“Belief, like fear or love, is a force to be understood as we understand the Theory of Relativity and Principles of Uncertainty: phenomenon that determine the course of our lives. Yesterday, my life was headed in one direction. Today, it is headed in another. Yesterday I believed that I would never have done what I did today. These forces that often remake time and space, that can shape and alter who we imagine ourselves to be, begin long before we are born and continue after we perish. Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment. At each point of intersection, each encounter suggests a new potential direction.”
-Isaac Sachs (Tom Hanks), “Cloud Atlas”
Back in December 2020, I wrote about many of the changes we were witnessing in the movie exhibition industry in the time of COVID, and how I was impacted, seeing the location I worked at for almost 19 years shut down during the brief re-opening for “Tenet” in September 2020. At the time, I was not sure where my future was going to take me, and I could not have anticipated what the next three years would be like at all.
My first time noticing the job of the projectionist was in 1983. My mom and I went to see “Return of the Jedi” on opening day, and the film just kept turning on wrong. Wrong format, wrong direction, wrong sound. I wouldn’t have been able to vocalize it at the time- I was 5, after all- but that moment imprinted on me the idea that someone was making the film show on the screen. It was a formative moment.
When I was hired at Regal Town Center 16 in Kennesaw, Georgia in November 2001, it was not my first job at a movie theatre- I worked a year on a seasonal basis at Georgia Theatre Company’s Park 12 location from 1998-1999- but it was my first job after graduating from college. When I graduated with a degree in Sound Recording from Georgia State University, music was my desired direction in life, whether it was in a recording studio or as a composer. But I needed money, so the theatre it was. For the first couple of years, my musical output dwindled, and my opportunities in a studio were minimal. I became an associate manager in May 2003, with an interest in working in projection.
The longer I stayed at the theatre, the more I came out of my shell. I got to know coworkers, and I started to share my interests- and passions- with them. I became really good at what I did, found something I loved in working projection, and I gained some good friends along the way. I even had the chance, at times, to scratch that itch that inspired me to want to pursue music in the first place. Was it appropriate of us to make a series of crime film shorts at the theatre? No. Are “The Case” shorts high art? Absolutely not. But I enjoyed every minute of their creation, right down to composing the scores.
Some of the best, and most rewarding, friendships of my life came from my time at Town Center 16; I even met the woman who would become my wife there. (Coincidentally, we were hired the same day, though we didn’t start going out until after Meredith left Regal in 2012.) Eventually, though, most people left, whether it was for a better opportunity or their time had come to leave. Myself and one other manager who was at the theatre when I started were all that remained of that main crew I associate most with my time at Town Center 16 when it closed in September 2020, as I was- incidentally- covering the Atlanta Film Festival that year.
I transferred to another location after Town Center 16 closed down, as did that manager, but at first, the Regal 22 @ Austell was not about building another set of relationships, but biding my time until something else came along. When we re-opened in May 2021, my focus was more on my mom- whom had to go into assisted living after being hospitalized- and as I crossed 20 years of time with Regal, I was really starting to think that my time had come. Looking for a new job when you’ve been at your current one- one which society associates more with teenagers working their “first job”- is not easy, especially when you’re not sure what that job would look like. I had a couple of interviews, but nothing transpired. That, coupled with some really difficult times with my mom, led to a real depression. When my GM wanted to talk to me about how my performance wasn’t up to snuff, everything came out, and it was one of those moments where clarity is achieved almost by necessity. One of the things I’d long wanted to make sure of was to leave Regal on a positive note; my GM not bullshitting me on his expectations, how I was falling short at the time, and how I felt like he understood what I was struggling with, changed things. I needed to change the narrative.
The last year or so at Austell was filled with challenges from a lot of sides, but by the time the building was closed in June of this year, a sense of camaraderie amongst the leadership team and staff took hold, and once again, I was in a position where I would miss so many of those I worked with. I wrote a farewell to everyone about how- after the life-changing experience of almost two decades at Town Center, I wasn’t expecting to have one I valued at Austell, but I had. When we learned Austell was closing, of course transfer to another location was part of my thinking, but also, I decided to make my first concerted effort to leave Regal in almost eight months. The transfer process required some sacrifice this time, though, not just in terms of time to a new location, but in position; a demotion, but one where I would keep my all-important health benefits, even if it meant a pay cut. Originally, I was going to transfer to the location where my final GM over at Town Center 16 was currently at, but a position opened at a location that was closer to me, and had slightly more money to offer. The choice was both difficult- because I had already made the first commitment to transfer- but also easy; more money and shorter distance won out, and by the end of June, I’d held keys to three different locations. But both transfer opportunities afforded reunions for me- the first with one of my former GMs, the one I finally went with with the other manager who was left at Town Center with whom I’d worked since 2001, as well as their GM, who had been an assistant at Town Center for a bit before taking over another theatre.
The past couple of months have been about settling into a new position, a new set of responsibilities, as well as getting to know a new staff, reuniting with longtime friends, and insane conspiracy theories about the HVAC going out in sold out shows of “Sound of Freedom.” At the end of July, though, I finally heard back from one of the jobs I’d applied for back in June; they wanted an interview. Then they wanted another interview. And finally, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. On August 15, 2023, I put in my official notice- Tuesday, August 29, 2023 would be my final day working for Regal, after 21 years and nearly 10 months. My next stage in my life begins in early September where I will be…working on movie theatre projectors. You can’t take the projectionist out of the booth, I guess, and honestly, I can’t wait to take my career in a new direction, learning new things about the part of my job that I always loved the most.
What does this new direction mean for Sonic Cinema? Not much, though I probably will be reviewing fewer films, and might not get to every podcast I want to, as I start to learn the rhythms of what my new workload will entail, and how to achieve a new degree of life-work balance that will involve some big changes in schedule, and work load. I hope you continue to follow me through this transition, as I take a new step in my life, doing something I didn’t expect to come to love. Film projection is the beating heart of the theatrical exhibition industry; if the technology isn’t up to snuff, the theatrical experience suffers. I can’t wait to devote all of my professional time to making sure audiences get the best they deserve, in that respect.
To all the employees, team leads, and managers I worked with on a regular basis- thank you. It’s been a pleasure working with you, sometimes getting to know you, and being with you whether things are going smoothly, or the shit is hitting the fan. I would not be the person, the manager, the team lead, the projectionist, the friend, the husband, the composer, or the film critic I am today without you.
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
