I had the pleasure of volunteering at the Loew’s this past summer. If I lived any closer, I’d be down there every weekend helping them out. They are in the process of installing there new 70mm projectors…unsure of the make. I helped with scraping the scum of chair arms so that they can all be put back together and increase the seating capacity of this movie palace. I have been to a few shows over the past two years and they have been grand/epic. Rob Minichino, the technical director and projectionist at the Loew’s allowed me to record sound at the Jersey City Loew’s back in October of 2009, when they had a silent film playing with the Wonder Morton. The ambient sound that echoes throughout the building and ducts of the building create this hauntingly beautiful sound.
A friend of mine sent me a link to a craigslist ad for a theater on Block Island looking for a projectionist. I am wondering if it is for this one or the Empire at the Old Harbor.
I recently was invited down by Richard Dulgarian to work the Carbon Arc Projectors, which are the original projectors in operation since 1938. I might be taking on the Saturday projection shift at the theater. It is a beautiful single screen movie house that still holds onto movie magic. One of Richard’s tests for projectionists is “the start up” or when the show begins. The curtains are closed, you fire up the carbon arc, turn on the motor to the projector, open up the dowser, start the change over so the image spills onto the curtain, and then you open up the curtain…so you never see the projection screen without the magical carbon arc light hitting it. Its part of the magic of Cinema.
I would really love for us to start showing more foreign films. We are currently showing Broken Embraces, but it had been at Kendal Square for the past couple months.
I would also love for us to get another functioning projector so that we can start showing archival films. It takes two projectors running the change-over method of projection to show archival films because they are not allowed to be cut and spliced.
Please post ideas here, and I’ll be sure to let David know… we all want to see this theater succeed!
I am a current BFA Film Student at Emerson College, I used to work at The Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH as well as The Somerville Theater in Somervile, MA. I am also a volunteer down at The Jersey City Loew’s in Jersey City, NJ. I am currently a projectionist at The Stuart Street Playhouse in Boston, MA, and hope to experience the change-over projection system they have in Emerson College’s Paramount Center…in their screening room they are calling The Kevin Bright Family Screening Room.
To me personally, they should have renovated the main theater to be a more of a multi-use venue. It is right now a performing arts venue, but how hard would it have been to renovate/rebuild a projection booth for use of the VMA department at Emerson College.
The Screening RM they have in The Paramount Center is more so in the adjacent building and is about a 250 seat capacity (about the size of the Harvard Film Archive, maybe even smaller).
I am currently sitting in The Stuart Street Playhouse lobby.
I’ve been working here since November of 2009 as a projectionist. The Playhouse hasn’t got much business since it re-opened on Halloween of 2009. Fred Wiseman’s LA DANSE being our busiest show around Christmas time.
I have been urging David Bramante (who runs this theater, as well as West Newton Cinema and Belmont Studio Cinema, which his brother runs) to lower his prices, start a membership program, and create a sense of community with the local restaurants and institutions such as Emerson College down the street. Our biggest draws have been with film festival, such as The Boston Jewish Film Festival, The Boston Irish Film Festival, and The Boston Underground Film Festival, which I work as a projectionist for.
Last night we had BUFF, The Boston Underground Film Festival here for their LAUNCH PARTY with a huge draw close to selling out our 400 seat capacity. YELP, Harpoon, and Boloco all helped our for that event.
As a projectionist really interested in the art of exhibition, I am slowly learning what works well and what doesn’t work. The current management style is not working to the best of its ability to draw in crowds to downtown Boston’s only art house theater.
The only other movie theater in downtown Boston being Boston Common Loew’s/AMC.
I used to work at the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH and I am very sad to hear about this theater as well. New Hampshire, and more specifically the piscataqua region or seacoast region of New Hampshire really has nothing left besides that huge/disgusting/ugly/money-making Regal at The Fox Run Mall.
I now currently work at another single screen theater down in Boston, MA…The Stuart Street Playhouse, which used to be known as The Sack 57. I worked briefly at the Somerville Theater, which to me is the best example of a profitable and busy old movie house. I left the Somervile to help The Stuart Street Playhouse take flight. I have been working as a projectionist, but I am extremely interested in attracting people to come to places like this.
It is sad to come home to New Hampshire and not have any place close by to go see a motion picture.
Here is the facebook group started to attract ideas for The Strand’s future… View link
I would very much like to contact Mr. Rosenbaum if I could have the chance. I am doing research on my BFA Thesis, which I am creating a film about the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH.
Sincerely,
Kyle S. Glowacky
Artist/Student
IOKA (A BFA Thesis)
I am watching D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back with the director’s commentary on, and they mention that this film was hard to distribute when it first came out. Pennebaker mostly played the film on his one and only 16mm print of it at schools and colleges while he tried to figure out what to do with it. Then someone from the Art Theaters Guild approached him about screening it at the Presidio in San Francisco which at the time was in bad shaped playing pornography. The film then sort of premiered here before being made a 35mm print and screening in NYC.
