Cinema Management and Technical "School" Emerges as the Go-To-Place to Cope With The Cinema Industry

Cooking school without a kitchen? Flight school without an airplane? Driving school without a car? Theatre training without a theatre? It doesn't make much sense. That's what occurred to Jim Lavorato, CEO of Entertainment Equipment Corporation (EEC) in 2000. He is responsible for the creation and operation of Cinema Training Central (CTC) - the first and only permanent, professional management and technical training facility devoted to the cinema exhibition industry. Operated as a not for profit entity, CTC has earned the support and respect of many companies in the cinema industry: LucasFilm/THX, Dolby Laboratories, Eastman Kodak, JBL Audio, Yamaha Corporation, and Sony Corporation, just to name several.

Part of what sets Cinema Training Central apart is that its primary "campus" is located in a specially equipped and tricked-out 8plex cinema that had previously been a Geneal Cinema Theatre in an urban location in downtown Buffalo, New York. Now cinema training is truly hands-on. Conducted in small groups of no more than 7 individuals, instructors address real-life problems, so the knowledge gained is directly transferable to each participant's everyday job responsibilites. "Since its inception, CTC has trained over 600 alumni and provided them the luxury of training at an operating cinema on a wide variety of equipment. We have over 75 different cinema equipment manufacturers represented at CTC - offering most participants instruction on the very same equipment resident in their cinemas", states Lavorato.

CTC is unique not only by its on-site training philosophy but also by its distinguished 13-member faculty, with collectively hundreds of years of experience in all areas of the cinema business, such as cinema operations and management, concession operations, promotion and marketing, architecture and design, project planning, and film and digital technology application.

Programs at CTC are offered at "training weeks" normally held in May and September (which are traditionally slow periods at the cinema boxoffice). In addition, programs are available by appointment, and special, customer-specific group programs are scheduled throughout the year. The training programs currently include: Operating A Cinema, Maximizing Concession Profits, Marketing Your Cinema, Cinema Owners/Investors Program, Alternative Content & Digital Cinema, and Modern Cinema Design & Planning. Also offered are 5 technical programs, from Beginners to Masters Programs.

For more information on Cinema Training Central contact Entertainment Equipment Corporation: 800-448-1656 or entequip@aol.com