From reels to decks

From reels to decks

Dunedin, Monday 16 February - During the Regent’s Anything But Books Sale, projectionist and long-time volunteer Russell Campbell will be spinning the decks to entertain and pique the aural interest of sale-goers.

Russell will be sampling some of the many hundreds of vinyl records (not to mention CDs and DVDs) that are donated each year. Russell was very pleased to be invited to play the background music for this year’s sale and says he’s looking forward to “widening what I usually play to encompass everything of interest to the folks there.”

His association with the Regent Theatre began in 1960 when he was an apprentice projectionist working at the Embassy Theatre, a 700-seat theatre on Bell Hill which, along with the Regent and the St James Theatres, was one of Kerridge Odeon’s stable of movie houses.

“I used to come down here to exchange the news reels and we (the assistant operators as we were called in those days) would swap over for a few weeks to learn the different equipment. I started just before TV came to Dunedin – it’s hard to envisage the film-going crowds now but on a Saturday night, we would have had the Regent (1800 seats), the St James (2000), the Octagon (1000) and the Embassy (700) all coming out at about the same time. It was a different experience going out then; I didn’t know it but it was the end of an era.”

Russell spent most of his working life out of Dunedin, completing his four-year apprenticeship in

small towns such as Gore and Matamata (with a stint at the St James here) before moving to Hamilton with his full licence. After a seven-year stint at Christchurch, he joined the National Film Unit in Wellington and remained there for 18 years.

“Going to work was such a happy thing; I just loved it. I always loved the musicals and I was listening to the music all day long. I came back to Dunedin in 1990 and worked at all the Dunedin theatres, as one by one they closed down. In 1995, I started here at the Regent as projectionist for the Film Festival and I’m still doing it now. It’s pretty amazing to be retired and still doing something I love and learning the new digital formats as well. And it’s an irony that I started at the Embassy in 1960 and now, in 2015, I’m just around the corner at the Regent.

“When you have a theatre like the Regent, there was always a certain standard and it’s lovely to see that continue today.”

Russell also has a show on Otago Access Radio, the ‘Golden Sounds of Stage and Screen’ Mondays 10am-11am.

Regent Anything But Books Sale

2pm – 8pm | Friday 6 March | Regent Theatre

As well as music, there will be a plethora of pre-loved treasures to be sorted and seized upon by bargain hunters.

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