The Film Society of Lincoln Center has lost a longtime friend and admired colleague. Don Schul, who served as our Chief Projectionist and is recognized as a pioneering force in helping establish the Walter Reade Theater as one of New York's finest exhibition venues, died on Sunday, November 2, at his apartment in Greenwich Village. He was 65 years old.
A New York City native, Don Schul began work at the Film Society just as the Walter Reade Theater opened nearly 25 years ago. Prior to that he worked at the Magno Screening Room in Times Square where he developed a relationship with the New York Film Festival programming committee, including then Programming Director Richard Peña, who regularly viewed films at the venue along with former Film Society Executive Director Joanne Koch.
Hailed by his colleagues as "The Man Who Built the Walter Reade Theater," Don Schul was certainly responsible for building its reputation as a premier New York City cinema.
"I feel like in losing Don we lost a piece of the building," fellow Film Society projectionist Greg Sherman said about Don this week. "He was a fixture."
In December 1991, following the culmination of a decade-long effort, the Film Society moved into the Walter Reade—the first year-round cinematic space for the organization—and Don immediately applied his considerable technological prowess to ensure the theater would set the standard for exhibition in the city. And he certainly succeeded. Soon after the Walter Reade began showing movies, The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby confirmed that the venue was "Manhattan's most attractive and most elegant movie house since the Roxy."
At all hours of the day, Don could be found anchored in the booth high above the Walter Reade Theater on the 4th floor of the Rose Building at Lincoln Center. The crowded, narrow room evolved to his personal specifications and over the years, in addition to projecting films in all formats, Don wisely recorded a massive collection of conversations and Q&As from the booth.
Don Schul's impact on the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and therefore on the cinema culture of the city itself, cannot be overstated.
"Since the Walter Reade Theater opened, no one has spent more time there than Don," elaborated Glenn Raucher, Director of Theater Operations. "It’s called the Walter Reade Theater but it could just as easily be called 'Don’s House.' He should still be there today. No matter what happens with the Film Society he will always be identified as the key person for the Walter Reade Theater."
Donald Martin Schul was born in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, on July 20, 1949. He grew up in the neighborhood with his parents and sister, Beverly Fink. She recalled Wednesday that Don was always drawn to the latest machinery.
"He was a very active kid, it was hard to get him to sit down," Fink said. "And he was always interested in technology and had a tape recorder, taping things constantly."
Don went Lincoln High School and stayed in the borough, attending Brooklyn College, where he graduated in 1972. A private person who some saw as a bit of a lone wolf, Don was generous and inquisitive, he would always engage colleagues in conversations about any number of topics.
During college, Don was witness to the center of counter-culture on at least one occasion. He attended Woodstock in the summer of 1969. "He had a tremendous interest in music [from the era reflecting] on the Vietnam War and all the peace songs," Fink recalled. "He once camped out for a week so he could see the Rolling Stones. He took a vacation a few years ago and followed the Stones from city to city. He also loved Frank Sinatra. The arts were important to him."
Though Don's penchant for movies evolved later in life, his sister said Don would often tune into the Million Dollar Movie series on local New York City television so that he could watch King Kong or Mighty Joe Young over and over. She also said that after Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments opened in 1956, he went to see it more than a dozen times in the theater.
"He was a nice guy with plenty of friends and a family who were important to him," Fink said about her younger brother. "He always liked sports but wasn’t a great player, more of a fan. He loved the Jets. Growing up, he was also a tremendous Yankees fan. He also loved the Giants and knew all kinds of statistics about every field."
Don's immediate post-college years were a challenge. He bounced between NYC and his parents' home in Florida after initially trying to join a union training program to pursue his desire to be a projectionist. Don stayed in Florida for a year but then landed a spot in the program and headed back north. He initially worked and lived back in Brooklyn but soon moved to the Greenwich Village apartment where he lived for the rest of his life.
"He’s been a fixture in the Village for 35 years and has seen the neighborhood change. He was a real New Yorker, loving the history, often walking into aging buildings to see the old carvings," observed Fink. Working his way up as a projectionist, he was sometimes assigned to work at Times Square's then ubiquitous seedy theaters but he also worked at the Carnegie Hall Cinema before taking a position at Magno.
"When they opened the Walter Reade Theater he requested through his union to be the projectionist at Lincoln Center and he has never been happier," said Fink. "The people at the theater were his family. He was devoted and wanted the productions to be the best they could be."
Joanne Koch, now a board member at the Film Society, said that Don would often request the latest technology for the theater. As new equipment became available and transformed the exhibition experience he was steadfast in keeping a step ahead of technology's rapid pace and keeping the Walter Reade on the cutting edge.
"I always would say, 'Oh God, he wants another toy,' but I would always buy it as he knew what we needed," said Koch. "When we built the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center he was involved in all the meetings about equipment. He is the man behind the perfect show we put on the screen."
Echoing Koch's observation, Glenn Raucher said: "I don’t think you can overstate that it’s not normal for someone who has job security to challenge themselves and embrace change. Not just because they’re forced to but because they want to commit their work ethic to a mission. It’s a huge credit to him that he had the ethos of ‘we’ll figure out a way to get it done.' That is so valuable and it translated to everyone around him. He wanted the films to work, that was so central to who he was."
Former Film Society head of PR and current co-curator of the Dance on Camera festival Joanna Ney noted that early on Don was also diligent about preserving Film Society of Lincoln Center history. He made sure that events featuring the Film Society's year-round steady stream of notable filmmakers and actors from around the world were recorded and filed for future use.
"He was instrumental in recording [events] and archiving them, which wasn't something done much way back when. But he started archiving," Ney said. "Nothing was too much for him, even when he was very busy. He'd eventually find the time. It wasn't just that he'd put the film on the screen and that was it. He took a very active interest. He appreciated talent."
Film Society projectionist Greg Wolfe remembered that one of Don's favorite stories involved a then unknown Michael Moore who visited him in the projection booth one day, entrusting him to take care of his first film as the screening committee viewed it for possible inclusion at the New York Film Festival.
"He only had one 16mm print of Roger & Me and came to Don saying, 'This is my baby, please take care of it,' then he screened it for the selection committee and got it back to Moore undamaged," Wolfe related. "Don recognized very clearly that he had a hand in taking care of the print. He had a part in Moore’s success." Roger & Me screened at the 1989 NYFF.
Continuing, Wolfe added: "The hardest thing to do is say goodbye to Don, as most of you know from trying to end a phone conversation with him. He was someone you rely on. Don is the reason I’m proud to say 'I’m a projectionist.' I was proud to have him at my wedding and I’m sure he’ll be very proud of us going forward. He’ll also be with us for quite sometime as we try to figure out how he wired [everything]."
"Don was a pillar of this craft, so naturally it's a huge loss for us at the Film Society," said the Film Society's Executive Director Lesli Klainberg. "We pride ourselves here in having the very best exhibition. It's part of our mission, so of course we believe we have the best projectionists. But we were very fortunate that it was Don who trained all of our projectionists. He's the person who shepherded us through the many technological changes that have taken place since he joined the Film Society."
Don Schul was laid to rest on Long Island on Thursday, November 6, with family, friends, as well as a large group from the Film Society of Lincoln Center present. On December 3, the Film Society will host a memorial for its longtime colleague and friend.
Our deepest condolences to Don Schul's family and friends. We invite readers to post a comment below in his memory.