[tptacek]

Probably not anymore. They've been squeezed by technology, but more importantly they've been forced to go mobile as a cost-cutting measure by chains, which want fewer staff serving more locations. It might be a really crappy job now.

[antiismist]

What does it mean to be mobile? Do projectionists hop into a car and drive from theatre to theatre kicking off movies?

[SwellJoe]

I suspect he just means that one projectionist runs all the movies in the house. So, a lot of walking around, and not a lot of just sitting beside one projector. A friend of mine from high school wound up in this job, and it sounded pretty awful when he was describing it to me. He seems to enjoy it, though, and apparently does get to watch most of the movies eventually (but, then again, his is a smallish theatre with only a handful of screens).

Since my friend dropped out of college, and his prior experience was working in a toy store and a couple of video rental stores, I would think anyone with a pulse could obtain such a job (he's pretty charming, though, so maybe he did have to interview well to end up running the machines rather than running the register at the concession or cleaning the aisles).

[tptacek]

Yes, that's what I mean.