Film work and moving to Georgia

[ATLTJL]

It sounds like you're pretty involved in this business, so feel free to correct anything here that is wrong...

I'm curious though why you think that the crew jobs aren't "decent jobs"?

I believe there is a lot of diversity in crew jobs, from unskilled labor that probably pays little more than minimum wage to highly trained professionals that make a lot more. I would imagine anybody whose job it is to strike sets is more or less hired unskilled labor that they pay as little as they can get away with.

Like any other job, you don't just walk up and start working. I know a lot, a LOT, of people who have started working in the film business here in the past few years.

Well, then, enlighten us. How did they do it?

Well, I know a guy who started by working at a movie fabric supplier in their warehouse. While working there, he met numerous people going in and out, and is now working as an electrician on the crew of a movie after just a few months.

So you're telling me a guy who was just working for a fabric supplier became an electrician after a few months? My guess is he was already an electrician before he started working the fabric supply business. You don't just become an electrician by knowing people, don't you need all kinds of knowledge and certifications and stuff?

Film is a "who you know" business. The way you get work is for someone to give your name to the person hiring or to meet someone.. Well, hate to burst your bubble, but hundreds of local people are working at Pinewood now. More will be working soon as another production is ramping up there. Up at OFS, at least three movies are filming, each with hundreds of locals.

How do you suppose all these hundreds of people got to know the right people to have their names given to hiring managers? They didn't all start out working for fabric suppliers. The questions here is how someone breaks into the business. If, as you've indicated, hundreds of people are working at OFS, movie producers don't waltz into Georgia knowing hundreds of locals. So who knows them? How did they meet them?

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

It sounds like you're pretty involved in this business, so feel free to correct anything here that is wrong...


I believe there is a lot of diversity in crew jobs, from unskilled labor that probably pays little more than minimum wage to highly trained professionals that make a lot more. I would imagine anybody whose job it is to strike sets is more or less hired unskilled labor that they pay as little as they can get away with.

You are correct that there is a lot of diversity. You are incorrect about the wages. No one in any production crew capacity is making anywhere near minimum wage. While Georgia is a right-to-work state, most film productions won't deal with anyone who isn't union. The lowest pay scale is in the lower-mid $20s per hour. The pay scale for a standard tech is in the upper-mid $20s. I was able to negotiate a higher rate for my skills in data and control systems, and am making somewhat over $30 an hour, plus a rental of my specialized tools.

The only people who might be making anywhere near minimum wage would be the lowliest PA, but I don't think even they make that low.

However, I am speaking from my experience on larger movie sets. But from what I've gathered from talking to others, it's about the same on other productions. Only the lowest of the low-budget productions are scraping the barrel for wages.

Well, then, enlighten us. How did they do it?

Live I've said, it's mostly a "who you know" business. And that doesn't mean you know the producer, director, or anything like that. That means you know someone there who can give your name out. Many of the guys I know started a while back when there wasn't as much competition, and they were able to more easily get in there. And they started throwing out names of people they knew.

I started really last year. How did I get my job? I had no real connections within the business, other than some friends working. I had been in the film union for over a year with very little work. A friend of mine called me from a movie he was working on one day and asked if I had availability. Sure enough, I had just gotten home that day from my last job. I said I did, and he passed my info along to the manager of that department. Half an hour later, my phone rang, it was the manager, and in the next three minutes, I had a full-time, four-month job on a major movie. And though that, I met someone who hired me again onto another movie. And again onto another.

So you're telling me a guy who was just working for a fabric supplier became an electrician after a few months? My guess is he was already an electrician before he started working the fabric supply business. You don't just become an electrician by knowing people, don't you need all kinds of knowledge and certifications and stuff?

Yes, that is what I'm telling you. Now, you were asking "how does someone know the right people" right? How do you think he met the right people? He had some related skills, but just wasn't making headway into the business. I think he moved here late last year, which makes it tough. So he found an opening at a supplier on the film lot doing something completely different, but where he could meet people. And he did. He met the people who would later call him when there was labor needed. So now he's likely making more than twice as much.

Now, keep in mind that being a movie rigging electrician does not mean you know how to wire a house, or build an electrical panel. It means you pull cable, lots of cable. And you plug that into portable distraction boxes that you lay out. And you hang lights. You rarely do actual electrical wiring. But, there is a lot of knowledge involved in how to lay those systems out.

How do you suppose all these hundreds of people got to know the right people to have their names given to hiring managers? They didn't all start out working for fabric suppliers. The questions here is how someone breaks into the business. If, as you've indicated, hundreds of people are working at OFS, movie producers don't waltz into Georgia knowing hundreds of locals. So who knows them? How did they meet them?

Like I said before, the producers only hire a few people, like the director and the director of photography, the art director, etc. Those people hire a few people, like the gaffer and the key grip. Those people hire a few people like the rigging gaffer and best boy. And those people hire the crew. Generally, the top positions are brought from LA. But, they will hire some mid-level management types (not office people, but on set people) locally. These people will know people. The people they know will know more people. If they don't know people, they'll call their friends who have worked here before and ask them for names. Or they'll ask the people working for them for names.

But also, the union provides contact information for the office where you can apply for most productions coming in. If they need someone, and you meet the criteria, maybe they'll call you. Honestly, that route has never worked for me, and I have a credit list a mile long. So, I'm not sure how effective it is. But I'm speaking from my department, which is MUCH smaller than construction. They might hire from a list, I don't know.

I think my biggest issue with statements that are made frequently by you and I think JoeP, is that these jobs are just mostly unskilled low-paying jobs, which couldn't be further from the truth. I'm a mid-level tech, and if my normal day was stretched out over normal year, I'd be making a 6-figure salary. A standard electrician would be making in the $70's. Of course, that would be if you worked full time all year, which is highly unlikely unless you are in-demand, but still. Even making in the $40s to $50s for a standard crew person still makes it a pretty good job, better than a majority of the country is making, certainly in Georgia. And there are often other perks like free meals, etc, depending on your position.

So, still think they aren't "decent jobs"?

To your point about the creative field not being here, you are correct. There is not much of that, yet (hopefully). Slowly, but surely, companies are opening up offices here. Pinewood alone has a lighting/cable supplier, a fabric supplier, a camera company, animal actors, furniture supplier, a trucking company, a few small post-production facilities, a catering company, and more.

As production happens more and more in Georgia, it will be more cost-effective to have some of that here. But, as long as the directors and producers live in LA, most of that will stay in LA where they can be right on top of it.

[ATLTJL]

Thank you for that in-depth explanation!!

[Sixgun1027]

Thanks everyone for the information. Gives me a lot to think about.