow dairy farm. Dairy farming really helps
you in the theater business. The backgrounds
are very different, but running a small business
is running a small business. You have to learn
how to handle money, deal with any kind of
troubleshooting, mechanical difficulties. I
wasn’t afraid to get my hands dirty, get grease
on my hands. Especially with our fi lm projectors,
my mechanical background really helped
with that.
WHAT IS THE OVERALL IMPRESSION
OR EXPERIENCE YOU’D LIKE TO GIVE
YOUR CUSTOMERS, AND HOW DO YOU
GO ABOUT MAKING THAT HAPPEN?
I love to give our customers a great place to
escape. Presenting
a quality movie experi-
ence is at the top of my list because it can
make you forget what is happening in
the real world.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE
MOVIE AND WHY?
My favorite movie is Gladiator
because Russell Crowe was
amazing in it.
WHAT DO YOU THINK
OF BEING NAMED
ROGERS CINEMA’S
SECRET WEAPON?
It’s an
honor.
ASHLEY
BRADLEY
ROGERS CINEMA,
OPERATIONS
MANAGER,
ROZELLVILLE,
WISCONSIN
18 BOXOFFICE PRO OCTOBER 2012