Lighting Design Career Advice

[meghd]

When I first graduated college and sought advice on starting a lighting design career, the answer I received was "Send your resumes to as many theaters as you can."

That's all well and good, but that opened a slew of new questions that, I hope, I may find answers to here.

First of all, who is best to contact in a cold "call" situation? Obviously it is clear when there is a resume submission request. If not, is it best to approach the Artistic Director, the Production Manager, a Producer, Or someone I haven't mentioned?

In relation to that, is it considered rude or unconventional to submit unsolicited resumes/letters of interest? Some theaters specifically say not to, but what of the ones that don't specify either way?

I really do want to take a proactive stance on starting my career, I just want to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot along the way.

 

[MNicolai]

You may want to start with calling any contacts you have experience with. Every job I've ever worked as an overhire, designer, consultant, and full-time intern were opportunities that opened up to me because I had experience with someone connected to each of those positions.

The best foot in the door is knowing someone "on the inside." In a lot of cases it can be the difference between getting an interview and having your resume buried in a pile of other resumes.

 

[Amishplumber]

I second. At the end of the day, you have to know people. Are you close with your professors? Do they know people who need an LD? The only way I could see going straight from college to an LD job is through knowing people. Otherwise I would cold call as many theaters as you can (The TD preferably) and try to get on the lighting crew for a hang or focus call. Maybe get an ME gig to if thats something you do. Then try and work up to LD from there.

 

[Footer]

My wife sent a cold resume' to her current job... which led to me working there... which led to her getting the Lighting Director position... which led to me getting my current position there....

Cold resume's work. They are the hard way in. Send them to all of the above. Send one email with it to the PM, Artistic Director, Lighting Director, and the floor sweeper if you want.. I would NOT mail them. In this day and age, no one checks their office mail boxes and no one wants one more piece of paper to lose. If the PM throws the resume' away, maybe the Artistic Director will have some interest or maybe the other way around. Send your resume' to every community theatre in the area as well. Send it everywhere. Get your name out there. Have a GOOD website attached to it. Write a killer cover letter. Make sure your references have not fallen off the face of the earth. Email designers who are working in the circuit and see if they need an assistant who works cheap. Be a whore for work, its the only way to break into an area.

 

[avkid]

Kyle hit it right on the head.
Contact everyone who is anyone in the area that you desire to work.
2 out of 3 of my recurring jobs have resulted from sending cold resumes in response to ads. (one of which was on Craigslist of all places)
Put yourself out there and stay there.

 

[MrsFooter]

My wife sent a cold resume' to her current job... which led to me working there... which led to her getting the Lighting Director position... which led to me getting my current position there....

Actually, Snookums, it went a little more like this:

I sent a cold resume to everything in the tri-county area that moved...which lead to me being hired on in my current space as a general tech...which lead to me being promoted to Lighting Director...which lead to ME getting MY boss to hire YOUR ass on as a general tech...which lead to you getting promoted to Production Coordinator...which lead to you kissing my ass because you're so grateful that I got you an in that lead to an awesome job.

So let's make sure our story is straight, hmm?

But I digress. To the OP, as you can see, sending cold resumes can absolutely work. Sometimes. I used the same technique in Atlanta, and you know what it got me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had to work retail for 9 months. So it's no infallible. It requires some luck and timing, and there's no way for you to know if you've got it. It's a technique that I would only rely on if you are limited to or interested in a specific geographical area.

However, it doesn't hurt. I've never heard of anyone be upset and irritated by receiving a cold resume. At worst, they may ignore it, or they may file it away for later. Or it may lead to a fantastic gig. Either way, it's not going to make you look bad, so it's definitely worth a shot.

The thing is, this is a tough business in which to find employment. So if you're going to get yourself a paycheck, you need to try EVERYTHING. Look at backstagejobs.com and artsearch.com, Google "theatres + cities around you" and research everything that comes up, and send resumes at everything that moves. There are more people looking for job out there than there are jobs, so like you said, you gotta be proactive about it.

And remember, sometimes it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

 

[Pie4Weebl]

I've recently moved to a new city, and have been hunting for work as a result. Here are some of my experiences.

-Craigslist: I found two jobs on here, one of them was a short term low pay theatre gig. The other got me a "entry level" position LDing at a night club, which in less than a month lead me to getting a promotion to lighting concerts there. Here is the downside to craigslist. It's where everyone goes. If you don't have a resume that stands out, you will be buried under a thousand other e-mails. Sometimes being quick on the draw can help as well so check often and use different search fields. But I probably responded to 50 ads and heard back from only 2 or 3 of them.

-Cold Calls: In my time of unemployment I spend days googling "lighting companies NYC" and variants of that. I sent out a dozens of resumes to random companies to the owners if I could find their e-mail, if not just to the [email protected]. One company had a "we always need new techs e-mail us here" and that actually lead to a job with them (after a month of nothing) and a few places "have my resume on file". Its hard though to do it this way, really hard, but in time it can work.

