Meet the projectionists: Mike Cross

Where was your first job as a projectionist?

In 1988, aged 16, at the Southend Odeon. 

How did you first get into it, and was the training on the job?

Having grown a fascination as a viewer about how cinema works, and the big differences there are in screen sizes and screen types, I’d got a job as an usher. I kept on asking questions of the chief projectionist there, who just kept making it even more interesting as he explained how it all works. I stayed there and kept being a pest until one of them left and I was offered a trainee job the following spring.

It was mostly lacing, starting shows and doing some menial make-up like sorting out the advert changes every Thursday night.

Of all the films you have projected over your career, is there one screening that stands out most vividly in your memory?

There are so many good screenings it’s hard to separate them. I did enjoy a recent 70mm screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), but perhaps for the wrong reasons. I was full of nerves as it was hotly anticipated by the audience and so I felt the pressure, but it went really well. I guess it was the endorphins at the end of a good day.

What is the future for projecting analogue film?

The future of analogue film is like the passion for vinyl records: there’ll always be people passionate about it, and so venues like the BFI and the Everyman will want to keep it going. You’ll always have punters for it.

Why is projecting film special, and different to digital projection?

I think when you watch it you have the knowledge that a lot of effort has gone into bringing it there. People have had to build the physical copy and work with it to make that happen. By comparison the digital copy may be ‘flawless’, but getting that show on is too easy.

What is the most common misconception you’ve encountered of what a projectionist does?

Probably that they don’t have to spend time assembling and disassembling the films during the work day. If you’ve never worked with media and only had to watch at home, you probably think it all comes ready made in one piece.

The BFI Film on Film Festival runs 8 to 11 June 2023.