Cheap foreign car. Don't buy a truck unless you can use it at least 2-3 times a week.
It pays to be a stagehand...
- Thread starterderekleffew
- Start date
Cheap foreign car. Don't buy a truck unless you can use it at least 2-3 times a week.
I'm currently helping with an all student production at the college. The kid running sound is full of crap and always telling some crazy tale. Tonight he told the S.M. he couldn't make it to rehearsal because he is under a contract to run sound for a concert and he gets paid $170 an hour for it.
Where is this?
I want in!!!
Agreed, I could be A2 for 170 an hour. I'm in the wrong field....
Abe Jacob?
The only person who should ever get paid 170 an hour to mix (thats 2.80 a minute BTW)
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=71641
I'm a paid stagehand/light technician for the theatre attached to my high school. We get paid minimum wage ($7.95) minus all the taxes *makes a face of indignation and disgust* and we work ourselves to the bone. And you have to be really careful about payment in Ashland, even if someone tells you they're going to pay you, unless you get it in writing, they usually go back on their word... it bites...
In terms of gas, it's $3.19 where I'm at right now and with the money I make I still can't afford gas, I've started walking every where I go. I've driven a Chevy S10 as well, and currently I own a '94 Ford explorer, about 13-15mpg. And sometimes I even have to drive over to a lovely place called grants pass, that eats up gas like nothing else. I'm actually looking at a toyota pickup right now because it's cheap, toyota's don't break, and they normally have wonderful gas mileage... woo... wooooooo...
In terms of gas, it's $3.19 where I'm at right now and with the money I make I still can't afford gas, I've started walking every where I go. I've driven a Chevy S10 as well, and currently I own a '94 Ford explorer, about 13-15mpg. And sometimes I even have to drive over to a lovely place called grants pass, that eats up gas like nothing else. I'm actually looking at a toyota pickup right now because it's cheap, toyota's don't break, and they normally have wonderful gas mileage... woo... wooooooo...
Where is this?
I want in!!!
I think it's "theater of the mind".
I also need to point out that the genius who gets paid $170 per hour had no idea what a boundary mic is.
Um... he's full of crap. That's about all you need to know.
Now that my friends is someone with a truly impressive resume!
I try to be thorough Punk.
Spikesgirl
Active Member
We have an old Bronco (90) that I swear gets feet per gallon, not miles. Still it's reliable and large (I can carry seven -three Cybers and four Studios- robotics in the back), but it doesn't go out very much as I filled the tank yesterday at $3.89 a gallon - you need to take out a small loan to drive it.
The nice part about working at my current theater is that it's less than a 1/4 mile from our house. In fact, we moved here because of the theater - never thought I'd end up working at it. Love my new theater, but sure miss my old salary though...
Char5lie
achstechdirector
Active Member
TheSlowPoisoner
Member
I think 300k/year is fair to expect someone to put up with slave-like amounts of hours, verbal abuse, and social suicide. If anything, it's a little on the cheap side.
They're also forgetting to mention the people who make 20k-30k/year working those same hours, though.
They're also forgetting to mention the people who make 20k-30k/year working those same hours, though.
I agree that the problem with this type of reporting is that they neglect to mention how many stagehands are living just above the poverty level. Most NY stagehands make between $60-70k, which is a barely a living wage there.
One of the biggest challenges I have is that when I tell people that I am a stagehand, I get "Oh yeah, I was (or a friend was) a techie in high school," as in "Grow up and get a real job." The difference is, I don't think most people realize the education and training that you need to be a professional in this field, including the employers. I get peeved by the companies who will hire anyone who can hold a wrench to become a stagehand. They're the ones who keep the wages down.
I appreciate anyone who is willing to volunteer their time for causes they believe in (I used to run sound and maintain the lights for my church). I go nuts when it becomes expected that we donate our time! If acties or administration gets paid, so should we! Heck our lives are often at stake.
