NEVER do favors in this industry!

[gottaluvlasers]

i spent the last 2 fu**ing days/nights setting up a laser show in a theater. it was for a performance of a bunch of inner city school kids ranging from 6th grade to high school seniors. most are considered to be "troubled" kids or "forgotten" children.

the people who hired me were on a VERY limited budget, so i decided to work a deal. i gave them a DISGUSTINGLY low rate (under $2K!!!!) for a pretty decent display. granted the laser part only lasted about 5 minutes for the finale, but it was my time planning, setting up mirrors, labor, 2 days of rehearsals, programming, choreography...etc...etc...

anyone in the light show business knows that this is EASILY a $5,000+ show. EASILY!!! but, it would have been EXCELLENT exposure for my company and to be quite honest, i just wanted to do the show. whenever it comes to "giving back" to the community, ESPECIALLY when children are involved, i do as much as i can.

well...EVERYTHING....and i mean EVERYTHING that these boneheads were supposed to do for me, WASNT DONE. scaffolding for my laser...NOPE. cues for me to run....NEVER got them. i was nice enough to NOT EVEN CHARGE THEM for me bringing one of my foggers....on the AGREEMENT that they would rent 2 of their own for stage left and right....

yeah, they rented em all right. they worked EXCELLENT in rehearsals...but "crapped out" during show time. RIIIGHT.....the idiot who was on them (OF COURSE....it HAD to be one of the union guys...i COULDNT do it myself...) just didnt know how the FU*K to run them.

everything that could have gone wrong...DID. i pretty much wasted the last 2 days of my life for nothing. all th ekids loved it. the crowd "oooh'd and aaah'd..." but i know DAMN WELL...it could have, and SHOULD HAVE looked 10,000 times better. i had that thetaer fu*king BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING during rehearsals and aiming with lasers.

SHOW TIME COMES....and they FU*K IT ALL UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bottom line...

the more "favors" you do for people in this industy the more you will get FU*KED in the ARSE!!!! from now on...its my way...or NO GODDAMN SHOW!!!! PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyone getting into this business....DONT DO ANYONE, ANY TIME, ANY FAVORS!!!!

-Marc

[mophead]

Workers unions are becoming the downfall of America.

There was a time where they were needed, but now they are bloated leaches.

If my business were somehow to become union.....I would lock the door the VERY NEXT DAY.

[mikkojay]

Yeah, unions generally piss me off too. I hate to group them all together, but every time I turn around I hear a story like this to reinforce my opinion about how they suck. Unions may have had a place in the industrial age, but now they have evolved into the Mafia & Miller Time.

[Laserman532]

geee I wonder why the auto industry is in such a crap cake right now $65.00 / hour lug nutter putter onners.

[dream beamz]

I think we have all had favor shows go wrong. About unions, I basically dont do work up north to avoid them. Enough said, sorry you got to deal with em Marc

I did a very very big Katrina benefit in Texas for free about a month after Hurricane Katrina. Scaffolding was not there, I rented it myself and had them pay it back after the show. Of course they did not approach me for a free show 1000 miles away, i volunteered and in the end it was a huge success and 100% of the money brought in net went directly to people standing outside so it was all in all satisfying.

[Pitts]

Believe it or not little old New Zealand down here had union problems some years ago.
We had stupid things happening like the Cook Straight ferry wouldn't sail because the pie's were not at the right temperature for the crew. It mattered not that four hundred people were on board waiting.
I had a an enlightening experience as a young tech trainee many years ago. Had a call to a ship.. two faults one was the radar wasn't working the other the TV had failed.
The ship would sail that night.
Now me being somewhat safety aware young and stupid to match decided the radar was the more important. Found the issue fixed the fault.. radar working. Ship was due to sail shortly so thought..go home... BIG mistake.. guess what ? the ship didn't sail but the bosses boot sure sailed up my arse OK.
Lesson learned fix the bloody TV and screw the radar.
So much for unions.... the government finally tamed them down they were going to ruin our country.. we now have free and independent individual employment negotiations... you can join if want but most don't..
at least for now that may change as the economy falters.

Cheers

Ray
NZ

[White-Light]

My suggestion is in future Marc tell them its a safety issue. You need to control the foggers to ensure the right level of beam attenuation for the lasers to make them eye safe. If the theatre argues just point out that if they get it wrong they'll be liable as the person controlling the fog level was their employee. That should do it. I doubt they'll know enough about lasers to know any different.

