New York’s IFC Center celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. Here, writer, director and projectionist Joe Stankus shares with Filmmaker a short film he made, shot by Ashley Connor, about the work that goes into the theater’s essential old-school touch: its non-digital marquee.
Back in 2013 I was working as a projectionist at the IFC Center and was grappling with what seemed at the time like a moment of great change. Most cinemas had just finished the transition from 35mm exhibition to DCP, and there was no longer any doubt that the increasingly cheaper and more accessible digital cameras would replace film at every level of the movie industry. More importantly, however, there were whispers that the cumbersome and time-consuming “analog” marquee of the IFC Center was going to be changed over for a more user-friendly digital display.
I felt a need to capture the current moment before any drastic decisions were made, and I could think of no better person to assist me in this endeavor than IFC’s legendary usher, Larry Alaimo. Larry was no stranger to change as he’d worked for years at the Waverly Theatre (IFC’s predecessor) and several other theaters in the city dating back to 1969. Most of my afternoons, in fact, were spent listening to Larry spin one of his many yarns about working in theaters: the time Kathryn Hepburn thought the movie was out of focus, or how a pre-fame Al Pacino stole coffee money from him.
I asked Larry if he would meet me early before work one morning so I could interview him while he changed the marquee — a task he did nearly every week. He graciously agreed and with the help of cinematographer Ashley Connor, her bolex, and three rolls of the recently discontinued Plus-X reversal film, we spent the morning talking about life, movies, the neighborhood and whatever else came to mind.
The best thing about Larry is that despite having seen so much change, he is not particularly nostalgic nor bitter about the things that have been lost over the years. Instead, he chooses to live in the moment, to be present and aware, and to embrace the inevitable changes that life will always bring. While he always holds the past with him, he is not overly precious about it nor does he reject or discount the future.
There have been many changes since 2013 and it’s clear we’re in for many more in the coming years. But for now, the same marquee still hangs in front of the IFC Center (though it’s had a few facelifts). But even if the structure stays the same, its content still changes every few days as films come and go. Some employee is still out there every week, with a big pole, taking out the old and ushering in the new. Like the city around it, it is a place of constant metamorphosis. A thing that, despite our best attempts, refuses to ever just stop and be. And while that’s sometimes sad, or frustrating, or even downright frightening, it’s also very beautiful.