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Topics - XanderQCall

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The Hardline / SM as Board Op -- What to Ask For
« on: Nov 17, 2015, 03:40 pm »
Greetings Everyone!!
I wanted to pick your brains about something. I have always had to op a board throughout most of my SM career, but now I am AEA, working at theatres that require the SM to run a board or 2. I  want to talk to my producers about getting additional compensation for running a board. My question is has anyone ever gotten additional compensation for board oping and how much was it? Did you charge per board you had to operate, etc? I am just trying to get an idea of what to ask for.

Side note: AEA has been treating me very well so far. Finding out I get a 1/6th bump up for tech week was a giddy moment and I am 1 week shy of being eligible for 6 months of health insurance. I am loving my union!!

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The Hardline / Doing Non-Equity Work While Being Equity
« on: Sep 11, 2015, 01:38 pm »
Ok, everyone!! I do not know if this topic has ever been discussed and I know that it's considered a serious breach of Equity responsibilities but has anyone ever petitioned Equity to do a production without a signed Equity contract? If so, what were your experiences with this? I have just recently joined the union and I have been lucky to have gotten offered a couple of contracts for 2015 and 2016 and there is some additional Equity work that is up in the air but I was going to request permission to do a non-Equity show just to help fill out my season. Should I even bother, especially with me being so new? It's just that I live and work in a theatre community where most of the local theatres have resident Equity PSMs and a couple of the smaller theatre companies are in transition to being full-fledged SPT theatres. I would just appreciate some thoughts and advice. Much love.

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Self-Promotion / At Home at the Zoo
« on: Sep 04, 2015, 12:35 pm »
About to jump into tech for my first Equity show. Nothing like kicking things off with an Albee!!

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Employment / Staged Readings On Resume?
« on: Dec 11, 2014, 12:54 pm »
Just a quick question for the group: As far as my resume goes, I have listed all of the full productions I have stage managed but I was wondering about staged readings and putting those on your resume. Also, I stage managed a 24 hour festival for 2 years now, each festival culminating in the creation of 5 short plays. Is that something I should try and work in as well or just stick to the major work I have done? Thank you!

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The Hardline / Tech + Actors in Costume
« on: Dec 03, 2014, 07:15 pm »
This has come up for me recently on a show and I just wanted to get some clarification to make sure I am correct on this.

Here is the scenario: It's after 1/2 hour, actors are in costume, and the director decides to do a stumble-thru of the show (which is only about an hour and five minutes long).  Actors were called at 11:00a so they are due a 10 minute break at 12:20 (or whatever time the actual run-thru of the show ends).

When we get back from break, the director wants to start at the top of the show, requiring actors to get back into their top of show costumes.

In this situation, actors were put on a fifteen minute break: five minutes to get back into TOS costume and then the actual ten minute break they were due. Is that breakdown accurate? Or would you have actors get out of costume and then put them on a break?  Does Equity define the act of an actor getting into and out of costume as work and therefore an actor cannot be put on break and have part of that break time be changing into and out of costume?

Now here is another scenario that came up: Different show. The last part of our tech rehearsal was spent doing a run-thru of the show. The director wanted to have time to touch base with the actors about the plan for the next day before the actors left the theatre. END OF DAY is 11:00pm. Actors were kept, IN COSTUME, until 11:00pm, and then released.

If the act of getting into and out of costume is considered to be work, does this mean that the actors end of day was actually once they were out of costume which was around 11:15? Should the run-thru have been stopped with enough time to have the actors get out of costume, take their break, while still leaving time for the director to talk with them prior to END OF DAY?

I was not the stage manager in either situation, it was just something I observed. Thoughts, comments, concerns. You all are such a wealth of knowledge I figured I would throw this out there. My apologies if this is already a thread but I couldn't find anything along these lines when I searched. Thank you!!

EDIT: Added line breaks for easier reading. --PSMK

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Employment / Applying for AEA Positions W/O Being AEA
« on: May 22, 2014, 03:45 pm »
Please forgive me is this seems like a silly question but I am curious about if anyone has ever applied for an AEA position without actually being AEA? I have gathered from some of the "How I Got My Card" threads that the trend is just working your way up at a theatre to the point where they decide to put you on an AEA contract. My apologies if this is just a crazy thing to inquire about. Thank you!

