Move to NYC

Hello CB,

Been a longtime reader here on the forums throughout my college years. I recently graduated college and I am setting my goal to start working in New York City.

I have read the "Getting a Job in the Industry" post on the forum and that gave me a great deal of insight on how to move up through the ranks of the industry.

I have been working in theatrical and event production since 2010 and I have learned many skills along the way. Like I said earlier I earned my degree in Theater Design and Production, my expertise is in lighting design, installation and programming.

From what I have read around the forum knowing people who work in the industry is important when it comes to penetrating the job market in NYC. I have sent out about 12 resumes to theaters and production houses in NYC with no responses... yet. Based on my lack of success, at hearing from these companies and theaters, I feel as though I need to look for employment from different companies.

I am currently located in Southern California and I want to land a job in NYC before I get out there. Does anyone have advice for someone who is trying to make the move to NYC and currently looking for a job?

At the end of August I am taking a trip to NYC for a week to explore and hopefully meet with potential employers. I have included this detail in my cover letters in hopes that I could schedule a live interview with someone.

Any thoughts, comments, or pieces of advice are appreciated.


Thank you,
Max Weisenberger

Odds are you won't get an interview unless you have some real professional experience on your resume' and can apply to a staff position. The NYC labor pool is rather deep and fluctuates daily. Most people won't even spend an hour to interview an unknown. I know I won't. Instead, I throw your resume in a stack. When I have a big call and need more hands I go through that stack and see who I can turn up. If you can work, great. If you can't, back in the stack. If you are good when your in you get thrown on the call list. If you suck, you get paid for the day but won't hear from me again. This is how a lot of places operate. I don't have the time to do proper interviews. Added to that half the jobs in the city go to people who know people. They are filled way before they even get a chance to be posted.

With that, the one place you should send a resume' to is Frost Lighting. They are the de-facto non-union event lighting company in the city. You will spend time lugging cases up 2-3 floors to an old ballroom in Queens for Bar Mitzvah that costs more then most weddings. But... you will get in the door and start making connections. Nearly every freelancer I know in the city has worked for frost at one time or another. They have a very large labor pool and are very connected. Pay is not stellar but a gig is a gig.

You will be really hard pressed to get a full time job before you get there. You will be hard pressed to get a full time job after you get there. You pretty much just have to do the grind. You need to have at least 6 months of runway to do it.

I'm 2.5 hours from the city. My wife and I have kicked around the idea of moving down a few times. Our rule has always been one of us needs a full time job that can cover 70% of our expenses plus benefits. It has not happened yet and we have been trying for awhile. If you are into the 2-4 roommate thing in a 2 bedroom and grinding to make rent and eat then go for it. That lifestyle is not for me so I have stayed where I am.

On that trip spend some time looking for a place to live. Pick up a sublet. See what you life would be like. Figure out how much groceries and food actually cost. Figure out if you need car. There are some places you have to have a car, some places where a car will cost you a ton to have. @Pie4Weebl, @rochem, @SteveB are all in the city and doing well. Steve has one of those house gigs most will kill for. I won't even get into the union thing, but that is for another time. With that question it really depends on what is your final goal.

Footer said:

Odds are you won't get an interview unless you have some real professional experience on your resume' and can apply to a staff position. The NYC labor pool is rather deep and fluctuates daily. Most people won't even spend an hour to interview an unknown. I know I won't. Instead, I throw your resume in a stack. When I have a big call and need more hands I go through that stack and see who I can turn up. If you can work, great. If you can't, back in the stack. If you are good when your in you get thrown on the call list. If you suck, you get paid for the day but won't hear from me again. This is how a lot of places operate. I don't have the time to do proper interviews. Added to that half the jobs in the city go to people who know people. They are filled way before they even get a chance to be posted.

