The Ghost IS the Machine: A Plea to Repair a Dying Steenbeck Editing Table...

Hello [Mr. Repair Man],

The good people at ColorLab in Rockville, MD recommended that I contact you.  Here's my story:

I teach at a small liberal arts college about 90 minutes north of Washington, DC, and we have a fledgling film and video program.  About 10 years ago, Maryland Public Television was kind enough to donate a 4-platter 16mm Steenbeck 1600 to us.  At the time, it was about 30 years old. Now I'm guessing it's about 40 or more...

Well, the Steenbeck's been a real workhorse. I've done my best to change out light bulbs, belts, and pads, and to keep it lubricated.  A few years back, a gentleman at Christie's Editorial in L.A. managed to re-build a circuit board that went up in smoke (literally).

But several days ago, I finally came across something that is probably beyond my ability to fix. The picture and sound gears will play for a short while -- and then suddenly they vibrate like crazy and seize up. Forward and backward.  It feels like it should be a "toothed" belt slipping, but I just can't confirm it. So I suspect it has something to do with that very complex, central prism gear -- a bad bushing perhaps -- but I'm really at a loss. The problem happens gets worse when I try to kick it into high gear.

Anyway, this is a long way of asking:  I know you travel around to make house calls from time to time. But I don't have a very large budget to fix this thing.

What I DO have is access to a truck.  Would it be at all possible for me to load this Steenbeck up, and drive it to your facility so you could take a look -- give me an estimate -- and let me know if it is salvageable?

And here's the kicker:  I have been awarded an academic sabbatical this semester by my school -- McDaniel College -- to finish up a micro-budget 16mm feature I've been working on with my students for the past 6 years.  I've got nearly 80 minutes of the film cut on the Steenbeck (so close!), and another 10 minutes to wrap up.  If I don't get this thing edited by end of March, basically I'm toast...

So that's the ticking clock for me... If the Steenbeck isn't repairable, I'll also need to talk with you about renting one to finish my sabbatical project.

I know this sounds a little crazy, but the film gods are having their fun with me right now because they know I'm on deadline.  Of course, my colleagues have been heckling me for years about "not moving to video"... but I'm determined to finish this project the way I started it -- on film.

I will call you on Monday (Feb 1) and hope we can work something out.

Thanks so much for your time. And I hope to talk to you soon.

--Jonathan Slade

Writer/director “Cinder”

Associate Professor, Communication at McDaniel College

PS: If you are at all interested in the film, I have some of the details posted at www.jonathanslade.com and www.cinderfilm.com.