Author Topic: REPORTS: Including break times in report?  (Read 6502 times)

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Maribeth

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REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« on: Feb 06, 2014, 04:17 pm »
Just a curiosity question from another thread- do you include break times in your reports for 5s and 10s? I have seen some SMs who do this but never have myself.

Beatr79

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #1 on: Feb 06, 2014, 06:11 pm »
Twice I was required to include breaks in the reports.  In both cases, I was working in a summer festival environment with multiple productions/venues/SM teams, and we were required to use a standard rehearsal report for consistency's sake.  Included in the form was a break section. 
In one case, when I inquired with the production manager about the inclusion of a breaks section, he gave two reasons why:
1. Multiple SM teams with varying degrees of experience.  One way to keep tabs on the SMs, I guess, though I found that a discomforting reason...if you can't trust us to call breaks properly based on a union-wide standard, how can you trust us on the many more complicated tasks and judgement calls we handle on a daily basis?  But I didn't fight it. 
2.  Each festival was operating under a Special Agreement / LOA with Equity.  It was the PM's way to cover his butt in the event Equity came around asking questions.

I found the tracking of breaks to be a little annoying, but it wasn't a big deal.  I would never chose to do so on my own. 

EFMcMullen

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #2 on: Feb 06, 2014, 07:23 pm »
I record them by default as I record what we do during each block of time.  For example:

10:00am - 10:50am   Stage Act I, Sc 1
10:55am - 12:05pm   Stage Act I, Sc 2

I've always done it as I was trained at a theatre that had a separate report for work day hours, tardiness, injuries, etc.  I now just include it in the rehearsal report.

bkrst275

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #3 on: Feb 06, 2014, 08:53 pm »
I am only a student, and, as such, do not yet know much about this, but it seems like common sense for an SM to do this to have a record in case of an issue with Equity.

loebtmc

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #4 on: Feb 06, 2014, 08:59 pm »
I rarely include break times - only when there is abuse happening and I need to document it. One reason is that we rarely get to break at exactly 55 or 80, because sometimes the actors are finishing a scene, sometimes the director is finishing a thought, etc. And certainly on a long show or a one-act 80 or 90 minute piece, there is no break during a run.


MatthewShiner

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #5 on: Feb 06, 2014, 09:19 pm »
The big problem is also I rarely give everyone a break at the same time . . . how do you track that . . . especially when running multiple rehearsal rooms?
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

loebtmc

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #6 on: Feb 06, 2014, 09:41 pm »
(Matthew - yes, that too)

lsears

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #7 on: Feb 07, 2014, 10:55 am »
I only do this when asked, which come to think of it has only been on operas.  Multiple rooms, staggered break times, odd numbers...too messy for the report, there are other, far more important things I want people to read in the report I'd rather not waste space on a string of numbers that no one is going to read.

The school I teach at requests that student SMs include this in their nightly reports.  I find it tedious but it does help me and the other advisors gauge how a rehearsal room is using their time and gives early warning signs if a graduate directing student doesn't use time well, or if a SM needs to be more assertive in breaking a room or bringing people back on time.  It also helps us know if there is merit to cast members complaining about how their time is being used.  I can see similar reasoning in professional theaters but never voluntarily list times.  I have them in my unpublished notes for the day if anyone every has questions or disputes.

Dart

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #8 on: Feb 07, 2014, 04:04 pm »
I've never taken an actual SM class, but rather learned via SMing in college. (Which did give me tech credits, so it could be considered a one-on-one class with the faculty directors.) My directors asked me to include breaks even though breaks weren't an actual concern - I guess to get me in the habit of thinking about, and keeping track of everything.

My first director at my current theatre was Problematic about breaks, so I stuck to documenting breaks through that and haven't broken since. I don't know if anybody would complain if I stopped keeping track, but like EFMcMullen I record them by default - although I also have a small box in the header of my reports (among the other small ones, like "date" and "next call") where I write our unrounded break times. The work schedule does get rounded to the nearest 5.

To me, it's one of the many things I almost accidentally keep track of, and while it may neither help nor hinder, it would take me longer to remember not to record the breaks than it takes me to write them down.

Aerial

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #9 on: Feb 07, 2014, 06:54 pm »
I used to do it earlier in my career, after seeing a stage manager I assisted as an intern do it.  I haven't done it in many years now, though, for the same reasons others have said:  with multiple rehearsal rooms or staggered breaks its cumbersome.   As I settled into my own professional style, I stopped finding it important.

hbelden

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #10 on: Feb 08, 2014, 10:47 pm »
I have worked at three theaters where administration required it.  At two of these theaters, the duty was foisted off on ASMs.  At the third, we couldn't really trust the PA, so I kept control of it. 

I've always made note of break times (to help me remember when to take the next one) but only at these three theaters have I reported it.
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MatthewShiner

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #11 on: Feb 09, 2014, 12:37 am »
my question is . . . what if the break was taken late . . . .did gm pay overtime????
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

dallas10086

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #12 on: Feb 09, 2014, 03:12 pm »
As a non-Eq SM I do it all the time. I have directors who would take advantage and run a 5 hour long rehearsal straight through without them. And I have the backing of my AD and PM so that's helpful.

hbelden

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Re: REPORTS: Including break times in report?
« Reply #13 on: Feb 09, 2014, 04:22 pm »
my question is . . . what if the break was taken late . . . .did gm pay overtime????

Yes.  That's the reason for recording the time of every break (at these 3 theaters) - having a paper trail when actors question whether OT is due.
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