From cinema usher to scheduling supervisor
Most people associate the cinema with fun, entertainment, popcorn and culture, but for Nordisk FIlm Biografer's Executive Film Supervisor, Christian Rønnow Hansen, it's just another day at the office.
The thermometer shows 22 degrees Celsius, which means summer has finally arrived in Denmark this Thursday morning. But in the lobby of Scandinavia’s largest cinema, both the air conditioning and ABBA’s greatest hits have been turned up full blast. Although it’s now summer according to both thermometer and calendar, Christian Rønnow is looking ahead to autumn. As film supervisor, he is one of the people in charge of planning the film screening schedule for Nordisk Film Biografer. He’s about to see one of the upcoming season’s family films in the cool cinema theatre – a 3D animation entitled Grufulde mig. It really doesn’t sound the worst way to start a working day.
After the screening, Christian, father of two boys, says ˝There’s too much adult humour in it,˝ and he should know. Because when you go to the cinema to watch a film, you can be sure he saw it six months earlier - just one of the roughly 300 titles he sees in the course of a year.
Cinema attendant or business studies
Christian started his career in the cinema industry in 1986 when, having passed his upper secondary school exams, he became a cinema attendant in a Nordisk Film cinema. His original plan was to take a university degree in business economics, and, to be admitted, he had to accumulate extra points. Although Christian was offered a place at Aarhus University, he turned it down. He enjoyed working in the cinema, and over the years gained experience in the business, working his way up from scratch to what can rightly be termed the top of Nordisk Film Biografer.
˝I’ve taught myself the trade. There isn’t really any formal training for my job. It’s been a process of learning by doing,˝ says Christian, 24 years after he started out as a cinema attendant in the cinema.
Although it was Christian’s interest in films that initially drew him to the cinema, over the years, the opportunity to shape his own career has become an equally important factor.
For Christian it’s not just a question of having a job that to many sounds like a dream, but also about striking a balance between work and family life. A workplace that is both flexible and stimulating is clearly an advantage. But what sort of workplace is it?
4,000 minutes of movie-watching a week
It can be hard to describe an ordinary working day and even where it takes place. Being involved with finances, marketing and consumer contact means Christian follows the progress of a film from its early beginnings to its final screening in the cinema.
So number crunching might be on the agenda for Christian in his office in Axeltorv in the heart of Copenhagen, but the job also has a more glamorous side: film screenings. Either in one of Nordisk Film’s own cinemas or in an international venue at one of the world’s film festivals. And there are plenty of films to see. For example, at a festival like Cannes, Christian can easily notch up 40 titles to get through in a week. On average, a film lasts about 100 minutes. With a little mental arithmetic, that makes about 66 hours of films. With his extensive experience Christian can tell within the first ten minutes whether a film is worth spending so much time on.
˝With some genres I don’t need to see the film to know what it is. When you’ve seen – and have to see – as many films as I do, you can quickly sort out what type of film it is and the type of cinema audience it will attract. Now that doesn’t necessarily affect the way we distribute the film in Denmark, but we can usually predict a film’s commercial success,˝ says Christian.
It sounds like a dream job for film aficionados and anyone else mildly interested in films. But the bottom line is that life as a film supervisor is no more thrilling than so many others, and Christian is quick to say ˝no˝ when asked whether he would like to see his own life portrayed on the big screen: ˝It’s just a job – fortunately one I find both fun and stimulating.˝
After the screening, Christian, father of two boys, says ˝There’s too much adult humour in it,˝ and he should know. Because when you go to the cinema to watch a film, you can be sure he saw it six months earlier - just one of the roughly 300 titles he sees in the course of a year.
Cinema attendant or business studies
Christian started his career in the cinema industry in 1986 when, having passed his upper secondary school exams, he became a cinema attendant in a Nordisk Film cinema. His original plan was to take a university degree in business economics, and, to be admitted, he had to accumulate extra points. Although Christian was offered a place at Aarhus University, he turned it down. He enjoyed working in the cinema, and over the years gained experience in the business, working his way up from scratch to what can rightly be termed the top of Nordisk Film Biografer.
˝I’ve taught myself the trade. There isn’t really any formal training for my job. It’s been a process of learning by doing,˝ says Christian, 24 years after he started out as a cinema attendant in the cinema.
Although it was Christian’s interest in films that initially drew him to the cinema, over the years, the opportunity to shape his own career has become an equally important factor.
For Christian it’s not just a question of having a job that to many sounds like a dream, but also about striking a balance between work and family life. A workplace that is both flexible and stimulating is clearly an advantage. But what sort of workplace is it?
4,000 minutes of movie-watching a week
It can be hard to describe an ordinary working day and even where it takes place. Being involved with finances, marketing and consumer contact means Christian follows the progress of a film from its early beginnings to its final screening in the cinema.
So number crunching might be on the agenda for Christian in his office in Axeltorv in the heart of Copenhagen, but the job also has a more glamorous side: film screenings. Either in one of Nordisk Film’s own cinemas or in an international venue at one of the world’s film festivals. And there are plenty of films to see. For example, at a festival like Cannes, Christian can easily notch up 40 titles to get through in a week. On average, a film lasts about 100 minutes. With a little mental arithmetic, that makes about 66 hours of films. With his extensive experience Christian can tell within the first ten minutes whether a film is worth spending so much time on.
˝With some genres I don’t need to see the film to know what it is. When you’ve seen – and have to see – as many films as I do, you can quickly sort out what type of film it is and the type of cinema audience it will attract. Now that doesn’t necessarily affect the way we distribute the film in Denmark, but we can usually predict a film’s commercial success,˝ says Christian.
It sounds like a dream job for film aficionados and anyone else mildly interested in films. But the bottom line is that life as a film supervisor is no more thrilling than so many others, and Christian is quick to say ˝no˝ when asked whether he would like to see his own life portrayed on the big screen: ˝It’s just a job – fortunately one I find both fun and stimulating.˝
