Working in a movie theater

>>18153850

I worked in a movie theater for a long time, what do you want to know? I have worked in both an arthouse and a multiplex, but have much, much more experience working in an arthouse.

>>18153850
Dealing with costumers

>>18153910

Was your overall experience enjoyable? what's an arthouse? what's a multiplex? What are some essentials to doing your job? anything you gotta know beforehand? did your training go far or was it easy to pick up?

>>18154024
By "multiplex", I mean the gargantuan theaters with a dozen+ screens....your Tinseltowns, AMCs, Loew's (do they still exist?), Edwards, Regals, etc. showing your standard blockbuster and wide release fare.

By "arthouse" I mean theaters with fewer screens, usually no more than 5 (I worked primarily in a 3 screen arthouse but also worked in a single screen arthouse for a while) that specialize in limited runs: foreign movies, independents, revivals, etc.

I only worked in a multiplex for a month or two. Unlike the arthouse, they only had me doing one job, which was running the box office. There was a lot of downtime but I wasn't allowed to do anything during it aside from talk to my coworkers who were mostly braindead slobs. You work with a wider variety of people at a place like this. The management is likely to be retarded because they're often people who had no other options and were promoted over time.

There were no "essentials". I pushed a button and took money and gave change. Training took maybe an hour. Because it was a big theater chain, it was very corporate and you had to wear a uniform. The uniform pants did not have pockets to lessen the chance of you stealing. I always found that insulting.

I played a lot of Street Fighter during my lunches. I quickly got good enough that one quarter lasted more than a half hour lunch break.

I don't know if this is still the same, but working for a theater technically qualifies you as part of the entertainment industry. So don't expect overtime pay. If you're working for a large corporate theater chain, they're unlikely to let you work over 40 hours a week anyway.

Customers are absolutely the worst thing you'll have to deal with it in any service or retail job. You may have to deal with drunk people, rowdy patrons, masturbators in the theaters, etc. At the arthouse, we had to deal with these people ourselves. At the multiplex, there was a security guard team that handled the worst.

>>18154024
Oh and we were always able to watch movies before they came out. I don't know if that would still be the same. I worked in theaters back in the days of film projection and I think everyone is all digital projection now. But with film they had to make sure they assembled the movie correctly, so they would screen it beforehand and staff could watch it. It can be exciting for a big movie, but I had to watch a lot of crap to make sure I put the film together correctly.

What's the worst part about working in a cinema? anybody know?

>>18153850

so heres a harsh reality: you can't put this much thought into entry level employment.

you're like 'oh yeah id love to work in a movie theater' but with everyone competing for jobs that anyone can do, and people with degrees in line ahead of you, you take whatever job you can get. you can't afford to think this hard about what you want or don't want.

once oyu get a job you can start shopping for a 'moving up' job

>>18154689
this so hard. you gotta get a job to get a job nowadays.

>>18154719

its always been that way. its not like in the movies where someone sees a 'help wanted' sign, and thinks 'wow i always wanted to work at a movie theater' and walks in and gets the job. instead they say 'yeah, you and 40 other applicants, fill this out'.

>>18154679
It's always going to be customers, anon.

>>18154689
I am >>18154058 and I was usually pretty unlikely to hire people with degrees to work in the arthouse theater. College students were usually a good bet, but people with degrees were usually just looking for a temporary job and would be gone in 2 months.

That's not to say I didn't occasionally do it though.

They would always leave after about 2 months though.

I would go in, clock in, leave, and 8 hours later call and say I forgot to clock out. No one ever said shit lol

Did it for about a month until I got bored.