With that, the one place you should send a resume' to is Frost Lighting. They are the de-facto non-union event lighting company in the city. You will spend time lugging cases up 2-3 floors to an old ballroom in Queens for Bar Mitzvah that costs more then most weddings. But... you will get in the door and start making connections. Nearly every freelancer I know in the city has worked for frost at one time or another. They have a very large labor pool and are very connected. Pay is not stellar but a gig is a gig.

You will be really hard pressed to get a full time job before you get there. You will be hard pressed to get a full time job after you get there. You pretty much just have to do the grind. You need to have at least 6 months of runway to do it.

I'm 2.5 hours from the city. My wife and I have kicked around the idea of moving down a few times. Our rule has always been one of us needs a full time job that can cover 70% of our expenses plus benefits. It has not happened yet and we have been trying for awhile. If you are into the 2-4 roommate thing in a 2 bedroom and grinding to make rent and eat then go for it. That lifestyle is not for me so I have stayed where I am.

On that trip spend some time looking for a place to live. Pick up a sublet. See what you life would be like. Figure out how much groceries and food actually cost. Figure out if you need car. There are some places you have to have a car, some places where a car will cost you a ton to have. @Pie4Weebl, @rochem, @SteveB are all in the city and doing well. Steve has one of those house gigs most will kill for. I won't even get into the union thing, but that is for another time. With that question it really depends on what is your final goal.

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Thanks for the insight. I sent my resume to Frost two weeks ago!

Being part of the union is the ultimate goal.

Maxweisen said:

Being part of the union is the ultimate goal.

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What specifically do you want to do? Run shows? PE?

Any desire to tour?

Also, Frost probably put your resume' in the circular file due to you not being in town yet. @Pie4Weebl will probably tell you they only offer full time gigs to people who have worked for the company for some time.

Footer said:

Odds are you won't get an interview unless you have some real professional experience on your resume' and can apply to a staff position. The NYC labor pool is rather deep and fluctuates daily. Most people won't even spend an hour to interview an unknown. I know I won't. Instead, I throw your resume in a stack. When I have a big call and need more hands I go through that stack and see who I can turn up. If you can work, great. If you can't, back in the stack. If you are good when your in you get thrown on the call list. If you suck, you get paid for the day but won't hear from me again. This is how a lot of places operate. I don't have the time to do proper interviews. Added to that half the jobs in the city go to people who know people. They are filled way before they even get a chance to be posted.

With that, the one place you should send a resume' to is Frost Lighting. They are the de-facto non-union event lighting company in the city. You will spend time lugging cases up 2-3 floors to an old ballroom in Queens for Bar Mitzvah that costs more then most weddings. But... you will get in the door and start making connections. Nearly every freelancer I know in the city has worked for frost at one time or another. They have a very large labor pool and are very connected. Pay is not stellar but a gig is a gig.

You will be really hard pressed to get a full time job before you get there. You will be hard pressed to get a full time job after you get there. You pretty much just have to do the grind. You need to have at least 6 months of runway to do it.

I'm 2.5 hours from the city. My wife and I have kicked around the idea of moving down a few times. Our rule has always been one of us needs a full time job that can cover 70% of our expenses plus benefits. It has not happened yet and we have been trying for awhile. If you are into the 2-4 roommate thing in a 2 bedroom and grinding to make rent and eat then go for it. That lifestyle is not for me so I have stayed where I am.

On that trip spend some time looking for a place to live. Pick up a sublet. See what you life would be like. Figure out how much groceries and food actually cost. Figure out if you need car. There are some places you have to have a car, some places where a car will cost you a ton to have. @Pie4Weebl, @rochem, @SteveB are all in the city and doing well. Steve has one of those house gigs most will kill for. I won't even get into the union thing, but that is for another time. With that question it really depends on what is your final goal.

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Footer has it all described well (as always)

It helps to know other tech's working locally for both housing help as well as gig contacts. Coming into town cold is going to be tough as it will take a while to build freelance contacts who can help you find work, as well as knowing the companies to be calling.

There's always a lot of work in NYC in the summer, what with all the festivals etc... but you are already more then halfway thru the season. That's going to to work against you if you are moving in the next few weeks, as these events are mostly crewed.

