December 20, 2014

The Projectionists at One of LA’s Most Famous Theaters Are Apparently Tired of Being Paid Like Crap


The ArcLight is one of the most famous theaters in Hollywood. (It looks like a golf ball. In my house it is known as the golf ball movie theater.) Every Friday night, arm-linked lovers bustle in to find new big flicks. Last night some patrons also found the following Christmas card:

David Slack

This comes from TV writer David Slack who added on Twitter, “I love you, @ArcLightCinemas but I got this outside your theater. Don’t be an a-hole. Pay your people better.”

It’s tough times for projectionists. It’s a high skilled job that for a long time made a reliable career, but over the last decade theaters have increasingly dropped their 35mm projectors in favor of digital setups that don’t require the same technical proficiency to operate. ArcLight projectionists are having an especially difficult time. According to the Stage Technicians Unions, which has been protesting the theater for months, they make less than half what projectionists at competing theaters in LA make. 

I reached out to Chris Forman and will update if he gets back to me.

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