Technical Director

Technical Director

The Position:

The Technical Director is responsible for providing leadership of the technical crews at Tampa Theatre, ensuring consistent excellence in the presentation quality of the Theatre’s films and the production quality of concerts, rentals and special events.

The Technical Director supervises the stage and projection crews, schedules personnel to meet production requirements, and serves as the IATSE House Steward for union crews.

The Technical Director is a key member of the Theatre’s management team, advising the CEO and Operations team on the state of the Theatre’s equipment, participating in planning for capital improvements, and representing the Theatre to clients and their technical teams.

The Theatre:

Tampa Theatre is a passionately protected historic landmark and one of America’s best-preserved examples of grand movie palace architecture. Tampa Theatre is an important historic theatre, designed by noted movie palace architect John Eberson.

When it opened in 1926, it was – and still is – regarded as the best example of Eberson’s atmospheric style of theatre design, enveloping the audience in an opulent Mediterranean courtyard complete with a simulated nighttime sky overhead with twinkling stars and clouds. The Theatre is also home to its original Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ.

In 1973, Tampa Theatre was no longer profitable for its owners, and its future was uncertain. Faced with the possibility that the Theatre would be demolished, citizens rallied, committees were formed, community leaders got involved, and the Tampa City Council voted to save and preserve the building. By the time Tampa Theatre reopened to the public in January 1977, it had become something of a national model for how to save an endangered theater.

It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and named a Tampa City Landmark when the designation was created in 1988.

Since its rescue, the Theatre has welcomed more than 7 million visitors to downtown Tampa — including 1 million school children for field trips and summer camps — all within the context of one of Tampa’s largest historic preservation projects.

Tampa Theatre currently has two auditoriums: the historic Duncan auditorium seating 1,238 and the Taylor Screening Room (opened in 2024) seating 43. The Duncan hosts 35-40 touring artists, presents films, and hosts dozens of community and special events each year.

Tampa Theatre is a beautiful but challenging space. Its stage is small, having a proscenium arch width of 24 feet, a total stage depth from the front of the apron to the back wall of 25 feet, and only 8 feet from the plaster line of the proscenium to the back stage wall. The theatre does not have a fly system on stage given its small dimensions.

Despite these limitations, the Theatre is one of the most heavily programmed historic theatres in America, with more than 1,000 show times a year featuring digital cinema, a variety of touring artists, comedians, musicians, and community events.

The Theatre is undergoing a major restoration campaign in 2026 which will include a new performance lighting system, a new public address sound system a new mod truss system on the stage deck to give the Theatre much improved staging and presentation capabilities.

In 2024, Tampa Theatre won the Outstanding Historic Theatre Award from the League of Historic American Theatres. The Theatre is operated by the non-for-profit Tampa Theatre, Inc. in partnership with the City of Tampa.

Job Description:

• Serve as the Theatre’s primary point of contact for internal and external clients for events on the Tampa Theatre’s stage or screen.
• Create and distribute weekly schedules for stage and booth technical personnel for Tampa Theatre film events, education programs, rental events, concerts and special events. Be present and part of the crew for all major events and film openings.
• Serve as the stagehand for film screenings, assuring correct screen masking positions, providing P.A. microphone set up for curtain speeches by staff and guests when needed, dimming lights and pulling curtains. Train relief personnel to do the same.
• Supervise technical setup,…