BFI Newport & Training I was 14 when I joined the DOLMAN Theatre NEWPORT Newport, a brand new theatre run entirely by amateur enthusiasts with professional aspirations. Unlike many I never wanted to be on stage but the mechanics and technical details fascinated and 7 nights a week every weekend I was accepted into the community from stage hand, lighting and sound the youth theatre department were encouraged and trained by people whose full time jobs included BBC Staff in the case of the BFI Film theatre the 35mm and 16mm films were run by off duty ODEON staff. By the time I left school I was able to make up prints run a complete film presentation, light a show and make up sound effects and run them during live performances.

Projectionist Upon leaving school it was soon obvious to me that if I wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment field I was going to have to leave home, while I was always welcome in the ODEON the Chief Projectionist told me it could be years until a vacancy became available. The Prince of Wales Theatre Cardiff eventually offered me a position while the auditorium was magnificent the projection room was like something out of the Peter Sellers film “The smallest show on earth” The projectors were museum pieces, the air was blue with poor ventilation, the chief was blind. As a trainee I ran every show rewound every film and made tea - I loved it!

Warner Theatre - West End A career in the Cinema all roads lead to Leicester Square, so with £30 in my pocket and a suitcase I set off for the bright lights of London at the age of 18 and the help of The National Association of Theatrical Television and Kine Employees (NATTKE) I was employed at The Warner Theatre Leicester Square. It was here I discovered that the projectionist could be an artist, where presentation was everything, rehearsals of every aspect of presentation honed our skills and stopwatches marked our cues. Reg our chief was god and royalty used to sneak into the back row as the lights went down. 35mm -70 mm Premières - I was a pro.

Management - Rank Ambition is not something I had in any short measure, and few projectionists crossed the floor to join the management team, they were the enemy after all? Not a bit of it, I had grown up in an time where the local cinema manager was more important than the mayor, At 22 I was the youngest cinema manager at The Gaumont Theatre Finchley and received my training from a brilliant manager with over 25 years experience in a magnificent art deco theatre. In the days before computers and calculators cash reconciliation, wages, stock control, weekly, monthly reports were all produced by hand. But as a business unit we knew to the penny if we were in profit and exactly by how much.

Rank - Relief & West End From by base in Finchley I furthered my career by becoming a Manager Designate - or Relief Manager for the Rank/ODEON North London area. ODEON Rayners Lane, Muswell Hill,Chelsea, High Street Kensington, Hammersmith Swiss Cottage were all covered for managers holidays, sickness or recruitments. The West End was the cream of the crop naturally and only the best circuit managers dare applied for a transfer to the West End group. My West End choice was the New Victoria Theatre (now Apollo) and Metropole multiple unit. The second largest theatre in London with a mixed film and live show audience and a management team that included the legendary Ted Carter and Trevor Catlow. Film, Ballet, Rock Concerts, Boxing, Live TV broadcasts and red carpets.

ODEON Marble Arch The ODEON Marble Arch is unique in London in that it was built around the Dimension 150 a 70mm Wide Screen format - The Screen was 63 feet wide by 30 feet tall and a 17foot curvature and at the time the largest screen in Europe. Only the very best projectionists need apply - This was the place to see the epic presentations that somehow the only ODEON Marble Arch could provide, once the “In 70mm” signs went up crowds of film buffs would form a queue. I had to completely retrain under Michael Weinert* because good was never good enough, every performance had the intensity and attention to detail that you would put into a Royal Première. *Michael Weinert went on to win the British Kinematograph Sound & Television Society (BKSTS) Frank Littlejohns Award. I was so lucky to be considered good enough to work at the best.