Page 38 - CinemaRecord #79

Village Ballarat Road.
Village Ballarat Road bio – Kalee projector. Theatres in Ballarat Road. The first projectors
Livio Fantini, chef at
Village Ballarat Road.
Village Ballarat Road screen.
Village Ballarat Road –
Strong lamphouses.
38 2013 CINEM AREC ORD
In 1964, a second drive-in was opened by Village
were Kalee 19s and the first projectionist was
Matt Wilson, who was formerly an assistant
projectionist with Charlie Craddock at the
Geelong Regent.
On September 15 1979, the Kalee 19s,
lamphouses and rectifiers were removed, sent
to the Star drive-in, and replaced by a pair of Waurn Ponds entry.
Century machines with Strong 6kW xenon
lamps, but the light was never as good as with
the carbon arcs.
On April 17 1994, the Village Ballarat Road
drive-in closed after 30 years operation, and its
first projectionist, Matt Wilson, passed away on
January 1 1995 at the age of 80. The entry and
exit gateposts are all that marks the site of this
rather windswept, fog prone drive-in.
Waurn Ponds.
The most recent addition to cinemas in Geelong
is the Reading 8 complex in Waurn Pond which In looking back over my time in cinema since
opened in 2001. Initially, all projectors were 1957, I realise how much pleasure I have had in
Kinoton FP50D with three deck platters and this evolving industry. However, I think I would
lamp powers ranging from 2kW up to 7kW. like to have been born about 20 years earlier,
In recent years, Reading has embarked on a so that I could have been a part of what many
program of conversion to digital equipment, of our members would regard as “the good old
but to date only Cinemas 5 and 6 have been days”, when presentation and professionalism
equipped, and have the capability of screening was the goal.
both 2D and 3D.
As a projectionist, personal satisfaction would
Further expansion to add gold-class has been come with presenting a clean show each and
mooted from time to time, but nothing has been every time. With modern technology and
set in stone yet. One supposes that the remaining automation, some degree of satisfaction comes
6 screens will convert to digital shortly, as film with seeing the first session of a new film being
will soon be a thing of the past. presented as best as possible, but all subsequent
screenings simply become repeats, since
automation now takes care of everything else…
Information and Photo Credits:
“The Life of Our Years – In and Around Geelong” by
C.P. Billot. Lothian Publishing, 1969.
The Geelong Advertiser Newspaper; Jeff Wilson;
Harold John Newton; Philip Fenton; Jack Costa; Ian
Patterson; The Tripolino Family; Mike Trickett; Kevin
Adams; David Lovell; Mirek Spacil, Lex de Vries,
David Kilderry and the CATHS archives.