Kyle Completes 35mm/70mm/IMAX Projection Course by Universal Studios at the British Film Institute

We're delighted to announce that our Young Start Co-Ordinator, Heritage Ambassador, and Trainee Projectionist, Kyle Macfarlane, has just successfully completed an exclusive course in 35mm, 70mm, and IMAX projection in London, hosted by Universal Studios and delivered by the British Film Institute (BFI).

Kyle was one of 12 participants selected from a long shortlist of applicants across the UK. The sole representative of Scotland, Kyle travelled to London on three separate trips to complete the course at BFI Southbank, and BFI IMAX.

The first two trips were held at BFI Southbank, with the workshops there covering everything required to deliver screenings of 35mm and 70mm film. This included the operation of the projectors for both formats, performing manual changeovers, film care and handling, making up and repairing prints, and projector repairs and maintenance.

At BFI Southbank, the projectors Kyle primarily trained on were Cinemeccanica Victoria 8s, the Broadway's own ticket to 70mm!

The Rank RK60 projector on display in the Broadway Pop-Up Museum is a rebranded Victoria 8 from the former ODEON in Ayr, now the Astoria. At the Broadway, we aim to be only one of four cinemas across Scotland capable of delivering screenings in the 70mm format.

Kyle was trained by the BFI's projection team, which includes some of the most experienced projectionists still employed full-time in the industry. The course itself was the product of Universal Talent Development, a branch of Universal Studios. Created to train up a new generation of projectionists due to the ever-increasing interest in analogue projection, spearheaded by some of the world's greatest film directors, including Christopher Nolan.

Kyle's colleagues on the course had been selected from a range of other sites across England and Northern Ireland already showing film on film to their audiences.

The third of final trip to complete the course was held at BFI IMAX, as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience training in the ultra-rare and premium 70mm IMAX film format. Entirely different to standard 70mm, and widely regarded as the greatest film format ever produced, 70mm IMAX is only available at two sites in the UK, and only six in Europe.

Kyle attended on Tuesday 30th June, with the training delivered by Michael Ford, chief projectionist at BFI IMAX and one of the most experienced projectionists in the world with the 70mm IMAX format. Kyle trained in the operation of the IMAX Grand Theatre (GT) projector, the handling and management of 70mm IMAX film, and the maintenance and repair of one of the rarest projectors in the industry.

The experience also brought incredible networking opportunities, with the Broadway represented at a function at Universal's headquarters in Soho, where Kyle met and discussed the preservation of film presentation as an artform with film critic and show host Mark Kermode.

The certificates to the course were then presented on the day of the world premiere of The Odyssey, on a special fourth trip on Monday 6th July, where Kyle and his colleagues on the course met and were thanked by Christopher Nolan himself and his wife Emma Thomas, for the incredible work being done to keep film on film alive.

Kyle will now begin planning the deliverance of a course here in Prestwick to students of the Broadway Youth Film Society, as we create a focal point for the preservation of a lost trade here in South Ayrshire. Stay tuned for the introduction of 35mm and, in the near future, 70mm film screenings at the Broadway!