Local One IATSE (Manhattan/Bronx/Westchester) has a hiring hall where you can hang out with your name on the list. I've known many folks who work that way and get regular work and have known two who earned enough over three years to get their card. That's a real crap shoot though as you can do really well for 30 mos. then find your last 3-6 months suck and you're SOL. IATSE Local 4 (Brooklyn/Queens) is also very, very busy currently as they picked up the Barclays Center as well as house crew at a new venue - The Kings Theater in Brooklyn, which does Las Vegas style acts. They too would be worth calling as they are busy year round and currently are pressed to fill crews.

My space (Brooklyn Center at Brooklyn College) is just about to go on summer vacation. Then we do a few small events in Sept. before relinquishing our rental hall to the Dept. of Theater for 6 weeks into mid. October for mainstage production, all student crews. Then we pick up again late October. As well we are scheduled to close the rental hall for a 10 mos. period in a year or 2 as they renovate the exterior ramp/concrete side theater egress walkways, which have been deteriorating for 40 years, leaking into the basement etc... Many of our crew that has been resident freelance have moved on. I think we've essentially lost about 7 crew members to better paying and or more steady gigs, and it's only going to get slower here. Given the loss of regulars, we do accept resume's - www.brooklyncenteronline.org Under Contacts - Staff Directory, I'm listed as well as Dave Kissel, the PM who does the hiring. He has picked up 3 or 4 extras this year thru cold contact resume's, so it never hurts.

And as side note. 2 of those folks we lost have worked the NYC freelance market for 8 years or more. One is local, other is from Orlando. They just upped and relocated to Florida as they got fed-up trying to make a living here. They hope to eventually move to LA, hoping it's going to be better, or at least warmer when you're not working. Possibly you will be passing each other on the interstate !. I was and am skeptical about the decision, gave them my best and wished them well. They both have exceptional talent and still struggled as neither had lucked out and found that steady gig and that's the rub, hoping lady luck will find you and you end up on a Broadway show that runs 10 years.

Best of luck with this and PM if needed.

Maxweisen said:

Being part of the union is the ultimate goal.

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That's cool, but hard to do. I work in NYC, I have a card (but not Local #1 [Manhattan] or Local #4 [Brooklyn]) and it helps but is not my primary source of income. If you want to get a union card, get yours out of town. An IA card helps, but won't guarantee work, but only opens up more work to you. It affords you the ability to take pink contracts on larger shows, and allows you to sub into union shows when they need cover. I sub primarily on union contracts, but the bulk of my work is non-union these days.

The venue I work in hires strictly through word of mouth, we don't hire unless someone brought you to us. Between LX, Audio, Video, Costume and all the other departments we probably have 300+ overhires all through friends, that first step ensures we don't have any bad personalities coming our way. Make your way to the city, and try to make friends.

Frost isn't my first choice, and if you want to stay in theater Frost won't help with that. But if you're not picky, it's a paycheck.

themuzicman said:

If you want to get a union card, get yours out of town. An IA card helps, but won't guarantee work, but only opens up more work to you. It affords you the ability to take pink contracts on larger shows, and allows you to sub into union shows when they need cover. I sub primarily on union contracts, but the bulk of my work is non-union these days.

.

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This needs some clarification as what muzicman is talking about is sub'ing on Broadway shows typically. The pink contract he refers to is a Broadway contract for the show contract employees, as opposed to the (few) house crew, which typically is only an Electrician, Carpenter and Props. Every other crew on a Broadway show is going to be on a pink contract and having a Local 1 card is helpful but not a requirement, per se.

Having an IATSE card from other then 1 will generally not get you preferential overhire work at other IATSE contracted venues, as they are typically all word-of-mouth/who you know. In theory and at the hiring hall for IA1 and on the overhire list for Local 4, the pecking order is going to be 1) Local card, 2) Other local card, then 3) No card - in theory. It is however, up to the head who's hiring to take who they want from the list and if they like somebody (with no IATSE membership) they've worked with prior they will hire them in place of an unknown with a card from outside the local, or even a member of that local who's known as a complete f _ _ k up.

