Smell the Glamor or My career explained

My ex claimed to the judge at the initial divorce hearing that "he never worked during our marriage". Had she qualified that statement with " worked enough" she may have had some room to defend the statement.  The judge was looking at my tax records at the moment she made the statement.

I could write for days about my ex and our marriage. I am sure that there will be enough entries in this blog about her to come. If she or her friends read this .... suck it up and read the description to the left. What I have to say is mostly based on facts in evidence. I digress.

Today we are talking about my career and how to explain it.  I came to the realization that because of shows like Entertainment Tonight people focus on the "Show" part of show business. The industry sells the glamor and hypes the stars because if you know the name you will be more apt to see the movie. The "Pretty Machine" makes stars and sells them to us. After all ho do you explain any number of reality stars  that don't make movies just messes.

The reality is that it is a business. A cold hard dollars and cents game of profit and box office numbers.  The budget is separated  into what is known as "above the line and below the line" Above the "line" there are the producers , directors,  stars, and sometimes the writers. (Basically the "creative vision and drive of the project")

Then there are the technicians.  Oh so many technicians. Directors of photography, Camera assistants, Hair, Make up , Costumes, Construction and Paint department, Set Decorations , Props, Locations, Visual Effects (FX), Production department and my homes Lighting and Grip department. There can literally be a crew as big as several hundred and as small as ( in "gorila" style film makeing)  10 or less.
I am a Lamp Operator and Grip.

A Lamp Op handles and sets up lighting and power on set. In some areas of the country they set up power distribution and generators as well.  We have to get the lighting right the first time in limited windows of opportunity. A Grip handles any device that controls a light but is not part of the light it's self. They also handle rigging and set safety. The head of the lighting department is the Gaffer. The head of the Grip department is the Key Grip.  These two departments have mirrored departments in Rigging  Gaffer and Rigging Key Grip that set up lighting in a studio prior to the shooting day.

SO,  on any given set there is usually  a core set of Lamp Ops that the Gaffer is comfortable hiring for the full show (called a "show call"). These are usually his "go to guys " and they work repeatedly and regularly with that Gaffer. It is quite like a rock band.  Occasionally there will be a location or need for additional guys for the day. (called a "Day Call").  This is like being a session musician.

As a Lamp op I have risen to Gaffing in my home town,  moved and have had to start over at the bottom. I have show called on major motion pictures and day called on low budget shows. The work is the work. It is the amount of it that is the problem.

My industry is unstable. Movies and Tv show (projects) are dependent on the bottom line. If a producer can make the "same " show in another area cheaper or if the tax incentives are cheaper then they will.  I can't truly blame them. If the cost of production is better in Louisiana then I understand that. If the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) in BC is repealed and the major tax advantages to shooting there is gone .... why shoot there.  This is the microcosm of the globalization of industry and production. Take a good look this could be your future with production of goods hopping from one "low cost" area to another in order to improve the bottom line.

Add to it that there is a "season". In BC the last one or two months of the year are usually the "winding down"period  and the first one or two the "gearing up " period. That leaves technicians like me unemployed for 2 to 4 months. In a good year with a good amount of work that is a survivable vacation form the 12+ hrs workday the rest of the year.  In a bad year it is catastrophic.

So what is a tech to do? Well the system here in BC is better than some places I have lived. There is Employment Insurance or EI. EI is a fund that you pay into on every hr worked. If you are unemployed you have acess to that fund. It is not the same as in the US. It is common for seasonal workers to take EI in the off season. It is however only a percentage of your regular pay.

I have filed for EI and met the red tape monster. Later today I will be visiting the offices of the productions to get the papers needed for this. In the meantime I am behind in my rent, my other bills are not looking promising and again the ghost of my ex's words come haunting.

In the past I have taken any job that is offered to cover bills. I have worked in a ham stuffing factory. I have worked on a cross dock. I have literally dug ditches for installing irrigation systems. I have worked as a carpenters assistant.  I have worked two jobs at once to provide for my family. I have no problems with work.

I WORK in a "glamorous" industry. I sweat each day on set doing what a colleague called "industrial athletics. I have been injured by falling carts and dropped camera dollies. I have hearing loss from gun shots and explosions.  There will come a day when my joints and body will no longer take this punishment. I already have reoccurring pain in both shoulders, a numb spot in my back and a permanent popping in my neck.  I can only hope to lateral into another category of the industry or even above the line. I have spent a career honing skills that are useless outside the film / photo industry. I am "golden handcuffed" to this work.

When there is work I make a good living thanks to the IATSE union. I have worked on independent films for $100 for a 12 hr day flat. no OT. That means if the day goes into 14 or 16 hours I do not get more.  I was once offered a $50 day in a city 4 hrs away. I "politely" declined.  That is the reality of the industry. Given free reign some producers pay the lowest common denominator , and there is always someone with lower denominators than you. Often kids work for experience alone.  I am lucky to be in the Union and getting the liveing wage it provides .

Time to Eat the Lama
I chose this industry. I chose the hard times and limited options, the long hours and destructive influence on personal lives. I went to school for it  getting a BA in it. I perused it like a crackhead peruses a rock. I love the adrenaline of being on set. I love being a part of a well known project . I love the daily challenges to make the impossible happen. When it is time to leave the industry behind I will do so knowing I was good at my job and full of  incredible stories and good memories.
I came to film to be a filmmaker but found I was uncomfortable with the title. I produced a student film that was destroyed in editing. In retrospect the film was good, it was solid. No academy award winner, after all it was a student film. I made mistakes but I let that experience taint my life in the industry.  I have chosen to pursue a below the line life and not reach for the producers title.  I have gaffed and I have even been 2nd unit Director of photography on a Cans shown short short film.  I have 6 screenplays in their first drafts. Yet I still struggle with the thoughts of being a failure because I am facing hard times in a hard economy. So do I work "enough"..... I work as hard and as much as I can.