Certification

A new bill was just passed this morning in Texas. It was supposed to address permanent installations, but the wording, being too broad, has involved theatrical lighting designers. The bill has the potential to be interpreted so that all lighting designers, permanent or temporary, need to have a certain level of certification. (While it is a little unclear to me thus far how much certification, it seems to be an electrician or architect license.)

The original intent of the bill was to require interior designers and other lighting professionals that design permanent installations to be certified. The law currently requires them to have their drawings looked over prior to final approval by an architect or engineer. This could be a costly step for home and business owners when the extra pair of eyes is required in the process. Having a certified person design is an interesting step, and while I feel it isn’t necessary, I can see where the Texas legislature is coming from.

In another brilliant lawyer minded move however, they have cast the net too wide and caught up a series of professionals that could cause loss of jobs, not only for lighting designers, but for other theatrical professionals. What could happen to already stretched thin budgets when you have to pay for certified designers for each production? Just because you don’t give credit to a light designer in the program, doesn’t mean someone wasn’t responsible for the lighting. Now do we run into legal issues every time we have to alter light plots? This could begin the dawn of permanent repertory plots in smaller venues that can’t afford to pay for the redesign. That might be blowing it out of proportion just a tad, but I do fear the ripple effect of other states using the same language. As budgets are eaten up by higher personnel costs, the shows and companies could start to go under, which is always the fear when major costs are thrown at smaller professional and community theaters.

I don’t live in Texas, so my voice will not be of great help. If anyone in Texas is out there, please contact your governor and tell him to veto this bill. (Like I said before, it passed this morning [5/27/09]) Have them change the language of the bill to cover only the permanent installations and to leave the temporary lighting exempt. And those of us in New York can hope they don’t follow Texas in the wording of this bill, and if they do, please be prepared to make the necessary calls!

Summer

Now that the Memorial Day weekend has past. The summer schedule has officially begun. At work events tend to slow down, summer projects start to eat away at me, and vacation seems within reach.

I have been working a little harder on the upcoming Theater Program/Drama Club shows because we are producing some good portfolio shows. I have been working for years on productions that I did not need to produce extensive paperwork for. As the Scene Designer, TD, carpenter, painter, Lighting Designer, electrician, programmer, etc., I did not have to worry whether or not my original vision would be produced accurately. But now I am left with a lack of work to put with the photos from my shows. We are producing 'Pippin' and 'The Cherry Orchard' this coming fall. I feel these two shows could be great additions to my work since they are both well known titles, something that doesn't happen too often in a single semester. With my time this summer I plan to produce the normal paperwork as if I was not the all-in-one person hired. This way I can show future employers that I am capable of doing the job correctly. My hope is that I will be able to a design or two each year away from MVCC to keep a professional resume to go along my work at the school.

Summer projects always seem to creep up on you, but they seem to bring friends ever since we bought the house. This summer I have two projects that have been eating away at me. I finally put together the play set for Caroline which freed up the space for the new pool/storage shed. I have some design ideas already and I am looking forward to getting...oh wait...what's that over there. The back deck!!! It is falling apart. Right now Sarah and I are looking at what kind of money we can put into either of these two projects. The deck is bad and I wanted to install some new gates so Caroline can't get to the pool as easily, but I also wanted to put in that outdoor fireplace/chimney as well along with the deck. We'll just have to wait and see on those.

Ah, vacation. The week of no responsibilities (unless you include watching the little one, of course). No lawn mowing, no job worries (with no internet that becomes far easier), no home improvement projects, no cats jumping all over you, just fun in the sun and fireside antics. Good times. While I don't really do count downs, an informal one has begun.

Patting Myself on the Back

I had to come up with a quick and creative solution to a lighting problem yesterday. Our light board did not have enough unlocked/authorized channels to cover the large light plot we hung for the summer events. I was able to get he funds to unlock the necessary channels, but I found out at the end of the day that it may take a week or more to get the unlock codes! Not good.

I was steaming and thinking about the last time I upgraded a light board and how quick the request went through...WAIT! Eureka! The last board!

I starting hooking up our old light board. The people working with me looked at me like I was crazy. I had just received some adapters that were going to help me access more channels around the theater and I could use those to get half of my lighting to our old board. The two boards combined could handle the total channels needed to run the plot until I get the upgrade.

The first universe of DMX will run the conventional light fixtures and the LEDs. The second universe of DMX is freed up to run all the moving lights. It is a tight fit, but it is necessary until I can get the upgrade codes.

I need to get back to programing two light boards, but I am a little proud of myself for coming up with this solution so quickly.

Way to Go Jen!!

I just found out that my sister Jen has a cool new project that she is working on. As some of you may know, my sister was a contestant on the 5th season of Project Runway. This gave her something she desperately needed; a platform for her designs to get out to the public. Her life on the show was cut short (she was robbed), but she did come back to team up with another designer and win one though!

That being said, Jen has recently been contracted to make a dress for an actress to wear on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Awesome, I know, but you can follow along with the design process at her blog site: http://thesuitelife-jennifer.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

(Shameless plug alert!!!)

