Personal Care and Service · Holland code RCA

Motion Picture Projectionists

Set up and operate motion picture projection and related sound reproduction equipment.

Also called: Booth Operator, Movie Projectionist, Projectionist, Technical Projection Guide, Cinema Projectionist, Digital Projectionist, Film Specialist, Motion Picture Projectionist.

O*NET 39-3021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $38,270; Middle half earn $30,040 to $77,730. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 61% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Monitor operations to ensure that standards for sound and image projection quality are met.
Inspect movie films to ensure that they are complete and in good condition.
Start projectors and open shutters to project images onto screens.
Open and close facilities according to rules and schedules.
Operate equipment to show films in a number of theaters simultaneously.
Perform regular maintenance tasks, such as rotating or replacing xenon bulbs, cleaning projectors and lenses, lubricating machinery, and keeping electrical contacts clean and tight.
Set up and adjust picture projectors and screens to achieve proper size, illumination, and focus of images, and proper volume and tone of sound.
Inspect projection equipment prior to operation to ensure proper working order.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking2.9 / 5
Monitoring2.9 / 5
Writing2.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Computers and Electronics4.1 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.3 / 5
Mechanical3.2 / 5
English Language3.2 / 5
Administration and Management2.8 / 5
Communications and Media2.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic74
Investigative17
Artistic35
Social17
Enterprising17
Conventional56

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

video artist · DE Videokünstler/Videokünstlerin · FR infographiste vidéo
director of photography · DE Kameramann/Kamerafrau · FR directeur de la photographie/directrice de la photographie
photographer · DE Fotograf/Fotografin · FR photographe
audio-visual technician · DE Fachkraft AV-Medientechnik · FR technicien audiovisuel/technicienne audiovisuel
video technician · DE Videotechniker/Videotechnikerin · FR technicien vidéo/technicienne vidéo
camera operator · DE Kameraschwenker/Kameraschwenkerin · FR opérateur de prise de vues/opératrice de prise de vues

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Graphic and multimedia designers (2142)123,000 employed
Artists (3411)64,500 employed
Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators (3417)81,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.38. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (39-3021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test