Part of what needs to be understood is as far as the local is concerned, if a venue head hires a non IATSE member, the local is still getting it's percentage, so other then being "fair" to a local member, there's no real "policing" of who the venue heads take on a call. Broadway is different and the bigger venues - Met Opera, LIncoln Center venues, Radio City, Carnegie, etc... generally only hire Local members as over hire, though I've known quiet a few Local 4 members who ran the night crew at the Met. Go figure.

As well, if you have a "other then Local 1 or 4 card" and work for either local, they are NOT paying into the P&W you get from an outside local. So if you intend to stay in the NYC area it might be more beneficial to get into a local Local, so to speak.

Bottom line is it's all who you know and who you impressed and hope like hell THEY are known and are impressing their bosses !.

Thanks for this thread guys. I think I'll stay in Chicago.

Everyone has made some really good points already. I'll just add that going out of your way to get an out-of-town card will not help you in the slightest. When I moved to New York, I had been a member of an out-of-town local for about 4 years, but it didn't impress anyone in New York whatsoever. Sure, I was able to pick up sub and contract work like muzicman describes, but that in an of itself isn't a big deal - if you're offered a job that requires a card, they're pretty easy to come by (Anyone Can Tour cards are quite popular around town), and I've never heard of someone having a card being the reason they got hired for a job.

To be blunt, I think you need to abandon your hopes for a full-time job right off the bat. The chances of you finding a job (that you don't hate) are so slim that you'd be better served to focus your energies on finding freelance work. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, and once you make some contacts, you can make as much or more money, have more flexibility, and have more fun too. I now have one of those coveted Local One full-time jobs, but I spent years as a freelancer, and I had the time of my life. Being able to rely on a weekly paycheck is great, but there's something to be said to doing a little bit of everything. As a freelancer, I lit multi-million dollar fashion shows, worked on top-secret events for Google and Microsoft, got flown first-class to babysit events across the country, put up huge-budget broadway shows, and got to hang out with my friends at dozens of off-broadway theatres doing great work. I could choose to not accept work whenever I wanted to be able to avoid the crowds at the beach, and during busy seasons, there was always more work available than you could physically stay awake for. This is not to say that it's easy - getting your name out there requires a ton of work, and you'll be constantly looking to make new contacts and find your next job, but once you've made it into a few circles, you'll generally stay reasonably well employed and making reasonably good money.

Have you done any summerstocks or regional work while in college? Do any of your professors have a background in New York? Perhaps an upperclassmen who's now working in New York? Starting out in the city without any contacts will be very difficult. In my time in the city, I've never ONCE gotten a job based on my resume, and I don't think I've even looked at it since about two months after I moved here. Word of mouth is king. Most of the heads I work closely with will give ANYONE a chance based on a "yeah, I know him, he's solid" from one of his regulars, with no questions asked. If you show up early, work hard, know what you're doing, and keep your mouth shut, you'll continue to be hired. If not, you're done - not only with that head, but with anyone who's also on the call who may be hiring in the future.

As a non-union electrician coming into the city in early fall, you actually have pretty fantastic timing. New York Fashion Week takes place around early September each year, and there is ALWAYS way too much work. Around late August emails will start going out asking if anyone knows a new grad who might have some basic experience who could work a few days. One or two nights before the fun starts, frantic emails will go out asking for ANYONE who can follow instructions and carry things, no experience required. It's 2-3 weeks of nonstop work, sleeping 2-4 hours a night if you're lucky, sometimes bringing a hammock and a change of clothes to save yourself the overnight commute back home, running frantically all over town between venues, and making thousands of dollars. It's a great way to get yourself in with a variety of heads, make good money doing corporate work (most companies I know of start at around $28-30 per hour plus OT, and you could be doing 100+ hours a week if you wanted to), and prove that you're a hard worker and solid under pressure. This year is particularly good, because the union-dominated tents were disbanded last season, which means that there's now a bunch of new venues in play using non-union labor, so they'll be even more short of skilled labor than in past years. If that sounds like something that interests you, get in touch with me offline and I can look into getting you on a few calls.

