10 out of 12s Meal Break Question

[theatrechic]

I'm working on a LORT D Contract currently and I was told that dinner on a 10 out of 12 can be 1.5 hours as long as we end the day 30 mins earlier, making the day a 10 out of 11.5.  I have NEVER heard of this.  Every other theatre that I have worked at (different contracts) have operated on the idea that a 10 out of 12 means a 2 hour dinner break.  Then if you want people in costume you call them to get dressed (or for half hour) after the 2 hour meal break.  Have I just been working at places that misinterpreted the rule and never looked into it? 

I do have an email (from the PSM last season) from Equity saying that a 1.5 hour break is acceptable during rehearsals; apparently tech is considered a rehearsal. (Personally, I  think this is crap because it means the crew gets only 30 mins for a break, but that's just me.) But I am very curious about other people's experience with this.

Has anyone else encountered this?

Thank you!!

[loebtmc]

I have had directors try to talk me into this so their day can be shorter, not realizing that the tech folks need their time during dinner to do fixes and catch up on work lists, let alone have a dinner break themselves. It's amazing to me - surely they understand that the designers and their teams need time to work and also deserve a meal?

[megf]

The 10 out of 11.5 absolutely exists, and is an option in the ANTC rulebook. I've worked at LORTs that use this option as well.

Yes, it sucks for the crew, especially if it's common practice to back their call up so it's a true hour before every actor call. But that's not the practice everywhere.

Personally, I'm a fan of the 10 out of 11.5 if the following are true:

-Preset/crew rally for continuing tech is under ~35 minutes.

-Director, designers, etc. agree to take a walkaway meal break, even if it's only 20-30 minutes to clear their heads and have a sandwich.

-The cast are on board with a shorter day, rather than a longer break. This is only really a factor if they are traveling from a long distance ("Yes, please, let us out in time to get the 11:41pm train!") or have some other personal need for a shorter span of day. The only time I've had an actor approach me requesting the longer break was when they had severe acid reflux that wasn't responding to treatment, and were worried about eating and then singing too soon.

[RuthNY]

This is true. Nowhere in the LORT rulebook does it say that the meal break on a 10 out of 12 day has to be 2 hours long. The only rule that applies here is the one that says there must be a 1.5 hour meal break after 5 hours of rehearsal. So, the theatre is allowed to structure that day differently from the more usual 5 hours work, 2 hour actor meal break, 5 hours work, if they desire. But we, as SMs need to vociferously advocate for the the needs of our entire team, including the crew, when the theatre wants to shorten the actor meal break, considering the elements outlined by megf, and anything else specific to the production that might apply.

The shortening of this meal break, to me, is no different from a LORT theatre where the actors have voted to shorten the meal break between a rehearsal and a performance half hour call from 2 hours to 1 1/2 hours. In fact, this scenario is even worse for the crew and SMs than shortening the break on a 10 out of 12, and this happens way more often. I have the utmost respect for theatres who maintain the 2 hour meal break between a rehearsal and half hour call, regardless of the vote. These theatres are thinking of their SMs and crew, not just the actors and themselves.

I'm working on a LORT D Contract currently and I was told that dinner on a 10 out of 12 can be 1.5 hours as long as we end the day 30 mins earlier, making the day a 10 out of 11.5.  I have NEVER heard of this.  Every other theatre that I have worked at (different contracts) have operated on the idea that a 10 out of 12 means a 2 hour dinner break.  Then if you want people in costume you call them to get dressed (or for half hour) after the 2 hour meal break.  Have I just been working at places that misinterpreted the rule and never looked into it? 

I do have an email (from the PSM last season) from Equity saying that a 1.5 hour break is acceptable during rehearsals; apparently tech is considered a rehearsal. (Personally, I  think this is crap because it means the crew gets only 30 mins for a break, but that's just me.) But I am very curious about other people's experience with this.

Has anyone else encountered this?

Thank you!!

[Maribeth]

I have worked (and am currently working) at a theatre that uses a variation on this schedule - the reason being that if you do a 10 out of 12 with a 2 hour break in the middle of the day, it's difficult to match up the hours with an IATSE crew schedule. If the crew is on two five-hour calls, it wouldn't allow for any setup or cleanup time, and no time to work on the break.

I was surprised the first time too, because I had never heard of it before.

