8mm Forum: Disclaimer: I obtained permission to describe what I saw yesterday.

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Topic: Disclaimer: I obtained permission to describe what I saw yesterday.

Michael Lattavo
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 160
From: Canton, OH, USA
Registered: May 2014

posted April 19, 2018 06:54 AM

Yesterday I drove down to Dayton, Ohio to assist in loading the 35mm projector and equipment David Baker and Terry Bange of Ohio Film Collector Exchange are bringing to this year’s CineSea gathering in Wildwood, New Jersey to screen House of Wax in 3D. Steve Osborne of The Reel Image was on-hand to assist with the loading – you can tell Steve is used to carrying monster GS1200’s around, because he single-handedly loaded up the power supply - thanks for saving my back Steve!

The projector itself is a “portable” unit – I think “portable” describes the height instead of the weight, as it took three of us to load it into Terry Bange’s SUV – this thing is a beast! The solid steel audio rack is also a beast, containing the sound processor and amplifiers.

After lunch we said our goodbyes to Steve, and headed over to the Ohio Film Collector Exchange warehouse, where I was honored to receive a personal tour!

Needless to say, I have never, ever seen so much film and film-related equipment in my entire life. The space is divided into sections. The first, probably 250 square feet, is devoted to newly-arrived collections of film – this is where items are sorted, labeled, and organized. Storage shelves from floor to ceiling, and boxes (and boxes and boxes) of film waiting to be inspected. The next section, probably 1,000 square feet, is devoted to equipment and, yes, more film. Kind of like the next stage after incoming films are inspected. Here they are cleaned and prepared to offer up for sale.

Next to this is what Dave Baker calls his trailer area: a 250-300 square foot section of nothing but 35mm trailers. Literally thousands of trailers. Generally organized according to genre: “Oh, you like Disney? Come over here – Oh, you like Sci-fi? Come over to this section”. At one point Terry Bange asked what my kids like to watch – I replied they just got into Pokémon, and seconds later he hands me a Pokémon 2000 trailer. Again, floor-to-ceiling shelving, with rewind tables in each corner. Just a sight to behold.

The final section, however, completely blew me away. This very last section, I would say around 500-700 square feet (yes, I was pacing everything off and entering my measurements into my phone – I couldn’t resist!) was filled with 16mm and 35mm shorts and features. I said “Sorry guys, I’m going to need some time here.” I couldn’t even venture a guess as to how many. There is an IB Tech section of shorts. The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind (2 copies! – actually, there were multiple copies of several films). Jumanji. Night at the Museum. Planet of the Apes. Snow White. Star Trek films. Star Wars films (the first 6). TV Shows. Westerns. Musicals. Friday the 13th. Old films, new films, films on cores, films on 2000 foot reels, entire features stored on monster reels, Bollywood films with absolutely stunning color! Again floor-to-ceiling shelving, just incredible. I finally had to stop reading each title, and finished up just looking at eye level.

I was also privileged to see some of their personal collection and theatre set ups at Terry Bange’s house. ‘Set ups’ is not a typo or poor grammar, because there are actually two theatres set up in the house. A projection booth with a Century projector and 16mm equipment set up in the basement, and 35mm 3D theatre upstairs. And yes, lots and lots of film.

When these guys say they are into film, they mean it. Their knowledge and generosity was astounding. Thanks Dave and Terry for an incredible day, and looking forward to seeing House of Wax in 3D in one week!