I know their are costs involved with insurance and the like, but you might be surprised at how much profit staging companies make off labor. I worked for an AV company making $15/hr and they charged $75. They also charged meal penalties, etc. but my pay never changed. Grrrr! I much preferred freelancing and getting a dayrate.
They are also the ones that keep the price of renting gear and producing shows down. I might be blurring the line between shop tech and stage hand but if a company was to hire people who knew more than how to hold a wrench costs would sky rocket because they would not work for what is currently being offered. Truth be told the average grunt stagehand does not need to have more than the basics down, lefty loosie righty tighty, upstage, downstage in and out. Working periodic ins and outs for the last few years no one has asked me anything about balancing the phases equally or if the truss is deflecting too much and they really do need that other point. They are happy if I know the correct way to bolt truss together and show up on time.
Now on installs or one off shows where things aren't so well prepared or they haven't been done in 20 cities before that sort of knowledge can be vital and necessary if it is your venue and you need to put your foot down to protect lives or property but those people are going to cost money and rightly so. Getting Bill Sapsis to come in and pull points for your show might be the best way to make sure it gets done correctly but good lucking getting someone to foot the bill (pun 100% accidental if at all).
sorry about the derail
No appology necessary. I agree 100% that you don't need someone of the caliber of Bill Sapsis for for every rigging job. Nor do you need someone who can balance phases or many other highly technical jobs. I disagree that by keeping wages down that automatically keeps gear prices down. Rental companies are not the staging companies which I referred. Most rental companies actually pay slightly higher wages because they want to keep their gear marketable. In Phoenix, the company that had cheaper gear and paid their staff lower wages was the company that no one trusted. No suprise, they are no longer in business.
I also disagree with your required skills of the average grunt stagehand. They need to understand how things fail so that they can be the extra eyes for the show crew. They need to be able to visually check each light to make sure nothing will fall and that there are no electrical problems. I as a crew lead need to make sure that I can trust the stagehands installing the gear that they have tightened every bolt (and not overtightened it) before I fly my rig, I don't have the time to check everyone's work. The sad truth is that road crews have to expect that their local crews are inexperienced, so they often don't ask you to do complicated tasks. As I stated in a different thread, safety is a huge factor in our business. Even though we may know what we are doing and are highly capable technicians, some meathead may end up costing us our career by his inability and lack of knowledge.
When I was a TD for a venue, I always made sure to plan in the extra time to train my crews (if I was forced to hire from those staging companies). In the end, it would have been better for the companies to pay more per hour and they could have had better stagehands for less (that company charged $21/hour and paid $7-10, trained union stagehands earned $15-16 an hour at the time). I often had to pull favors and hire friends for cheap just to make sure that I could get gigs done right. I worked for other TDs for low wage for the same reason. I understand budgets, I understand what it takes to get the job done right, and I feel that there is some serious neglect in our industry. To help combat lack of experience, I offered free training sessions. One of the rental companies that I worked for did the same (protection of investment). Adjusted payscales are not unheard of; a box pusher does not need to earn the same as an electrician, but if I'm hiring an electrician, I don't want a box pusher.
Black-collar worker.
Agreed!
I'm currently helping with an all student production at the college. The kid running sound is full of crap and always telling some crazy tale. Tonight he told the S.M. he couldn't make it to rehearsal because he is under a contract to run sound for a concert and he gets paid $170 an hour for it.
Yeah, but is he only being paid for the length of the show? How long is the show?
Try to be glad you get paid. :] I do all my work at the arts high school for the overwhelming passion and love and magic I feel when engaging in this splendid craft...
Actually, they tried to make us pay fees to work shows. The TD came up with a spreadsheet of how much a union crew would cost them. Needless to say, we don't pay to work.But honestly, I do love this.
Gas here is REALLY DIRT CHEAP-- $4.09!
I'm serious, that's the sad part. The same station was $4.59 a couple of months ago.