-References: Now here is the absolute best way I've found to get work. Through your friends and acquaintances. When I was out on a call with a company (mentioned in previous bullet point) I was chatting up one of the other younger guys, mentioned that I wanted to do more concert stuff. He then gave me the name of a head LD at a venue. I shot the guy an e-mail saying "so and so suggested I contact you" Two days later I got a call from the guy, saying, we need another LD, be here in an hour to fill out your paperwork. So out of basically nowhere, I got an amazing gig! (This actually just happened yesterday so I'm still pretty excited). Because I had a mutual connection, I was valued higher than just some random guy off the street.

So really, the main key I've found is NETWORKING. Meet and impress as many people as you can, because you never know what will turn up in the future and who might randomly know that guy looking to fill the position you want. Most often when people want to fill a spot, they will talk to their friends before just posting it online.

 

[josh88]

Not to sound repetitive but I agree. I JUST got a job as a TD and teacher at a school in rhode island. I've got experience with everything tech (except not a lot of rigging) so I was applying ALL over for anything I could. Scoured backstagejobs and artsearch. then I started focusing on cities and would just google something like chicago theatre jobs and trolling through links and such. Ultimately I applied for probably 25 different things got rejections from maybe 3 of them, and only had this one bite, didn't hear a **** thing from any of the others. I got this job because I'm awesome in interviews and because I showed them I was serious and willing to go the distance to work for them. if you're set on being in a certain area just keep at it until you get a response and a foot in the door. it sucks but one way is a lot of places look for volunteers for some things so if you can spare a few hours every once in awhile it gets you noticed and hopefully remembered at that theatre and you've upped your chances a little bit. If you can afford to try for an internship somewhere sometimes those turn into a permanent position. Like the footers said get your foot in, show them you know what you're doing or are dedicated and willing to learn and you can finagle your way into better jobs.

I sent out so much stuff from so many places I'm not even sure where I had originally found this job I got. but I think it was from here

http://artjobs.artsearch.us/

This is another pretty good site to check out. It ISN'T TCG's Artsearch that most people know about. I thought it was at first when I was looking at it, but then realized the jobs werent the same posted there and noticed it wasnt related to TCG.

 

[Les]

I got an interesting church gig by selling 360Q's on Craigslist once. The guy called me and after a little while of chatting about the fixtures in question, he said that he needed some help at the church (he was a videographer, but doing lights as well since no one else was) and that I sounded pretty knowledgeable. This led to several months of contract work for the church, and they still remain on my contacts list.

Presently, I'm trying to get on with a company that does lighting installations.

 

[Toffee]

I did a few gigs on call for theatre and rock and roll stuff around my area for a few years and moved up on everyones call list and then randomly got asked to do a A2 gig out of a venue that I had done a bunch of load ins and outs and change overs, but never a run. Did that show and then applied to work as a house technician there since one of their guys was leaving and got the job. Networking was the only way I made it to where I am today, talk to anyone that works theatre and don't make any enemies til your in a nice coozy job.

 

[Les]

don't make any enemies til your in a nice coozy job.

Or ever .

 

[MrsFooter]

Or ever .

Yeah, let's go with ever. I know we like to pretend otherwise, but EVERYONE is replaceable at ALL TIMES. Piss off the right person and it doesn't matter how long you've been there, you won't be there anymore.

 

[Les]

Yeah, let's go with ever. I know we like to pretend otherwise, but EVERYONE is replaceable at ALL TIMES. Piss off the right person and it doesn't matter how long you've been there, you won't be there anymore.

Exactly true. The former Executive Director for a theatre I worked at for a number of years has been all but banished from the theatre scene in the town where I live, and he knows it. He is a good guy and actually one of my best friends now, but at the time, he was intimidating to employees and volunteers. He could be a little "manic" acting, and you never quite knew what mood he was going to be in when you walked in the doors. Perhaps he was just passionate about his craft and widely misunderstood, but a lot of people felt that they had to walk on eggshells around him. I'm sure he felt "immune", but ten years in to his tenure, the board of directors from his own theatre, as well as surrounding groups collaborated and (perhaps underhandedly) forced him out of his position. This was in 2005 and he hasn't worked in theatre since. I really feel for the guy because I don't think he realized that he was losing sight of what was really important (the people), but it just goes to show that your overall attitude can make or break your career.

He also had a lot of people who were jealous of his position and posted false allegations, but the general attitude is what sealed his fate.

 

[Toffee]

Yeah, let's go with ever. I know we like to pretend otherwise, but EVERYONE is replaceable at ALL TIMES. Piss off the right person and it doesn't matter how long you've been there, you won't be there anymore.

