Photograph by Pete Newcomb
You don't just come in and put on a film and sell some popcorn and count your money.
You have no control. You can fight for a film and think it's the greatest thing, and gosh, the critics hate it, the public reads the reviews and they don't come. But you always have your core audience that's going to want to experience something new.
It takes a different kind of person to do this. You're working while everybody else is enjoying themselves.
I don't know if "fun" is the word. There are certainly fun parts. There's a varying degree of nonroutine. What's fun is when you're busy. And I'm not talking about busy with dollar signs in your eyes. It's active. You're scooping corn, and you can't make it fast enough.
I hate when people ask me about films and what's my favorite film. I can't do that. I don't have lists.
James Bond, in Goldfinger. That was memorable to me. I wanted to be a CIA agent in grade school. I was drawn to the action, the spy aspect, and he was cool.
Rarely do I sit down and watch a film, unless it's in a screening for exhibitors. It's like, do you want to go see a movie on your day off? Do you really want to smell popcorn again? The other thing is, do I want to pay for a movie? But if something really intrigues me, like No Country for Old Men, I'll sit down and put it on for myself on an off-hour.
Just rice and toilet paper. Cleaning up. Those are my memories of Rocky Horror.
You've got your typical inebriated folks that cause trouble. I've had people pull guns on me for taking them out of the theater. That was nice. I just looked at him and said, "If you're going to be dumb enough to shoot me, go ahead and do it. Otherwise, get out."
Temperature is a tough thing to judge. When you pack in 500 people, your temperature goes up. But then the next day, you're not doing much business, but your thermostat is still set at that temperature. So bring a sweater.
Yes, it's real butter. Well, it's actually butter fat. But it is butter.
I think it's great that people want to dress up like Stormtroopers or Han Solo to come to the theater. And I think, more than anything, that's why I like to be in this business and why I think theaters will always stay around. It's the socialization that we need. People still want to come out together and be a part of something.