Great post, Rochem, somebody should CB Wiki this.

And keep in mind that when you start trying to get your name out there you will spend more time pushing cases, bolting truss, and loading trucks. You won't be programming. You won't be PE'ing. While you are doing those things you need to keep your programming and management chops up because when you need them you need to be ready.

The NYC scene is tough. The northeast tends to be a rather weird place to work. It is ALL in who you know. There are a ton of production people up here. My area is filled with people who either went to the city and couldn't cut it or went to the city and came up here to retire. All of them are glad they did it but are also glad to be out. My head audio guy (who was sent my way via @Pie4Weebl once removed) left the city because he simply could not stay healthy. The environment got to him and he had to get out.

I guess we should have asked this as well... any family? Any significant other? Any desire to have a kid/family? Do you like the cold? Have you ever walked a mile in a 1' of snow? Do you get sick easy? Why do you want to leave California?

Something to consider as well... how do you feel about touring? It can be a good way to build up some contacts. My best friend from high school is the Stage Manager for Pippin right now. She got that gig via contacts she built up while in NYC and a few crappier tours. Her hope is to jump to a broadway show within the next year. I'm not really sure it it would help you break into the stagehand side of the Broadway market, but if you want to be a PE it certainly would help. ACT cards are easy to get if you land a gig. Just one more option. There are a hundred different ways to do this. Right place/right time is 90% of it.

SteveB said:

Having an IATSE card from other then 1 will generally not get you preferential overhire work at other IATSE contracted venues, as they are typically all word-of-mouth/who you know

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Yea, I guess Sound dept. is the one massive exception to the rule, because once you have fulfilled your house contract minimums, the sound designer generally gets pick of the A1/A2 (yes, there are houses where this is pre-determined, it's not always the rule!) - every time I sub the requirement has been "needs to have union card", though I do know the houses were the sub needs the Local 1 card. It only gets me preferential treatment on certain overhire gigs that I have worked into due to knowing the call steward from prior shows when I was on show crew.

As for touring as Footer suggested, it totally depends on your market whether or not touring helps you break into NYC. I generally tell folks to build up a home base because once you're on tour, you lose contact with the real world. It depends on the designer or production audio/lx role in the show whether or not they can hook you up with further gigs - when I toured it didn't help land a gig in NYC. The skills I learned on the road, did however. The flipside being, I have seen a few folks land some of the best gigs due to the fact that a designer took a chance, threw them on a crap tour, and gave them a phenomenal house gig to make up for that year or two doing great work.

I guess, I should probably put my .02 in this thread as well, even though I am not a theater guy *at all*. While I don't really feel I can offer any solid advice, I can share my experience with relocating to NYC and my rough timeline of the past 4 years here, which probably isn't typical. I also moved here with a few years of pro experience under my belt. Again, consider this not to be advice, just my path.

I moved to NYC on a whim, with no real plan because I did not like or fit into Nashville, and enjoyed hanging out in Astoria for a week during a mid tour break. I had a few contacts who promised me all the work I could ever want when I moved here, oddly enough I heard nothing and got no gigs from any of these folks when I arrived.

So what did I do when I got here? I googled companies and scoured craigslist. I got hired on with Frost as a tech and then later a programmer (ended up full time there until I got antsy) and they offered me a TON of work as well as great networking opportunities. So many of the foot soldiers at Frost all aspire to do and are working on different things, and from chatting people up you can find other opportunities. A kid I met there told about a 1200 cap venue he knew the LD in, I happened to email him my resume right as the LD was leaving for tour and they had me come in and light an opening band that night to show him my chops. (Which was horribly nerve wracking for me at the time). I bonded with some of the crew there, and everyone moved on. I ended up full time at Frost.