When I saw Once Upon a Time in the West here, it was one of the best memories of going to the movies. Seeing that 35mm print was like seeing the film for the first time as if it just came out. I love the Brattle, and would love to get a job there some day, even doing concession.
Does anyone know anything about Boston’s Projectionist Union?
I would love to get in contact with them about getting a job, if able to.
The theater I work for in NH just closed down, but I would love to get a job at another great theater. Check out the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH. It is a forgotton gem hidden in the small town of Exeter, NH.
I went there this past summer while studying at FAMU (The Film Academy in Prague). The theater is amazing, and I can’t wait to return. I saw Bathory there, a Czech block buster, which is probably one of the most expensive films in czech film history.
Roger has allowed me to shoot some film inside the theater before it closes.
I am using it for my BFA thesis film which i planned to make about the struggling independent theater. Since the news of its closing as came sooner than i thought, the film has changed into an exploration of this closing theater in its last days. (i really hope it does not close for good)
The idea of making a film as a piece of art for the ioka is my way of remembering the theater through film, for which this theater was built to show.
5thly, also running movies, doesn’t make that much money for the theater.
i wish these societal influences didn’t exist, because i wish for the theater to maintain as a movie theater, a independent movie theater, and i would love for this theater to become popular again, because i love rushing around, asking people what they want, and getting them there popcorm, etc.
i hope also that the state recognizes this theaters need, and helps pump some money into restorations, not only to meet fire code requirements which they themselves put in place, but also so that the marquee which hasn’t lit up the word ioka in sometime, may do so in the future.
There are many societal influences that are going against the ioka theater, and in return making it hard for the theater to continue.
1stly, the theater is an indepedent company, not a non profit, or a corporation, which our capitalistic society sides with.
2ndly, it is a small town entity, therefore it relies on its towns patrons for it to make money.
3rdly, the economy is just bad.
4rthly, the state and town put so many restrictions on a venue like this, which acts against it, rather than for it, and in return costing more money, than money earned.
View link
I had the pleasure of volunteering at the Loew’s this past summer. If I lived any closer, I’d be down there every weekend helping them out. They are in the process of installing there new 70mm projectors…unsure of the make. I helped with scraping the scum of chair arms so that they can all be put back together and increase the seating capacity of this movie palace. I have been to a few shows over the past two years and they have been grand/epic. Rob Minichino, the technical director and projectionist at the Loew’s allowed me to record sound at the Jersey City Loew’s back in October of 2009, when they had a silent film playing with the Wonder Morton. The ambient sound that echoes throughout the building and ducts of the building create this hauntingly beautiful sound.
A friend of mine sent me a link to a craigslist ad for a theater on Block Island looking for a projectionist. I am wondering if it is for this one or the Empire at the Old Harbor.
View link
I would love the opportunity to say out on Block Island for the summer in isolation and cinema.
I recently was invited down by Richard Dulgarian to work the Carbon Arc Projectors, which are the original projectors in operation since 1938. I might be taking on the Saturday projection shift at the theater. It is a beautiful single screen movie house that still holds onto movie magic. One of Richard’s tests for projectionists is “the start up” or when the show begins. The curtains are closed, you fire up the carbon arc, turn on the motor to the projector, open up the dowser, start the change over so the image spills onto the curtain, and then you open up the curtain…so you never see the projection screen without the magical carbon arc light hitting it. Its part of the magic of Cinema.
I agree one hundred percent!
I would really love for us to start showing more foreign films. We are currently showing Broken Embraces, but it had been at Kendal Square for the past couple months.
I would also love for us to get another functioning projector so that we can start showing archival films. It takes two projectors running the change-over method of projection to show archival films because they are not allowed to be cut and spliced.
Please post ideas here, and I’ll be sure to let David know… we all want to see this theater succeed!
I am a current BFA Film Student at Emerson College, I used to work at The Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH as well as The Somerville Theater in Somervile, MA. I am also a volunteer down at The Jersey City Loew’s in Jersey City, NJ. I am currently a projectionist at The Stuart Street Playhouse in Boston, MA, and hope to experience the change-over projection system they have in Emerson College’s Paramount Center…in their screening room they are calling The Kevin Bright Family Screening Room.
To me personally, they should have renovated the main theater to be a more of a multi-use venue. It is right now a performing arts venue, but how hard would it have been to renovate/rebuild a projection booth for use of the VMA department at Emerson College.
The Screening RM they have in The Paramount Center is more so in the adjacent building and is about a 250 seat capacity (about the size of the Harvard Film Archive, maybe even smaller).
I am currently sitting in The Stuart Street Playhouse lobby.
