Mansfield Armchair Cinemas (MAC) is an award-winning community-based not-for-profit cinema supporting the local community of Mansfield. Employing six or more students as trainees at any one time, MAC collaborates with Mansfield Secondary College and Goulburn-Ovens TAFE to deliver an innovative traineeship program combining Certificate III in Media Studies and on-the-job training at MAC. Students r
eceive comprehensive training to perform the following tasks:
• Website design and maintenance
• Weekly Flyer that is emailed to members
• Scheduling of movies
• Ingesting movies
• Creating Playlists
• Memberships
• Customer Service
• Hospitality
• Cleaning
• Troubleshooting
• Attending weekly team meetings
The program has created exceptional opportunities for its students. Completing the program provides trainees with an additional 10% towards their VCE, and 90% of the students who have participated in the program have gone on to tertiary study. The students receive training in important work and life skills such as customer service, teamwork skills, technical skills, marketing, hospitality, media presentations and more. These portable skills mean they leave the program work-ready and well qualified. Operated as a not-for-profit trust, any surplus is returned to the community through local organisations hosting fundraising film nights. This has seen Charity Organisations raise over $40,000. Building a community spirit and brand equity, which in turn leads to more patronage and profitability. The cinema is modern and features the latest technology. It has a seating capacity of up to 40 in a single cinema, and flexibility in the MAC’s seating design allows 90 people to enjoy in comfort a simultaneous screening in both cinemas. The upstairs Dress Circle standard seating can accommodate 23 people, and the ground floor Gold Class seating offers luxurious leather reclining armchairs and five giant 2-person beanbags.