A friend from there asked me to come be the LD at a new venue and I decided to freelance again. That venue failed in a month or two, and in the search for work I hit up the the PM from that club I first worked. He had moved onto a much larger venue and he introduced me to the venue's head of lighting, who brought me onto the lighting department.

What I really wanted to do was concert lighting at this venue, but they leased a rig from a company who provided a guy, so I was lighting crew for a while and eventually programmed the more "event lighting" stuff, which I am pretty good at. Well, the venue decided to purchase a new lighting and sound rig and I just kind of fell in as the main house LD for all the concerts and events that use said rig. It is a very flexible freelance position, which I love.

So, through random instances mixed in with some hard work, I went from a fill in guy at a club with some broken mac 250s and pars, to the house programmer/LD for a 3500 cap room with a full size MA2, 24 Vipers and 18 auras as the house rig, which is what I do now, between tours.

And through that main timeline of things I did a fair amount of other freelance gigs, random side jobs(music videos, terrible musicals) a healthy amount of touring and started my little company Squeek Lights. (Which just bought 12 new Chauvet Rogue R2 Washes!)

Like the old expression goes, "If you can't make it in NY, you can't make it anywhere!" There is a lot of work here and if you are personable, chances are you will be alright. But you have to be here and ready to go before you get any work.

And yes, I sometimes still do program for Frost.

gafftapegreenia said:

Thanks for this thread guys. I think I'll stay in Chicago.

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Howz Local 2 (they don't call it Second City for nothin') treating you?

SteveB said:

Great post, @rochem, somebody should CB Wiki this.

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I'll add a link to this thread in the "Getting a Job in the Industry" collab article.

Pie4Weebl said:

Like the old expression goes, "If you can't make it in NY, you can't make it anywhere!"

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Pretty sure the converse of Liza's sentiments "If you CAN make it there, you'll make it anywhere" is NOT TRUE. Going the other way, many in the rest of the country, and there IS a rest of the country, don't care for New Yorkers: They think they know everything, their way is the only only (We don't care HOW they do it in NYC!), they talk too fast, they're always in a rush, they're brash and rough and gruff. When I moved from Chicago to Las Vegas a good friend told me I had "an edge"! Me? And Chicagoans are not nearly as hyper as NYC-ers. The mindset really does mellow the farther west one goes.

@Maxweisen, the advice and suggestions given here in many ways matches my experiences with moving to and finding work in Las Vegas in the early 1990s.
1. No one is going to pay much if any attention to an out-of-town resume. Relocating comes first, finding job second.
1a. Resumes don't mean squat. The most important thing is your name at the top and cell#/email address. Spend more effort creating a memorable business card containing this contact info. Hand these, discretely preferably when requested, to the right people at the right time.
2. It's very rare to be offered a full-time job right off the bat based on one interview. Furthermore, formal interviews themselves are rare. Referrals, personal recommendations, overhire lists, on-call positions, etc. all serve to weed out the less-qualified/less-desireable candidates.
3. Your first job (and many, possibly ALL, after that) will NOT be your dream job. However, living expenses need to be covered, money needs to be made (and sweeping/mopping a stage always beats sweeping/mopping a bar/restaurant).
4. Treat every call as though it's your most important, as it may very well could be. Everyone you meet has the potential to determine, make/break, the rest of your career.
5. Wherever/whenever you relocate, have at least six-month's realistic living expenses cash-in-hand. You may not need it, but you'll likely spend it anyway.
6. Why anyone wound want to leave Huntington Beach CA for NYC is beyond me. Some may consider New York "A #1, top of the list, cream of the crop" but

What book of rules says that theatre exists only within some ugly buildings crowded into one square-mile of New York City?