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Employment / Putting ASM on Resume at Equity Theatre
« on: Apr 16, 2014, 11:08 am »
Good Morning Stage Managers!!
I just wanted to pick your brains about something. I have done a couple of shows at a LORT C theatre under the title of "Head Production Assistant." The reason we are given this title is because the LORT rulebook defines "Assistant Stage Manager" as a member of Equity even though we perform all of the assistant stage managerial duties. Should just leave the Production Assistant" title on my resume instead of changing it to Assistant Stage Manager so it's not misleading or should the focus be on the fact that I was hired and worked in an ASM capacity?

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Good Afternoon Fellow Stage Managers!!
I had a question. I know that there are some AEA contracts that have a section devoted to the Callboard and what needs to be posted and AEA marks certain documents as "PLEASE POST." As a non-AEA SM,  I am used to posting the contact sheet on the callboard for easy access and having hard copies of it in the actor packets for first rehearsal.  However, when I do PA work at the LORT theatre here in town, the PSM does NOT post the contact sheet and does not distribute hard copies; it's done through e-mail only and any updates/changes she sends out. Is this typical procedure? I understand considering the nature who might be involved on a production (you wouldn't want to post or distribute a contact sheet with Neil Patrick Harris's cell on it) but I was curious about your experience with this. Thanks!!

Post Merge: Feb 26, 2014, 02:54 pm
And of course I find a link to this very topic after I hit POST.

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Employment / Separate SM Resume
« on: Dec 03, 2013, 06:04 pm »
Hey Fellow Stage Managers! Quick question!
I am revising my resume to incorporate a couple more shows and I was just wondering if it would be better if I just had a resume for for just "Stage Management" instead of the one I currently have which has productions I have stage managed, assistant stage managed, served as  production assistant. Thoughts? Thank you!!

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The Hardline / New EMC Rule
« on: Nov 23, 2013, 07:20 pm »
I ran into a friend of mine who is an Equity actor and we got into a discussion about EMC. He told me that AEA had just created a rule that if an EMC hits their 50 weeks in the middle of contract, that they have to be paid whatever the AEA minimum is for the remainder of the contract. Apparently the Artistic Director at one of the LORT theatres in town received a phone call from AEA telling her that so and so had reached her 50 weeks and had to be paid LORT D minimum. Has anyone heard about this?

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I don't know if this topic has ever been brought up but I am really curious about everyone's thoughts. The very first show I ever stage managed I called the entire thing (meaning that I had operators and ASM's and verbalized all of the cues). It took about five years from that time for me to stage manage another show where I fully called everything. In that time most of the shows I have stage managed I have had to run the boards whether it's running lights, calling sound, running sound, calling lights or running everything from lights, sound, projections to wireless mics.  I know from an AEA point of view, a stage manager cannot be a board operator unless a rider is put in their contract (at least that is my understanding). The theatre community here relies heavily on a stage manager being able to run a board, Equity or non-Equity.  We have a LORT theatre where the PSM calls the entire show but that is the only theatre in town where this is the case. The PSM at an SPT house, runs the light board and the PSM at a TYA house runs all of the boards.   What's been everyone's experience? I do consider running a board calling the show but in a different way. How do you feel about calling a show versus being one or both board ops?

Edited to add topic tag- Maribeth

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Employment / Stage Managing Events--Put on Resume?
« on: Jul 29, 2013, 03:08 pm »
Hey Everyone!!
Quick question: I am curious about putting events that you stage manage on your resume. I am stage managing a benefit this Saturday and then stage managing a gala next Monday. Should I just leave it off or does it depend on the event? Thanks!!

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Introductions / HI EVERYONE
« on: May 22, 2013, 04:43 pm »
My name is Alex and I just recently graduated with my M.F.A. in Stage Management. I have been working professionally for about three years and I hope to make a Chicago or New York move in the future. I am non-AEA but I am making strides towards a card and always eager to know more about AEA rules, contracts, etc. Thanks!!

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The Hardline / REQUIRED # OF STAGE MANGERS--LORT
« on: May 22, 2013, 04:37 pm »
There is a theatre in my city that produces works in two separate spaces and each space is on a different LORT contract. The main stage is a LORT C and the 2nd stage is a LORT D. In my experience with this theatre, there has only been  one AEA stage manager employed on each production regardless of whether that production was done on the main stage or at the 2nd stage.  This theatre is moving up to a LORT B status next season (I think the main stage is moving to LORT B and the 2nd stage is moving to LORT C). Apparently the main stage is required to have an AEA ASM for each production they do. I couldn't find the specifics of this in the LORT contract but I am curious about how many stage managers are required for a production depending on what tier of LORT the theatre uses. All I know is that if the theatre mounts a musical, I believe there has to be an Equity ASM. I would appreciate any feedback on this. Thank you!!

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