Author Topic: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?  (Read 5779 times)

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BayAreaSM

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How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« on: Oct 24, 2013, 01:43 am »
For my AEA brothers and sisters -

If your local Liaison Committee offered a free "How to SM/SM Brush Up Workshop" taught by local AEA SMs, would you attend? Do you feel such a workshop would be beneficial to you (as an AEA member)? Do you think it would it be beneficial to AEA Actors?

Do you agree or disagree with this statement, "Any AEA member can and should be able to SM just as any SM can walk onstage and be an actor." Why?

I am keeping my opinions quiet until I hear from some of you. I would love to hear 100% honest feedback.

Many thanks!

smejs

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #1 on: Oct 24, 2013, 02:10 am »
Several years ago, I held discussion about actors and stage managers, jointly presented by the Stage Managers Association and the Denver AEA liaison committee. That went over very well, presenting as a discussion of what each other appreciated about the other and lead to many "discoveries" on both sides.

MatthewShiner

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #2 on: Oct 24, 2013, 08:54 am »
For my AEA brothers and sisters -


Do you agree or disagree with this statement, "Any AEA member can and should be able to SM just as any SM can walk onstage and be an actor." Why?



I think that any AEA Actor could "Act" like a stage manager.  And I think most AEA SM's could walk on stage and try to be an actor.  But, I think it's terribly belittling to both the art of acting and stage management to think that either one could switch.  Maybe can do the tasks but they may not excel at it.

Although I think an introduction to stage management workshop would be interesting - to explain to actors what a stage manager actually does in the AEA world - since the job is quite different then the world of college stage management, where many actors may have had their last brush of stage management.
« Last Edit: Oct 24, 2013, 08:57 am by MatthewShiner »
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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.

KMC

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #3 on: Oct 24, 2013, 10:01 am »
I am not an AEA member so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but:

It is possible and does happen that a 2nd ASM can be in the cast, so isn't this already answered to a degree?

Mathew's point I think is most valid.  Should this be permitted within the bounds of AEA rules/regs?  I think the answer already is yes.  But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, and doesn't mean you can do it well.  And just because you can SM or act in the eyes of AEA doesn't mean someone is going to hire you to do it, either.
Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. -T. Roosevelt

SMrose

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #4 on: Oct 24, 2013, 11:54 am »

Do you agree or disagree with this statement, "Any AEA member can and should be able to SM just as any SM can walk onstage and be an actor." Why?


No, I do not agree with that statement.  I can certainly "read in" and "walk the blocking" of a missing or late actor, but I wouldn't say that as an SM I can be an actor!  There are many actors I've worked with that I would never consider handing the job of SM to.
Rather than a "how to"  (shouldn't we know how to SM if we're AEA members?) wouldn't a "learn new techniques and new technology of stage management" be beneficial?  Or, as previously stated, a comparison workshop on the actor's role, the SM's role in a production.

ejsmith3130

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #5 on: Oct 24, 2013, 08:56 pm »
Do you agree or disagree with this statement, "Any AEA member can and should be able to SM just as any SM can walk onstage and be an actor." Why?

Despite my actor training from college, I still cringe when the idea of going on as an ASM cover (for whatever reason). Perhaps this is because I do know what kind of time and preparation it takes to be an actor with a complete and real character.

Anyone can read lines or follow good clear paperwork in an emergency, but I think it is naïve to think that just anyone can step into someone else's job because they have worked together before and observed their job. It does not work this way in the business world... you aren't qualified to do work as an accountant because you work alongside one every day.

I think it comes down to respect for the work that we put into our craft not only as stage managers, but as actors as well.
 

BayAreaSM

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #6 on: Oct 25, 2013, 02:16 am »
I am not an AEA member so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but:

It is possible and does happen that a 2nd ASM can be in the cast, so isn't this already answered to a degree?


Yes, that is true. And, of course, there are those AEA members (and non-AEA) who are both equally good at SM and Acting and are able to take over either job with ease. I don't disagree with that statement, since there are those members who enjoy playing both sides of the curtain. And yes, SMs and Actors are in the same union, and any SM could audition for a part just as any Actor could submit a resume to SM a show. However - that doesn't mean that their abilities to get the opposite job are as equal as getting a job that they trained for. That is where I find fault with the original quote.

I studied acting in college, but all of my professional experience is in SM. I wouldn't dare go audition for an Union show, because I know I don't have the chops for it and haven't taken an acting class since 1999. I think it would be insulting to other union actors, and embarrassing for myself, due to my lack of acting skills. Reverse the situation - just because an AEA Actor called a show or two in college, but has been acting professionally for 10+ years doesn't mean they SHOULD accept an AEA SM contract for a show, just because they are an AEA member. And a Saturday morning Workshop isn't going to make that AEA Actor an expert in all things SM and ready to take on the task.

I am really trying to see the other side of this, as this potential "How to be a SM/SM Brush Up" workshop is being proposed to me as a task to take on. So far it seems as though people tend to agree with how I am viewing this. Does anyone have an opposite view to help me see this in a new light?

(I'm not ignoring the suggestions of spinning it into the "This is What a SM Does" for AEA Actors, it's just I think I may be stuck with what I've already been given - but it is a great idea!)

__

And getting back to another one of my original questions - would you attend this Workshop, as an AEA SM? Why or Why not?
« Last Edit: Oct 25, 2013, 02:18 am by BayAreaSM »

KMC

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Re: How to SM Workshop - For AEA Members?
« Reply #7 on: Oct 25, 2013, 08:44 am »
I am not an AEA member so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but:

It is possible and does happen that a 2nd ASM can be in the cast, so isn't this already answered to a degree?


Yes, that is true. And, of course, there are those AEA members (and non-AEA) who are both equally good at SM and Acting and are able to take over either job with ease. I don't disagree with that statement, since there are those members who enjoy playing both sides of the curtain. And yes, SMs and Actors are in the same union, and any SM could audition for a part just as any Actor could submit a resume to SM a show. However - that doesn't mean that their abilities to get the opposite job are as equal as getting a job that they trained for. That is where I find fault with the original quote.

I studied acting in college, but all of my professional experience is in SM. I wouldn't dare go audition for an Union show, because I know I don't have the chops for it and haven't taken an acting class since 1999. I think it would be insulting to other union actors, and embarrassing for myself, due to my lack of acting skills. Reverse the situation - just because an AEA Actor called a show or two in college, but has been acting professionally for 10+ years doesn't mean they SHOULD accept an AEA SM contract for a show, just because they are an AEA member. And a Saturday morning Workshop isn't going to make that AEA Actor an expert in all things SM and ready to take on the task.

I agree 100% and hope these thoughts came through in my original post on the subject.

I will stop distracting the topic now!  ;D
Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. -T. Roosevelt