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Great theatre, and concerts, and corporate shows is happening all over the country.
Perhaps there needs to be a corollary: "If you can imagine yourself being happy anywhere other than NYC, be happy there instead."
I know a guy who a few years ago Fed Ex-ed all this personal possessions from hometown Dallas to NYC. He spends half the year (non-contiguous) in Las Vegas, and at least three other months living in hotel rooms across the country programming corporate shows. All to pay for the Manhattan apartment he rarely sees.

Reading this thread takes me back to the 1980's and 90's where Production Arts was the gateway to the non-union production scene in NYC. Sadly, there's no modern equivalent!

ST

And a darned good place for a traveling sales guy to stop in for a visit! Always enjoyed stopping by PA during those years, Steve. You had a family of really good people there.

Kelite said:

And a darned good place for a traveling sales guy to stop in for a visit!

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Not to mention all the farmers' daughters.

Footer said:

What specifically do you want to do? Run shows? PE?

Any desire to tour?

Also, Frost probably put your resume' in the circular file due to you not being in town yet. @Pie4Weebl will probably tell you they only offer full time gigs to people who have worked for the company for some time.

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Footer said:

And keep in mind that when you start trying to get your name out there you will spend more time pushing cases, bolting truss, and loading trucks. You won't be programming. You won't be PE'ing. While you are doing those things you need to keep your programming and management chops up because when you need them you need to be ready.

The NYC scene is tough. The northeast tends to be a rather weird place to work. It is ALL in who you know. There are a ton of production people up here. My area is filled with people who either went to the city and couldn't cut it or went to the city and came up here to retire. All of them are glad they did it but are also glad to be out. My head audio guy (who was sent my way via @Pie4Weebl once removed) left the city because he simply could not stay healthy. The environment got to him and he had to get out.

I guess we should have asked this as well... any family? Any significant other? Any desire to have a kid/family? Do you like the cold? Have you ever walked a mile in a 1' of snow? Do you get sick easy? Why do you want to leave California?

Click to expand...

Footer said:

Something to consider as well... how do you feel about touring? It can be a good way to build up some contacts. My best friend from high school is the Stage Manager for Pippin right now. She got that gig via contacts she built up while in NYC and a few crappier tours. Her hope is to jump to a broadway show within the next year. I'm not really sure it it would help you break into the stagehand side of the Broadway market, but if you want to be a PE it certainly would help. ACT cards are easy to get if you land a gig. Just one more option. There are a hundred different ways to do this. Right place/right time is 90% of it.

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I am open to anything, including touring. I do not have a family or any desire to have one as of right now, being just graduated from college I am focused on making a career right now.
It sounds like I just need to get up, make the move and go for it. The worst that can happen is I move back to California. And I simply do not like living in California.

SteveB said:

Footer has it all described well (as always)

It helps to know other tech's working locally for both housing help as well as gig contacts. Coming into town cold is going to be tough as it will take a while to build freelance contacts who can help you find work, as well as knowing the companies to be calling.

There's always a lot of work in NYC in the summer, what with all the festivals etc... but you are already more then halfway thru the season. That's going to to work against you if you are moving in the next few weeks, as these events are mostly crewed.

Local One IATSE (Manhattan/Bronx/Westchester) has a hiring hall where you can hang out with your name on the list. I've known many folks who work that way and get regular work and have known two who earned enough over three years to get their card. That's a real crap shoot though as you can do really well for 30 mos. then find your last 3-6 months suck and you're SOL. IATSE Local 4 (Brooklyn/Queens) is also very, very busy currently as they picked up the Barclays Center as well as house crew at a new venue - The Kings Theater in Brooklyn, which does Las Vegas style acts. They too would be worth calling as they are busy year round and currently are pressed to fill crews.