[wkinne]

My suggestion is in future Marc tell them its a safety issue. You need to control the foggers to ensure the right level of beam attenuation for the lasers to make them eye safe. If the theatre argues just point out that if they get it wrong they'll be liable as the person controlling the fog level was their employee. That should do it. I doubt they'll know enough about lasers to know any different.

I love your answer!

wkinne

[mixedgas]

I see you have had your learning experience. Now, you have to have a thinking experience. Then a contract writing experience....

Did you call the union steward and make sure he knows his people missed a cue? Was there a written cue sheet? They do penalize their people some times for screwing up!

You hit this often in the theatre industry. But not on corporate events, where the rubber meets the road due to dollars. See you are a 'Indie" and the union hates indies. Independent contractor. I learned how to deal with this watching a master of this industry do a three site outdoor show.

So my/his way around this is usually to find the union site supervisor or steward and tell him one of his guys "shadows" me, IE sets there and does nothing as the unofficial laser operator and I make it clear that my federal permit permits only a varianced operator to touch my gear. This usually pisses them off to no end , till I flip open the regs and show them the law. I might let them help with the bounce mirrors. I do not let them carry my gear, unless they tell me they have insurance. "That contains a 20,000$ plasma tube, who pays if you guys drop it? In writing?" Who pays if your rigger hanging my mirrors gets a beam in the eye?" ; Why is your rigger NOT trained in laser safety?" At that point, the problems usually go away.
Or I do. Its a clause in the contract.

One thing you quickly notice, the other union guys get pissed at the shadow for setting there and doing nothing while they sweat doing rigging, and soon you find yourself looking for your shadow......

Once you do this a few times, and they respect you, they actually can throw you some business.

I have had fucking union idiots tell me they wont patch my audio into their sound board because they are not "cuing it". The usual attack is to say my signal is not professional or compatable. Pack a wide bandwith isolation transformer when you go, so they cant argue. "Well good, "is my usual answer, "Can you output SMPTE time code on this system? , NO/' " well, guess what, I'm cuing then, see the line in my tech rider about needing SMPTE? for show sync if non standard audio arrangements are made?"

I've never been in a facility short of broadway or vegas or disney world where the sound mixer had time code. A few do. "Opps, I forgot my smpte decoder, we'll have to do it my way..."

Look I have no problems with unions, I would not have a college education and childhood medical care if my dad didnt have a union against the huge defense contractor he worked for. But That union was smart, even back in the 80s they would make concessions to help get contracts, lobby congress to get contracts, and kicked out members who did shoddy work , after all, people in the military died or parts of our country became radioactive if they screwed up. When the whole union with 3500 members needed security clearances just to have a meeting to discuss bargining on what they were working on, they could see the light of not screwing up.

But the theatre and projectionists union wants to live in the 1880s, they do not like the idea of having to be up to date on the latest gear and automation. Around here that has cost them business and tours often do what I do, they get the grunt work and then have to stand there and watch.... I also have had a union guy fix a problem or two from time to time, it can go both ways.........

Dont blame the non profit, they don't deal with the theatre crap on a regular basis, and had no idea what they were walking into.

Besides, I have a feeling a bunch of kids who needed a break got a kick ass show.......

So now, your show rider will say," your power requirements, your safety requirements, you control the fog/haze for safey and artistic reasons, you control the sound unless the site notifies you in advance that they have smpte time code,and that someone gets fired or penalized professionally if they cause you to miss a cue or break your gear, you get paid on a sliding scale if the performance is canceled or something breaks or the power/water fails, and due to laser safety, you are the LSO for the evening and only people you train, who sign a form or work for you, get near your gear. Shadowing is permitted, and the house electrician only gets to hook up a 3phase pigtail you will provide or provide you with grounded 3 wire 110 at x watts at each of your locations, if a clearcom is used for cues, they must provide you with a headset with talkback"

As fire marshalls hate smoggers, you might find it a disadvantage to be the one responsible for the machine. In St Louis, I learned the house is responsible, here in Akron its best if I own the machine... Depends on liability, local politics and how the smoke detectors are rigged.

Make sure your bounce mirrors have safety cables and approved clamps, so they cant bitch. Shove the variance in the face of anybody who disagrees with you, and make sure they know the customer looses money by contract if the house staff screws up.

Dealing with fire marshals on show sites could be a whole book in itself. Ask me how I dealt with "mamma bear" some time, its a good story.

Steve

[trwalters001]

As usual - EXCELLENT info , Steve.

Thanks much!!