entertainment
THE GUY ON THE GROUND
It ’ s hard to be closer to the Montclair Film Festival user experience than Chris Murrell , a festival venue manager and associate manager of the Montclair Film-owned Clairidge theater . And during those 10 October dates , every day for him is as intense as the opening of Barbie and Oppenheimer , he says .
“ You have a lot of premieres , panels , Q & As , actors ,” he says . “ Every film is going to be sold out . Four or five movies are going every two hours , 12-13 hours a day .” Film festivals , he says , are like live experiences because there are so many moving pieces . “ You have to be able to improv ,” says Murrell . “ There might be a technical issue , and you have to push back the start time for the next show . The projector might fail in the middle of the show .”
He says his job is to prepare the staff for the 10 hectic days . “ You ’ re going to get slammed ,” he says . “ I tell them , ‘ Get your water and take your breaks . There ’ ll be a lot of sweat .’”
A Bronx native , Murrell moved to Montclair 10 years ago and started volunteering for the festival in its second year . “ I was the tallest , biggest guy there , and I helped move stuff and sold merchandise in the box office ,” he says . His efforts caught the attention of the former operations manager , who brought him along to work at other festivals in the New York area . He was hired as The Clairidge ’ s assistant venue manager for the film festival , and in 2018 , Jennifer Cambras promoted him to head venue manager . The seasonal job allowed him to work other festivals in the tristate area , including the all-outdoor Rooftop Films in Brooklyn . InSeptember 2021 , he became The Clairidge ’ s fulltime associate manager .
The following summer , Montclair Film purchased The Clairidge
CHRIS MURRELL
from Bow Tie Cinemas and reopened it , following an extensive renovation , in time for the 2021 10th anniversary festival . Murrell says the theater ’ s current mix of mainstream movies and independent films is attracting families as well as art house aficionados . He looks forward to the fall , when potential Oscar-nominated movies start being released , and MFF attendees get a peak at buzzworthyprojects .
“ I grew my career at Montclair Film ,” he says . “ I ’ m thankful they gavemea shot .”
TEAMWORK Even during our cover photoshoot , Michael and Zach made sure everything was in its right place at 505 Bloomfield Ave .
WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING ABOUT YOUR JOB ?
ZACH : I ’ dbeen scared to take apart a laptop , and now Ican open up an amp and see that the motherboard is fine . It gives you confidence to be in situations where you ’ re not sure what to do but you try anyway . Ilearned I ’ m an engineer at heart ! Ialso feel fulfilled making things happen for students .
MICHAEL : Watching anevent unfold in asequence of events and getting to completion ( is fulfilling ).
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE WORKING TOGETHER ?
ZACH : My dad and Ihave worked together closely . We ’ re both hard workers and enjoy it . The first year was tough , and we stepped oneach others ’ toes , working and living together fulltime . But Ilearned anincredible amount . And for the past 2 ½ years , I ’ ve lived onMontague Place in Montclair . It ’ slike being in Brooklyn .
IS THERE ANYTHING READERS MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT MONTCLAIR FILM BUT SHOULD ?
MICHAEL : We ’ ve worked with Toni ’ s Kitchen , Human Needs Food Pantry , and many food drives . We ’ re in the Fourth of July Parade , and the African- American Parade in years past . Our community outreach is great . ■
20 FALL 2023 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE