391
The Green Room / Re: Side Gigs
« on: Jan 23, 2013, 08:30 am »
Make sure you stay away from irons and puffy shirts! 
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392
The Green Room / Re: Tax Season!
« on: Jan 22, 2013, 12:22 pm »I would avoid your friend's advice to write off everything. That is a sure way to raise a huge red flag on your return.
+1 on this, especially if you're also filing W2s, which you are. If you do write things off, be sure you have meticulous documentation prior to even considering it.
393
The Green Room / Re: Thank You Cards for Interviews
« on: Jan 21, 2013, 09:50 pm »To be fair- before e-mail the way people followed up was via phone or sending a quick note. The ones I send don't actually say "thank you" on them- they are blank cards where I can write a note.
I think having something tangible is a really nice touch in a world of electronic communication where it is so easy to hit delete and forget about it.
While I do agree that hand-written is a nice touch in personal settings, I think the expectation in normal business is to respond in whatever method of commutation is the accepted norm. 20 years ago it was hand-written notes, and it would've been outside the norm to send a telegram, just as now it's outside the norm to send a hand-written note.
394
Stage Management: Other / Re: Fitting Marley to different stages on tour
« on: Jan 21, 2013, 04:40 pm »
Hi EzBrEzPSM, and welcome to SMNetwork. Thanks for checking elsewhere prior to posting your question, the staff and frequent posters will certainly appreciate that
I think step one really is getting the dimensions from the house TDs. Make sure you get drawings, not just numbers.
If possible, do any of your overlapping/cutting/etc... in areas where there is less choreography, and definitely get the input of the choreographer, look at the drawings of different venues together, etc...
What is the actual dance surface you have? "Marley" is a bit of a misnomer as it was a floor manufacturer, not a type of flooring, similar to calling a tissue a Kleenex (as an aside Marley Floors Ltd hasn't made the stuff since the 1970s). If you can find out the manufacturer and type of floor, e.g. Harlequin Reversible, then you can research the manufacturer's recommended care instructions in terms of what will damage the floor.
I think step one really is getting the dimensions from the house TDs. Make sure you get drawings, not just numbers.
If possible, do any of your overlapping/cutting/etc... in areas where there is less choreography, and definitely get the input of the choreographer, look at the drawings of different venues together, etc...
What is the actual dance surface you have? "Marley" is a bit of a misnomer as it was a floor manufacturer, not a type of flooring, similar to calling a tissue a Kleenex (as an aside Marley Floors Ltd hasn't made the stuff since the 1970s). If you can find out the manufacturer and type of floor, e.g. Harlequin Reversible, then you can research the manufacturer's recommended care instructions in terms of what will damage the floor.
395
The Green Room / Re: Thank You Cards for Interviews
« on: Jan 21, 2013, 08:33 am »
I follow up via email 24-48 hours after an interview. I try to hit that spot right after you may have slipped out of the interviewer's mind, but not too late in the process.
I think of "thank you" cards as something to give when a person has gone out of their way to do something nice for you. You should be appreciative of the time, but really it's their job to interview candidates.
I think of "thank you" cards as something to give when a person has gone out of their way to do something nice for you. You should be appreciative of the time, but really it's their job to interview candidates.
396
Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Groundplan Doesn't Fit
« on: Jan 11, 2013, 08:45 am »
I'd chat with the director about the plan, s/he will know what elements are most critical. S/he may prefer you truncate certain elements, while leaving other critical elements to scale; or truncate the entire thing to scale.
397
The Green Room / Re: LA Times - stopping the show~ (Anything Goes touring version)
« on: Jan 08, 2013, 09:18 am »
A reminder to always take understudy rehearsals seriously! You may need to put someone in without the benefit of any rehearsal time.
One of the great charms of live performance. Nothing like this happens on the silver screen.
One of the great charms of live performance. Nothing like this happens on the silver screen.
398
Employment / Re: Salary Requirements
« on: Jan 08, 2013, 09:12 am »I had this happen when working for a fairly large company from Montreal.. I was eventually able to make it work in my favor.
They INSISTED on a number. I high balled it. When the offer came back it sounded good....until we did the tax math for Australia. Wow. After taxes the number was about $200 from the yearly salary I had quoted them. In the end I think it was coincidence...However, I used the leverage to go back to the table and ask for more. "You told me that number was only to fill out a blank on a form and had no bearing on your offer...why does your offer now work out to that number?". In the end I was able to get another 15%. Unfortunately that also made me the highest paid technician on tour...not a great place to be as a newbie with a new TD that did not have any say in your salary. It did, however, make a big difference in the money I made throughout the entire career I had with that company. So, negotiate that first number carefully....it can haunt you for many years.
This is a great case in the point I made earlier in the thread. Fortunate that you were able to work it out eventually.
That is a great point you brought up about the difference over the long term and something I hadn't thought about in the frame of this discussion. If you had wound up 15% behind the curve at the beginning, you'd likely have been 15% behind through any raises, promotions, etc... through the course of your career with that mysterious Montreal-based company.
399
Employment / Re: Salary Requirements
« on: Jan 07, 2013, 10:40 am »I should have mentioned that was what I meant as the take home pay. If you're taking home 600 a week, depending on your taxes, that's actually 40k a year.
Apologies for unclear posting. You do make a good point, though. I went through the same thing at a few jobs. They can be brutal about not revealing their hand in terms of pay scale.
The numbers aren't necessarily that important, it's more the principle. And yes, generally they will be hesitant to reveal the pay scale. But if I was cutting paychecks from my own pocket I wouldn't want to pay people more than I had to either - so I understand both sides.
400
Employment / Re: Salary Requirements
« on: Jan 07, 2013, 08:51 am »The easiest way to try to circumvent this ridiculous question is actually simple: take what your highest rate may have been as a day player or on smaller contracts and multiply it out to a yearly salary.
So lets say you were once paid $600 a week for one show and that salary worked well for you. Multiply it out for a year, while also figuring out general taxes like planetmike said.
But this is my exact problem with this question. Using your $600/week figure, that would come to $31,500 yearly salary. What if you assume it's a $30,000 position, but it's actually a $40,000 position? Your new employer can meet your number, make you happy, and you just shorted yourself by almost 25% over an arbitrary figure you put on your application or in your cover letter.
401
The Green Room / Re: New Years Resolutions
« on: Jan 06, 2013, 05:31 pm »
Mine is not a resolution per se, however could potentially be of interest to any of those with "get in shape" type resolutions.
My better two thirds gave me a Fit Bit One for Christmas. It tracks steps traveled, distance, stairs climbed, and even the quality of your sleep. It syncs wirelessly to some mobile phones and tablets, and all computers. The really cool part is that you can "friend" people through the online dashboard and see their steps and activity. It becomes insanely competitive with your group of folks who have it.
My better two thirds gave me a Fit Bit One for Christmas. It tracks steps traveled, distance, stairs climbed, and even the quality of your sleep. It syncs wirelessly to some mobile phones and tablets, and all computers. The really cool part is that you can "friend" people through the online dashboard and see their steps and activity. It becomes insanely competitive with your group of folks who have it.
402
Employment / Re: Salary Requirements
« on: Jan 06, 2013, 04:54 pm »
I loathe these questions on any type of application. By answering you're immediately putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes time to negotiate salary; leave it blank and you risk having your resume tossed out immediately. That said though, I'm a firm believer in that if they are interested in you, they'll call, even if you leave some of these types of questions blank. I tend to omit these types of questions.
403
The Green Room / Re: Wedding Present for my Stage Manager?
« on: Jan 03, 2013, 08:14 am »Thanks so much guys!
She was complaining how her stage-manager kit, or as she called it, the Jeebus Bag, was starting to wear down. I think I'm gonna get her a strong backpack or hiking backpack (she currently uses an old gym bag and always struggles to find stuff in it), and get a patch on it or get it engraved with her new name and "The Jeebus Bag." I'll see if I can find some stuff to stuff her bag with.
Once again, thanks so much for your ideas and help.
T
That sounds like a fantastic idea!
404
The Green Room / Re: Wedding Present for my Stage Manager?
« on: Jan 02, 2013, 08:28 am »
Don't knock cheese knives. Cheese is delicious.
On a more serious note, are there any tools she's been complaining about? (e.g. "This stupid button on my stopwatch doesn't register when press it in!")
Not that she'd be dropping hints, but perhaps you can spark an idea from conversations you've had. While we can all sit here and toss ideas at you, the best gifts are the ones that are the most personal.
On a more serious note, are there any tools she's been complaining about? (e.g. "This stupid button on my stopwatch doesn't register when press it in!")
Not that she'd be dropping hints, but perhaps you can spark an idea from conversations you've had. While we can all sit here and toss ideas at you, the best gifts are the ones that are the most personal.
405
The Hardline / Re: AEA and "Right To Work"
« on: Dec 14, 2012, 11:34 am »
I think right to work will have less effect on the theatrical industry than others (manufacturing, service, etc...). There are two main points right to work laws wish to accomplish, which, for the most part, the theatrical world is already doing.
AEA and IATSE are also served well by the fact that the scope of employees they represent is so narrow, and therefor the needs/wants/desires of those employees are relatively uniform. This allows AEA and IATSE to focus 100% of its resources on issues that benefit most or all of the employees it represents.
These unions aren't the SEIU which represent nearly 2 million employees in over 100 different jobs (everything from nurses to janitors to security guards). It's much harder to represent that broad a scope of employees and have everyone feel they are being well-represented.
- Closed shop. Right to work laws typically eliminate the requirement that all employees join the/a union. As discussed previously this already happens in most theatres around the country, so the effect is minimal.
- Desire to join the union. This goes hand in hand with closed shop. By eliminating the requirement to join the/a union, it puts the onus on unions to provide a tangible benefit to their members so that employees want to join. AEA and IATSE both provide immense benefit to their employees that offer a noticable return on dues paid. As a result, you're unlikely to see many "defect" from the AEA or IATSE ranks as a result of right to work.
AEA and IATSE are also served well by the fact that the scope of employees they represent is so narrow, and therefor the needs/wants/desires of those employees are relatively uniform. This allows AEA and IATSE to focus 100% of its resources on issues that benefit most or all of the employees it represents.
These unions aren't the SEIU which represent nearly 2 million employees in over 100 different jobs (everything from nurses to janitors to security guards). It's much harder to represent that broad a scope of employees and have everyone feel they are being well-represented.