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Hear a teleconference Michele Blood on business plans Carole Dean on grant applications | ||||||||
The Wilshire Screening Room
An interview with Michael S. Hall, owner of Screening Services Group
Michael, what is the Wilshire Screening Room and what do you do? The Wilshire Screening Room is a screening facility that is part of the services that we offer with the Screening Services Group. We do everything from equipment rentals for film, video, and audio, to Projection Engineering Services. How long have you been in this business and how did you begin? 26 years. Actually, I come from a long line of projectionists in my family. My Great-Grandfather started in 1907 and joined the IATSE in 1908. My grandfather began in 1935 with his brother to follow thereafter, and I began in June of 1977, three months before turning 12, as a projectionist at a 3-screen, 1,500 car drive-in theatre. Wow, so your family was basically there from the beginning of the film industry. They must have seen a lot. Yes, my Great-grandfather started at a storefront Nickelodeon by hand cranking a projector and catching the film in a bushel basket after it left the projector. One of the theatres my grandfather worked at was the Fabulous Fox in St. Louis. At the time, it was the third largest single screen theatre in the United States with 5,060 seats. They saw a lot of action in those days, in fact, my Grandfather and his dad, during the 30's, fought the mob when they had taken over the IA. One time they were even in a shootout with the Mob. What happened? They survived, the others were bloodied. When you worked in the theatre at such an early age, what did you actually do? Aside from actually running the projector, I inspected and repaired acetate film, including second run prints to be run as the second feature. I began learning to repair the projectors, while working alongside my grandfather. I also built up the preview and snack bar trailers, repaired speakers and junction boxes, and most things associated with being a projectionist back then. We actually had to do a lot more than project the film. So do you feel any of that has helped you to become a better projectionist today? Absolutely. I developed a love for tinkering with things and, in fact, also worked as a maintenance engineer for Edwards Theatres, including being responsible for the maintenance at the Big Newport during my time as Chief Projectionist. I have also, covered vacation shifts at Pacific Theatres Paseo Pasadena and National Amusements The Bridge. I like to know my equipment inside and out and am responsible for taking care of all repairs on site myself. If anything goes wrong on a screening for a client, we don’t need to send for an outside engineer, I fix it on the spot. In fact, I have installed all of the digital projection, digital sound equipment, and upgraded the previously existing film projection equipment in the Wilshire Screening Room. You installed Dolby Digital sound with Surround-EX, did you do anything special to give it that great sound? During the EQ, I added my own personal touch to an already great sounding room. To EQ a room is an art-form in and of itself. I have, had the pleasure of learning from the best...the sound engineers from Dolby Labs. What else have you done to the screening room? Basically, I wanted my dream screening room so I cut no corners when I put the finishing touches into it. We now have the best equipment, 6 feet of space between the seats, a top of the line screen, etc. etc. How do you compare with other screening rooms in the area? We are easily the most gorgeous screening room of this size around. If you were to imagine the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in miniature with a more intimate setting, you would visualize the Wilshire Screening Room. This is the type of screening room you want to bring your biggest clients to in order to show an important film and talk business. Our equipment is top notch. What are some of the clients that you’ve worked with? I’ve worked on some of the biggest film festivals in the world including Sundance. I currently work at other top venues in town including Super Vista, the most awesome format in existence, everything else pales in comparison. I’ve done projection work for practically everything you can imagine. What would you say are the benefits of the Wilshire Screening Room? Aside from the quality of the room itself, I have an excellent experienced staff. We are in a very classy building that is very centrally located in Beverly Hills, with free underground parking. We are only 5 blocks east of the Academy and 10 minutes away from several freeways. How long have you been open? We are brand new, and only finished the room and signed the lease in January 2003. You really have to come and see the room in person to appreciate it. What are the future plans for the Wilshire Screening Room? We expect to be doing a large number of screenings this Oscar season. Our intention is to acquire additional screening facilities in the Studio Zone. The Wilshire Screening Room will be the model for all new rooms in the future. Thank you for your time, Michael My pleasure, we’re happy to be part of your efforts with the Roy W. Dean Grants. For more information on the Wilshire Screening Room, go to www.studioscreenings.com |