[loebtmc]

Thanks - I never knew this existed - but agree w Ruth. Crew needs to be a major part of this kind of decision, because reset and work needs have to be accommodated and also, the crew needs a dinner break. I guess it depends on the technical complexity of the show and what would be impacted if the design team/crew didn't have time to finish their work and if only the actors got to eat during the break.

[Beatr79]

I have worked at large regional theatres that use this variation on the schedule, and actually like it.  These are typically complex shows with heavy automation and rail cues.  It is also an IATSE house, where crew calls mentioned above need to be taken into consideration.  In this theatre, the crew and creatives DO get a full hour meal break, and then use the following hour as critical dry tech time.  So here's how a typical 10/11.5 day lands for cast / crew:

8-11a      Crew Call for Work Notes OR Dry Tech
11a-12n  Crew meal break.
12n         Crew call for preset / Actor Half-Hour
12:30-5p Actors onstage: Full Tech
5p-6p      Crew/Creative/SM Meal Break
5-6:30p   Actor Meal Break
6-7p        Tech Dry or Work Notes Onstage*
6:30p      Actor Half-Hour
7-11:30p Actors Onstage: Full Tech

*This is the pinch point where we often are battling duel purposes.  Maybe trying to dry-tech a sequence in Act Two before we get to it with actors, while still being ready for Cast Onstage at 7p where we stopped in Act One.  But usually between SM, PM, and the artistic staff of the theatre, we are able to create a realistic goal for that hour (ok, we'll tech the new fog FX and flash, then re-set for 7p start), knowing how quickly one hour goes by.   

[Michelle R. Wood]

Thanks for the Q&A; we'll be scheduling our 10 out of 12 soon and it's good to see all the variations people use. Love this forum and the multiple experiences I get to learn from.

[smejs]

So, I'm working SPT 9 right now and we're allowed two 10 out of 12s. Got the one figured out, but don't actually have enough hours in the week to add a true 2nd 10 out of 12 in the same week. Would I be able to do an 8 out of 10 at all instead of the 7 out of 8 1/2, and somehow count in being "okay" for the 2nd 10 out of 12? (And even my brain just got confused with that question...)

This theatre had been a Guest Artist contract previoulsy and evidently 8 out of 10 was the standard before, and the original planning calendar I received had 2 hour dinner breaks for tech (and sometimes had 3 hours, which we changed, as it totally screwed up span of day). I got us to a 7 out of 8 1/2 but it really didn't work well for the crew's break.

Erin

[RuthNY]

This is a question for your Business Rep. Erin.

So, I'm working SPT 9 right now and we're allowed two 10 out of 12s. Got the one figured out, but don't actually have enough hours in the week to add a true 2nd 10 out of 12 in the same week. Would I be able to do an 8 out of 10 at all instead of the 7 out of 8 1/2, and somehow count in being "okay" for the 2nd 10 out of 12? (And even my brain just got confused with that question...)

<snip>

Erin

[loebtmc]

The SPT I work for most often always does 8/10s for tech. And we shorten the week's schedule to accommodate the tech days - which lately means a second day off in the week... if that helps.

[ErgoCue]

I'm working on a LORT D Contract currently and I was told that dinner on a 10 out of 12 can be 1.5 hours as long as we end the day 30 mins earlier, making the day a 10 out of 11.5.  I have NEVER heard of this.  Every other theatre that I have worked at (different contracts) have operated on the idea that a 10 out of 12 means a 2 hour dinner break.  Then if you want people in costume you call them to get dressed (or for half hour) after the 2 hour meal break.  Have I just been working at places that misinterpreted the rule and never looked into it?

Yes, I've been part of techs where this has happened, but the director, stage management, designers, and crew heads were all part of the discussion before a decision was made.  If the crew needed the full two hours, we would never agree to it.  It's usually happened when I've worked on a very small show with 4 actors or less and a single set.

So, I'm working SPT 9 right now and we're allowed two 10 out of 12s. Got the one figured out, but don't actually have enough hours in the week to add a true 2nd 10 out of 12 in the same week. Would I be able to do an 8 out of 10 at all instead of the 7 out of 8 1/2, and somehow count in being "okay" for the 2nd 10 out of 12?

I've worked in SPTs where we did one day with a 10 out of 12 and one with an 8 out of 10 without any issue.  Because the rule allows for SPT 5 through 10 to have up to 2 10 out of 12s, the 8 out of 10 fits into this (without going over the weekly allowance of total hours or span of day).  You can do 2 10 out of 12s, but the producer must be willing to pay overtime for the 2 additional hours for each Equity actor and stage manager.