Dick Slade was a long-serving projectionist, preview-theatre manager and studio manager whose career spanned Britain’s mid-century cinema and film-services world. Across jobs at local cinemas, preview theatres, film dispatch and technical services, he worked on and around many well-known productions and played a practical, managerial role in the day-to-day running of screening and studio facilities. British Entertainment History Project
Early life & wartime service
Slade was conscripted into the army (rising to the rank of staff sergeant in projection-related duties) before settling into a cinema and film career after the war. He married at about age 20 and, after demobilisation, moved into film-industry work rather than returning to farming or factory life. British Entertainment History Project
Projectionist & preview-theatre work
Dick’s roots were in projection. He worked as a projectionist at neighbourhood cinemas (the Rex, Leytonstone among them) and then moved into more specialist preview theatres and dispatch / screening roles. During the 1950s and 1960s he worked for firms and venues including Renown Pictures, the Preview Theatre, Trident Preview Theatre and Cross-Channel Films. These roles involved running advance screenings for distributors and exhibitors and maintaining the high technical standards needed for industry previews. British Entertainment History Project
Dispatch, technical and managerial roles
From the mid-1950s onward Slade took on dispatch-manager and technical-manager duties (dispatch, Academy/State bookings, film handling) and later became a studio manager. He held posts with companies such as H. & G. Enterprises, Celluloid Film Services (E. J. Fancy / B.J. Fancy), and worked across preview, dispatch and studio operations. In the 1970s and 1980s he combined technical management with studio management, including at Limehouse and other studio facilities, and later worked freelance into the 1990s. British Entertainment History Project
Notable productions & industry contacts
Slade’s notes name many productions and industry figures he encountered through preview screenings and studio work — from big commercial releases to pop promos. His notes mention involvement with events connected to films such as McKenna’s Gold, Charlie Bubbles, and screenings attended by high-profile names; he also recalls working with colleagues like Brian Samms, Dave Gillard and others across preview and technical teams. British Entertainment History Project
Later years & legacy
Into the 1980s and early 1990s Slade moved between freelance technical management and longer-term studio management roles; his interview records a career that ended with the closure of some facilities in the late 1990s.