PEABODY — Amid Saturday night jump scares and swoon-worthy love stories, Total Cinema Solutions LLC, a Peabody-based company, works behind the scenes to ensure moviegoers’ experiences are seamless and never cut short by last-minute technical problems, and that theater operations run smoothly.
Brian Vita, part owner of Total Cinema Solutions, said the company specializes in supporting local, smaller circuit movie theaters and drive-ins by providing services that include supplying and maintaining theaters, as well as training employees.
He said the company services between 20-30% of drive-ins in the United States.
Vita said he and the team of Total Cinema Solutions provide support to theaters by assisting in technology repairs, as well as providing parts, and can assist theater operators remotely or with on-site assistance should an issue arise.
“If the projector stops projecting on a Saturday night, they’re on the phone with us. We’re connected to them through our remote monitoring platform, and we do everything we can to make sure the show goes on,” he said.
Vita, who has been in the cinema Industry for over 40 years, and is a previous theater owner himself, said he was inspired to work in this industry after his experiences in audiovisual and as a professional stagehand, along with owning and managing theaters in the past.
He added, “I love it because every day is different. When I sit down at my desk in the morning, I’m never quite sure I’m going to have dinner. I may be in the office, but it may very well be that by 5 o’clock, I’m booking a flight to Texas or booking a flight to North Carolina to put out an emergency down there.”
Total Cinema Solutions is six years old, Vita said. Its location in Peabody puts it close to North Shore clients, including Marblehead’s Warwick Cinema, which is an ongoing project for the company, Vita said.
He said after meeting one of the owners of the historic Pleasant Street Cinema, “they asked us to come on board, and we’ve been slowly cleaning up. There were lots of technical nightmares that needed to be resolved, and it’s an ongoing project.”
Vita added, “I thoroughly enjoy my work, and sooner or later, I’m going to have to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.”
