Not Getting Overtime
An anonymous reader writes in: I’ve just been told my show doesn’t have the budget to pay for OT, even though I’ve already had an hour and a half of it. The producer claims that no one gets OT. Even worse, my call time was 7:00 am to load gear and such from the rental […]
Coming Soon – The TAPA Podcast!
If you missed TAPAholics Anonymous meeting, you don’t know what was in the envelope I left. First, there was a bunch of name tags that read, “Hello, my name is T.A.P.A.” Along with the names tags was a stack of business cards featuring my logo, which hilariously led to anyone in a pair of glasses […]
The Day After
“So, I have a bunch of business cards. Now what?” -Fictional Reader I Just Made Up The TAPAlooza{{1}} Festival went swimmingly. The place was packed when I arrived, and there were still a few small groups of people when I left a couple hours later. A good time was had by all, and many business […]
Not Just For Golf, Anymore
Driving around the studio in a golf cart is way more fun than it has any right to be. I drive to work at 70 miles per hour. Or possibly 5mph, depending on traffic. In any case, I have air conditioning, a stereo, comfortable seats. Basically, my car is a superior vehicle in every way. Yet […]
Change of Venue
I am just overwhelmed by the response to my networking event. I genuinely wasn’t sure if anyone would want to show up, but over a hundred people have RSVPed on Facebook. Turns out, this is too many customers for the Federal.{{1}} So, I had to move the location down the road to Maeve’s Residuals: 11042 […]
Sympathy for the Departments
Every morning, the office receives a [glossary]production report[/glossary] in [glossary]the football[/glossary]. And every morning, the production report is wrong. A PR, for those who don’t know, is a bizarro call sheet. Instead of telling you what you’re going to do tomorrow, it tells you what you actually did yesterday. It lists the scenes that were shot, in […]
Which Schedule?
I’m often surprised at the number of people who don’t know that ADs create more than one kind of schedule. Frequently, experienced crew members will come into the office and ask for “the” schedule, only to be baffled when I ask, “which one?” So, here’s a quick primer on what’s what: The most common schedule […]
The Stage is Dark, and Full of Terrors
If you’re new to the business, two things about lighting will probably surprise you: night exterior scenes are actually really bright, and sound stages are really dark. In the second case, the reason is control. You don’t want light leaking onto the set from open doors or anything like that. Electricians will, of course, set up […]
Payday!
Thursday, for most shows, is payday.{{1}} It’s a wonderful time for payroll accountants, because they suddenly become the most popular people on the show. But for us in the production office, it’s a deluge of phone calls, asking the same question, over and over: “Are paychecks coming today?” YES, PAY CHECKS ARE COMING TODAY! Paychecks […]
You Are Not a Teamster
When a regular driver license just doesn’t cut it.
“Balance”
Dave asks: I’m about to graduate from college, move back to my home town, then get married all in the next year. Compounded with needing a real (read: paying) job, I’m finding my self worried about making ends meet and still making it in the business. What would you say is the right balance between […]
How To Open a Case of Paper
One weird trick!