Lightingguy

It's a career that I found my self doing early in high school and stayed with. I was VERY fortunate in my mid 20's to get a job at a college that offered tenure to my state funded line position. Thus I have been spared the typical-for-the-industry type of work of wondering where my next check was coming from as well as having a rock solid health plan and pension for 30 years. I have also worked at about 60% of industry scale rate all that time, but gladly gave up the pay for the steady check and benefits but don't find myself with spare cash to be buying Pinarello's.

Do I enjoy it ?. Love it. Always have and that's the rub as it's generally a low paying industry that you find yourself drawn too and can't get away from. If you are a stagehand you NEED to find a way into a union position with steady work. You cannot be doing the non-union freelance thing when you're 50. Nor do you want to be touring R&R or Broadway type tours as a low level roadie for very long. You can find a lot of tech work at assorted regional theaters or performing arts center, but it's tough to make enough to pay a mortgage and send kids to college. I have a riding buddy who's an IATSE Local 1 prop man on Broadway. These guys make possibly more money then ANY other tech person in the industry, excepting the department heads at Carnegie Hall, Radio City or the Met Opera. This guy is not sending his kids to Harvard and he pretty much works all the time, even when his last gig put enough money in the bank to get him thru the next 8 mos., cause he don't know if the show's going to make it or not.

It's also a very physically demanding type of work with very long hours and incredibly stupid and difficult daily schedules. Early in my career I worked 3 jobs for a total of 45 days straight, then 3 days to go to a wedding, then 47 days. I have run shows that started at 11:30 at night and went 4 hrs then struck all and loaded out. I have done Broadway tours at our theater that start at 5AM with a 4:30 PM show, then a 4 hr out starting at 6:30 till 10:30PM. My B-Dway buddy is currently on week 4 of 7 days per week at 12-17 hrs per day, getting the Broadway production of Wonderland up and running. This can be very tiring when you are 55 and I've found that it's odd days on and off that have been singularly the most tiring aspect of my career, even more difficult to deal with then the injuries. The PT who's helping my wife commented this morning that he treats a lot of theater and film carpenters with bad knees and shoulders.

So goes this type of work in the TV, Theater and Film industry.

The bottom line for a lot of us who find this kind of work enjoyable, is that we find a way to make a living at it. It's not at all lucrative but it's incredibly rewarding. There seemingly is a whole type of individual who (like myself) really enjoys making these theater events happen from behind the scenes and once you catch the bug, you've got a career that may see you into old age.

Steve B.