I’ve been working here since November of 2009 as a projectionist. The Playhouse hasn’t got much business since it re-opened on Halloween of 2009. Fred Wiseman’s LA DANSE being our busiest show around Christmas time.
I have been urging David Bramante (who runs this theater, as well as West Newton Cinema and Belmont Studio Cinema, which his brother runs) to lower his prices, start a membership program, and create a sense of community with the local restaurants and institutions such as Emerson College down the street. Our biggest draws have been with film festival, such as The Boston Jewish Film Festival, The Boston Irish Film Festival, and The Boston Underground Film Festival, which I work as a projectionist for.
Last night we had BUFF, The Boston Underground Film Festival here for their LAUNCH PARTY with a huge draw close to selling out our 400 seat capacity. YELP, Harpoon, and Boloco all helped our for that event.
As a projectionist really interested in the art of exhibition, I am slowly learning what works well and what doesn’t work. The current management style is not working to the best of its ability to draw in crowds to downtown Boston’s only art house theater.
The only other movie theater in downtown Boston being Boston Common Loew’s/AMC.
I used to work at the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH and I am very sad to hear about this theater as well. New Hampshire, and more specifically the piscataqua region or seacoast region of New Hampshire really has nothing left besides that huge/disgusting/ugly/money-making Regal at The Fox Run Mall.
I now currently work at another single screen theater down in Boston, MA…The Stuart Street Playhouse, which used to be known as The Sack 57. I worked briefly at the Somerville Theater, which to me is the best example of a profitable and busy old movie house. I left the Somervile to help The Stuart Street Playhouse take flight. I have been working as a projectionist, but I am extremely interested in attracting people to come to places like this.
It is sad to come home to New Hampshire and not have any place close by to go see a motion picture.
Here is the facebook group started to attract ideas for The Strand’s future… View link
View link
I would very much like to contact Mr. Rosenbaum if I could have the chance. I am doing research on my BFA Thesis, which I am creating a film about the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH.
Sincerely,
Kyle S. Glowacky
Artist/Student
IOKA (A BFA Thesis)
Our website is actually
www.iokafilm.com
the link that says click here is actually for another group in the process of saving the theater. www.savetheioka.com
I am watching D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back with the director’s commentary on, and they mention that this film was hard to distribute when it first came out. Pennebaker mostly played the film on his one and only 16mm print of it at schools and colleges while he tried to figure out what to do with it. Then someone from the Art Theaters Guild approached him about screening it at the Presidio in San Francisco which at the time was in bad shaped playing pornography. The film then sort of premiered here before being made a 35mm print and screening in NYC.
When I saw Once Upon a Time in the West here, it was one of the best memories of going to the movies. Seeing that 35mm print was like seeing the film for the first time as if it just came out. I love the Brattle, and would love to get a job there some day, even doing concession.
Does anyone know anything about Boston’s Projectionist Union?
I would love to get in contact with them about getting a job, if able to.
The theater I work for in NH just closed down, but I would love to get a job at another great theater. Check out the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH. It is a forgotton gem hidden in the small town of Exeter, NH.
I went there this past summer while studying at FAMU (The Film Academy in Prague). The theater is amazing, and I can’t wait to return. I saw Bathory there, a Czech block buster, which is probably one of the most expensive films in czech film history.
woops, i meant to write, The ioka theater in Exeter, NH which is now closing.
i wish i could help, if i only had the money,
i am a student of film, and also work at The Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH which is not closing. So we will have a similar problem on our hands.
i hope this theater stays alive!
Roger has allowed me to shoot some film inside the theater before it closes.
I am using it for my BFA thesis film which i planned to make about the struggling independent theater. Since the news of its closing as came sooner than i thought, the film has changed into an exploration of this closing theater in its last days. (i really hope it does not close for good)
The idea of making a film as a piece of art for the ioka is my way of remembering the theater through film, for which this theater was built to show.
5thly, also running movies, doesn’t make that much money for the theater.
i wish these societal influences didn’t exist, because i wish for the theater to maintain as a movie theater, a independent movie theater, and i would love for this theater to become popular again, because i love rushing around, asking people what they want, and getting them there popcorm, etc.
i hope also that the state recognizes this theaters need, and helps pump some money into restorations, not only to meet fire code requirements which they themselves put in place, but also so that the marquee which hasn’t lit up the word ioka in sometime, may do so in the future.
There are many societal influences that are going against the ioka theater, and in return making it hard for the theater to continue.
1stly, the theater is an indepedent company, not a non profit, or a corporation, which our capitalistic society sides with.
2ndly, it is a small town entity, therefore it relies on its towns patrons for it to make money.
3rdly, the economy is just bad.
4rthly, the state and town put so many restrictions on a venue like this, which acts against it, rather than for it, and in return costing more money, than money earned.
View link
a clip i found while at work behind the concessions counter at the ioka