True. I try not to make any enemies at all. Lame that I tiredly gave that advice.

 

[Les]

True. I try not to make any enemies at all. Lame that I tiredly gave that advice.

Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you're not out to make enemies. I tend to be a little analytical of posts sometimes.

 

[Esoteric]

Exactly true. The former Executive Director for a theatre I worked at for a number of years has been all but banished from the theatre scene in the town where I live, and he knows it. He is a good guy and actually one of my best friends now, but at the time, he was intimidating to employees and volunteers. He could be a little "manic" acting, and you never quite knew what mood he was going to be in when you walked in the doors. Perhaps he was just passionate about his craft and widely misunderstood, but a lot of people felt that they had to walk on eggshells around him. I'm sure he felt "immune", but ten years in to his tenure, the board of directors from his own theatre, as well as surrounding groups collaborated and (perhaps underhandedly) forced him out of his position. This was in 2005 and he hasn't worked in theatre since. I really feel for the guy because I don't think he realized that he was losing sight of what was really important (the people), but it just goes to show that your overall attitude can make or break your career.

He also had a lot of people who were jealous of his position and posted false allegations, but the general attitude is what sealed his fate.

Yup, I somehow offended a big muckety muck here in town, and now I get no theater design calls (well, none that I want anyway). I still have no idea what I did.

Mike

 

[jglodeklights]

My junior year of school I started taking a couple of volunteer gigs. It was what I could handle with my school schedule. I ended up running board for a show (for someone renting a space), and 8 months later I was back at that theater volunteering on a set load-in. It was, at the time a community theater. As I already knew the space, I was able to get the set up and ready, and transition to helping the LD who was ME'ing his own show. The LD, who was quite incompetent in regards to the electrics in the space, ended up relying on me to make the lighting rig work and program the board.

After that, I ended up designing lighting for their production of Camelot, and have been there since as their ME/resident lighting designer. This has, in turn, lead to me working with several prominent technicians and technical directors in the Philadelphia region; a prominent regional theater and their staff once were in residence at my venue. I have also learned how a hemp house works. These two things have allowed me to garner my current gig, which is essentially summer camp for theater folk, and to work all over the Philadelphia area as a technician and designer, including being called in to the regional theater, that once resided in my venue, to be the company provided assistant lighting designer. Furthermore, my theater has a fully functioning bar on the 3rd floor that has become the place for the local theater community to sit back and relax at, have a drink, and commune with like minded people after a hard day of rehearsals, tech or shows.

Additionally, I had the excellent experience of spending a week and a half backstage with the Lion King tour because of a scholarship I received at school. It was not specifically meant for technicians, but rather management students. I, unlike the management students, took the time to apply for it and view it as an opportunity to expand my knowledge. The experience of this "externship" has given me a unique perspective on how the theater community works and how a show functions. My costs were beyond what the scholarship offered, but it was worth every penny I spent.

In short, by taking every opportunity I could possibly take to work and learn, even at a financial cost, I have become an extremely blessed individual in my theater community. I make my cost of living, have excellent coworkers that are also my best friends, and am doing what I love to do. This upcoming season, once I return in October, is already promising to be the best year yet for me.

If you have the knowledge to complete a job well and successfully, you will do the best you can in this field by extending yourself to others and building a relationship of trust with them. Both artistic and familial. It isn't easy, and is often dependent upon timing and luck, but the hard work and sacrifices you make will cause people to call upon you, rather you needing to call upon them.

 

[rulangdon]

My junior year of school I started taking a couple of volunteer gigs.

This is something that is overlooked entirely too often - I find that many recent college grads tend to feel, because they have a degree that entitles them to a job. However this is not the case. I started my career with a gig that I volunteered lugging cable, which led to another job... lugging cable but through good attitude and work ethic I was able to meet some fantastic people collaborate with some very talented designers.

A Lighting Design position is not an entry level position - and if one is lucky enough to land a design position right out of college then count your blessings and learn everything you can from it - absorb it. I cant stress how important it is for a designer to know how all aspects of theatre work.

On the other hand take every design position you come across - and continue to design at every opportunity - don't pass up a design position early in your career because you believe it may be below you..

The best advice I ever received about being a freelance lighting designer was to take some business classes - know how to manage money, how to do your taxes - know what you are exempt on and where you can take deductions, budgeting skills - all in all know how to live on inconsistent pay.

 

[meghd]

Thank you for so many wonderful responses, I do certainly take all this advice to heart.

Just for clarification sake, I am taking all the jobs I cant get in the electrics/design world and working all my contacts for all their worth. I just wanted to see if anyone had advice specifically for cold calls.

I also understand that it will be a long, long while before I can count lighting design as my full time career; my main goal right now is to get as much experience I can before possibly returning to grad school in the next year or so.