Meet the Chief

摘要

Born in Redhill, Surrey, in 1948, it would be fair to say that Holland, clearly another graduate of the 'old school' of cinema projection, remains a chief with a difference. Introduced to the industry via his ex-usherette mother, and whose activities could range from extravagant displays of show-manship to the sort of variety to take in "Britain's Brightest Barmaid" competitions, Peter's transition from conventional cinema projection to that of preview work would come about through his unlikely appointment as projectionist for West End advertising agency, McCann-Ericsson. Says Peter: "In the '60s you had to move on to earn more money and of course in those days there was more opportunity to try different things. I knew I could earn more from preview work, so I put in for the job". A less than auspicious start, perhaps - the agency job lasting just seven months - Peter's experience there nonetheless proved invaluable, giving him, he says, the job he has today. Of the early work, he remembers: "We showed ads. which typically lasted anything from just 7 to 90 seconds, and which we would run over and again. Some were married prints, others double-headed, where the magnetic (or optical) sound was separate from the picture. It was fiddly and the job made all the worse for the Fedi projection. I reckon it must have been one of their very first 'reverse run' machines, because I don't think they'd sorted all the teething troubles.