My space (Brooklyn Center at Brooklyn College) is just about to go on summer vacation. Then we do a few small events in Sept. before relinquishing our rental hall to the Dept. of Theater for 6 weeks into mid. October for mainstage production, all student crews. Then we pick up again late October. As well we are scheduled to close the rental hall for a 10 mos. period in a year or 2 as they renovate the exterior ramp/concrete side theater egress walkways, which have been deteriorating for 40 years, leaking into the basement etc... Many of our crew that has been resident freelance have moved on. I think we've essentially lost about 7 crew members to better paying and or more steady gigs, and it's only going to get slower here. Given the loss of regulars, we do accept resume's - www.brooklyncenteronline.org Under Contacts - Staff Directory, I'm listed as well as Dave Kissel, the PM who does the hiring. He has picked up 3 or 4 extras this year thru cold contact resume's, so it never hurts.

And as side note. 2 of those folks we lost have worked the NYC freelance market for 8 years or more. One is local, other is from Orlando. They just upped and relocated to Florida as they got fed-up trying to make a living here. They hope to eventually move to LA, hoping it's going to be better, or at least warmer when you're not working. Possibly you will be passing each other on the interstate !. I was and am skeptical about the decision, gave them my best and wished them well. They both have exceptional talent and still struggled as neither had lucked out and found that steady gig and that's the rub, hoping lady luck will find you and you end up on a Broadway show that runs 10 years.

Best of luck with this and PM if needed.

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I will definitely check this out. Thank you for the insight and resource.

Pie4Weebl said:

I guess, I should probably put my .02 in this thread as well, even though I am not a theater guy *at all*. While I don't really feel I can offer any solid advice, I can share my experience with relocating to NYC and my rough timeline of the past 4 years here, which probably isn't typical. I also moved here with a few years of pro experience under my belt. Again, consider this not to be advice, just my path.

I moved to NYC on a whim, with no real plan because I did not like or fit into Nashville, and enjoyed hanging out in Astoria for a week during a mid tour break. I had a few contacts who promised me all the work I could ever want when I moved here, oddly enough I heard nothing and got no gigs from any of these folks when I arrived.

So what did I do when I got here? I googled companies and scoured craigslist. I got hired on with Frost as a tech and then later a programmer (ended up full time there until I got antsy) and they offered me a TON of work as well as great networking opportunities. So many of the foot soldiers at Frost all aspire to do and are working on different things, and from chatting people up you can find other opportunities. A kid I met there told about a 1200 cap venue he knew the LD in, I happened to email him my resume right as the LD was leaving for tour and they had me come in and light an opening band that night to show him my chops. (Which was horribly nerve wracking for me at the time). I bonded with some of the crew there, and everyone moved on. I ended up full time at Frost.

A friend from there asked me to come be the LD at a new venue and I decided to freelance again. That venue failed in a month or two, and in the search for work I hit up the the PM from that club I first worked. He had moved onto a much larger venue and he introduced me to the venue's head of lighting, who brought me onto the lighting department.

What I really wanted to do was concert lighting at this venue, but they leased a rig from a company who provided a guy, so I was lighting crew for a while and eventually programmed the more "event lighting" stuff, which I am pretty good at. Well, the venue decided to purchase a new lighting and sound rig and I just kind of fell in as the main house LD for all the concerts and events that use said rig. It is a very flexible freelance position, which I love.

So, through random instances mixed in with some hard work, I went from a fill in guy at a club with some broken mac 250s and pars, to the house programmer/LD for a 3500 cap room with a full size MA2, 24 Vipers and 18 auras as the house rig, which is what I do now, between tours.

And through that main timeline of things I did a fair amount of other freelance gigs, random side jobs(music videos, terrible musicals) a healthy amount of touring and started my little company Squeek Lights. (Which just bought 12 new Chauvet Rogue R2 Washes!)

Like the old expression goes, "If you can't make it in NY, you can't make it anywhere!" There is a lot of work here and if you are personable, chances are you will be alright. But you have to be here and ready to go before you get any work.

And yes, I sometimes still do program for Frost.

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Interesting story Victor! Thank you for sharing.


This is all very valuable information to me guys! If there are any additional companies not mentioned here that are good to contact for production work please let me know. Overall it sounds like it is a great deal of hard work making the move, but I am motivated!

Thanks all,
Max Weisenberger