IATSE house

[hbelden]

The LORT contract allows actors out of character to set or strike things when they enter or exit a scene.  Our director doesn't want to see stagehands onstage.  However, in an IA house, that would be taking a job away from a props crewmember, right?  Not kosher?

The PSM is going to bring this up with the shop steward in a day or two, but I wondered what you all thought.

[loebtmc]

FWIW, I have never had trouble with this rule in IA houses -

[Jessie_K]

It is of my experience that you can have the actors do the scene change, but you cannot NOT have the crew.  Therefore, for each actor moving scenery, you have one stagehand waiting in the wings to receive said scenic item as soon as it comes offstage.  

You can "take the job" of the stagehand, but they must still be hired and present for the shows.

But please confirm with your local BA.

[jspeaker]

Have been in this situation many times and has never been an issue.

[chops]

You can "take the job" of the stagehand, but they must still be hired and present for the shows.

But please confirm with your local BA.

From my experiance it is the displaced worker language in the contract that you are going to run into a problem with.  Just a tip never say "take their job" or "shadow" or "dude sitting in a chair" but use the term "displaced" when dealing with this situation.  In most contracts you can technically not have IA guys do any work as long as there is someone present from IA who could do the job.  For example if I want to bring in a monitor engineer for a show who is not IA then I have to have an IA guy somewhere in the building who could be doing that job and who is on the clock.  In your situation the performers should be able to take the items off stage and move them around as long as there are an equal number of IA guys or gals backstage in the proper department who are not currently doing anthing and could perform that action during that time in the show with no problems.  But check with the BA and the steward. 

[SMrose]

It is of my experience that you can have the actors do the scene change, but you cannot NOT have the crew.  Therefore, for each actor moving scenery, you have one stagehand waiting in the wings to receive said scenic item as soon as it comes offstage.  

You can "take the job" of the stagehand, but they must still be hired and present for the shows.

But please confirm with your local BA.

Being both IA and AEA I have found that the above quote is the norm.  Do check with the local IA BA.   

[centaura]

A lot depends on the local IA's contract with the building/house where the production happens.  I know from dealing with the IA contract in my theatre that we have several provisions that "differ from the norm" for IA contracts around the nation.  I recommend getting a copy of the specific IA contract that would cover the performance, and then talk with the person who deals with the IA in your theatre and ask them if the question has come up before - which might be the case if this director has worked there before.  Your building IA contact will then ask the local IA BA if it hasn't come up before.

I mention the building contact since that is one of my jobs in my theatre, and it would be inappropriate for others to contact the local BA without my being involved in some way - even if its just an FYI from above.

-Centaura

[SMrose]

I mention the building contact since that is one of my jobs in my theatre, and it would be inappropriate for others to contact the local BA without my being involved in some way - even if its just an FYI from above.

-Centaura

My experience has been that if you are not the building/venue IA steward, the promoter must go directly to the local BA who will in turn notify the building management. 

[centaura]

I mention the building contact since that is one of my jobs in my theatre, and it would be inappropriate for others to contact the local BA without my being involved in some way - even if its just an FYI from above.

-Centaura

My experience has been that if you are not the building/venue IA steward, the promoter must go directly to the local BA who will in turn notify the building management.

It depends on the contracts/precedent/working arrangement that are set up locally. There are many a venue that operates like you describe, but that's why its important to find how how the communication goes at the venue that you're dealing with.  At my venue, I am not IA, but the promoters who use my building tell me what their crew needs are and I contact the union BA to place all show calls.  There is no direct contact between the promoter and the BA.  This is just how its set up locally due to the local history between the venue and the IA, etc.  In theory, folks could go straight to the BA locally, but I would be involved shortly afterwards if that were the case.

-Centaura