Boxoffice-November.1999

LETTERS
PLEASANTLY SUR-PRIZED
Dear BOXOFFICE,
When I stopped by your BOXOFFICE
booth at ShoWest in March and nonchalantly
threw my business card into a pile
of a couple thousand other business
cards, I wasn't thinking about trying not
to scream too much if you called later
with some really great news. So when you
actually did call to let us know that we
had won your drawing for a complete
DTS sound system, the carrying-on that
ensued over the phone at Bally's couldn't
be stopped. It was a
true indication of
how much your and
DTS's very generous
prize means to us
and of how grateful
we are to be the
recipient. For a small
theatre in a small
town to be handed a
digital sound system
is a bit overwhelming,
and now that it
is installed and operational
it has transformed
our presentations.
To have
received this from
you,
BOXOFFICE
Magazine, is especially
nice; in 1977
your wonderful publication was the sole
source of my education into this industry,
and has been invaluable for all these years
since. You represent a continuity in this
crazy business that is increasingly rare.
Thank you once again for the spectacular
new DTS sound system and for all
the years of education, entertainment
and enlightenment found in your magazine.
Yours very truly,
Christine Craig
Silver Screen Cinema
Winter Park, Colo.
[Nothing makes us happier here at BOX-
OFFICE than hearing about the successes
of our readers— and if we play a part in
that success, so much the better! Thanks
goes to our promotional partners for the
ShoWest giveaway— DTS, QSC and
Smart, who generously donated the
prizes— and to readers like Ms. Craig, who
are in our minds and hearts as we assemble
each issue!— Ed. J
«»1
BROADENING OUR "SCOPE"
Dear BOXOFFICE,
As a [theatre]
owner/operator, the twopage
BOXOFFICE Studio Chart is for
me the most important feature of each
month's BOXOFFICE. While I'm very
happy that you've color-coded the chart
for easier across-the-page monthly comparison,
I'm still amazed at how lacking
this chart is with regards to the optical
scope or flat) of the coming
format (i.e.,
features.
You go out of your way to
furnish an
alphabet soup of sound system letters for
each stereo print, [which is] relatively
unimportant; we can all drop back to
analog Dolby Stereo if we have to.
Why you cannot list each film as being
either scope or flat, and thus give us that
critical information we
need to plan our projection
platter builds,
is beyond me. This
data is not a studio
secret. A phone call
from your office to the
studios could solicit
this necessary data for
inclusion in your
chart, and thus save us
the trouble of having
to solicit it ourselves.
Regards,
John T. Carlock
(via e-mail)
/BOXOFFICE works
far in advance to bring
exhibitors timely information,
sometimes
months before the studios are in promotion
mode, and getting complete information
from them on a long-lead basis can be difficult.
We've been successful for the most
part, but our Charts Editor is making a
concerted effort to persuade the studios to
obtain andprovide the opticalformat information
to us in accordance with our deadlines.
Thank you very much for your
input— please keep your comments coming,
as they help us "focus" our efforts!— Ed. J
BAGKBREAKING BREAKDOWNS
Dear BOXOFFICE,
I am employed at a small, 25-year-old
three-screen theatre in Coral Springs,
Florida. Being such a small theatre, we
have long ago been forced into showing
second-run movies at discounted prices.
For the past three years I have been a
projectonist and as such have built up the
majority of the films we feature. I am
writing today to enlighten other projectionists
(namely the first-run people) on
what a pain in the ass it is to build up a
movie that has been broken down
improperly. I realize people make mistakes,
especially rookies in the booth, but:
come on. I have seen movies that are torn
and scratched, movies that have apparently
been dropped and movies that have
been cut in the middle of scenes because
the person breaking it down was too lazy
to look for the correct splice. That's not to
mention the [prints] with no scenes on the
heads or foots and then the papers don't
even match the heads!
Also, I would appreciate it if you would
not use masking tape halfway through a
reel when the film snaps while you're
breaking it down. You think I'm joking,
right? Well, I'm not. I assure you this is a
huge problem for us.
It's
bad enough that the studios force us
to wait a year and a half for movies like
"Titanic." It's even worse when we can't
even show it because someone decided
they didn't give a damn.
The next time you are breaking down a
movie, please, take your time and remember
the little guy that's going to get it next.
Thank you,
Travis Schwieder
The Coral Springs Movie Center III
Coral Springs, Fla.
A BREAKDOWN IN THE SYSTEM
Dear BOXOFFICE,
I have been in the theatre business for over
20 years. I started in the snack bar, then
movied to projectionist and finally to theatre
manager. I am horrified at the way
movies are broken down, and then
shipped to other theatres. It seems that
there is no professionalism in projection
booths anymore. Leaders and tails are not
attached properly. For example, instead of
removing the splicing tape between reels,
it
is generally cut with the leader (or tail)
spliced on top of the old splicing tape.
The next person receiving the print must
then remove the old tape before proceeding.
Furthermore, I receive many prints
with leaders and tails not attached at all
or attached with masking tape, which
damages the print.
My opinion is that [the employees] breaking
down the movies are either inexperienced
and undertrained or terribly
lazy,
or both!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
(Unsigned, via e-mail)
Send your letters to:
BOXOFFICE
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Pasadena, CA 91101
fax: 626-396-0248
e-mail: boxoffice@earthlink.net
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