She also has a etsy website to buy your very own designer merchandise. You can find that at suite.etsy.com.

I do apologize for taking so long to get back to posting, but work has kept me really busy. I have a lot to get to in terms of updates. I may post a little more frequently than once a week to catch up, so check back when you get a chance!!

Theaterhelper.com

If you just can't get enough of what it is I have to say, then you my friends, are in luck! One of my friends runs a website designed to help people interested in technical theater. I have been able to write a few different articles for the website on special effects and lighting. If you have any interest in theater, this could be a great resource for tips and tricks to put together a good production.

TheaterHelper.com can also help those those with questions about educational theater. There are articles that can shed light on the different degrees that are offered, portfolio tips, and job opportunities.

With the educational information and professional tips provided, it really does become a one stop shop for theater amateurs, students, and professionals. I hope you will check it out.

www.theaterhelper.com

Proud and Disappointed

You know what makes me wildly proud and extremely disappointed all at the same time? My daughter can say she has done more work on a college production than some theater majors. My daughter is two years old.

Last semester I was working on a small theatrical production and the students were practically non-existent when it came to assisting on technical aspects of the production. One weekend my wife decided to bring me lunch and bring my daughter along to see me. She really liked to see what Dad was working on and I asked her if she wanted to help. With a dirty look from my wife I handed my daughter a small screw gun (don’t worry, I was holding it too!!) and held her up to set a screw. She liked it, but then realized her new calling; handing screws to Dad. We counted them out and she helped me pick the next place to put a screw. It was some of the most fun I have had being a parent. I was very proud of my little girl.

Then I realized later that she had actually done more technical theater work than some of our theater majors. If you take away the experience the students get out of the technical theater courses, then the number of students with backstage experience drops dramatically. I was proud of my daughter for successfully completing a task far beyond her years (even if I did help a lot), and I know most two year old kids don’t put in time on theatrical productions, but college students who have chosen theater as a career should have more time in on production work than any two year old. I am disappointed that most students I meet today that choose acting as a career feel that knowledge about the technical side of productions is uninteresting and unimportant. The age old “when am I ever going to use this?” argument has been used in my class.

It’s sad that an interest in their chosen profession is so lacking in today’s student. Hopefully I will be able to keep the enthusiasm up in my daughter so that she wants to learn about every aspect of whatever it is that she wants to accomplish. The quickest way to success is having the knowledge to get you to where it is you want to go.

Living in New York State

I live in New York State. I have never lived in any other state. I don’t hate New York or New Yorkers. I have high hopes for the Central New York economy. Or should I say HAD high hopes?

I am not a financial expert, in any sense of the term, but I am having a problem with how I see my state government acting during this economic climate. I was raised to believe in hard work, a good education, and always thinking about the future to secure economic success. While not a specific plan, it does lay a ground work on which I try to build my financial future. I believe the basic solution to a strong home budget is controlled spending. Credit cards and debt are the enemy. In practice, I must admit, I may not always follow these rules to the letter. I believe some debt is unavoidable. For example, I am unable to make large purchases, such as a home or car, in full. Debt must be incurred to have the large ticket items. You know what I don’t own? A boat, motorcycle, luxury car, massive house, or many other big ticket items. I can’t afford them. The debt that I would accumulate would put a strain on my finances and possibly make it impossible for me to pay them off. The more money I have, the more I am likely to spend, but I know when my check comes there is a finite number printed on it.

I don’t think the politicians in New York share my philosophy in financial planning. If I’m concerned about a budget gap, I adjust my spending. The little things I like to do get cut first to make room for essentials. I am seeing increased spending on a state and national level while we are asked to strap in and take it. Are the politicians cutting their spending at all? This excerpt from a story in the Washington Times suggests they aren’t.

“Talk about a pet project. A tiny mouse with the longtime backing of a political giant may soon reap the benefits of the economic-stimulus package.

Lawmakers and administration officials divulged Wednesday that the $789 billion economic stimulus bill being finalized behind closed doors in Congress includes $30 million for wetlands restoration that the Obama administration intends to spend in the San Francisco Bay Area to protect, among other things, the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi represents the city of San Francisco and has previously championed preserving the mouse's habitat in the Bay Area.

The revelation immediately became a political football, as Republicans accused Democrats of reneging on a promise to keep so-called earmarks that fund lawmakers' favorite projects out of the legislation. Democrats, including Mrs. Pelosi, countered that the accusations were fabricated.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/12/earmark-less-bill-gives-pelosis-mouse-cookie/

The other side of the economic crisis is the slow retail sales. Again, I am far more willing to spend money that I have. Along with the increased spending from the federal government come the increased taxes and fees from New York State. The lesson I am taking away here is spend more with less. They want me to go out and buy to stimulate the economy. Only they are going to add fees to what I buy and increase how much they take before I even get my check. Isn’t buying when we can’t afford to what got us into this mess to start with?

Governor Patterson, please stop trying to stop trying to fill gaps in the budget by squeezing more money out of the people who have the ability to save the economy. The politicians have it only partially right. We can spend our way out of this crisis. But, when I say we, I mean the American public, not the giving money to large struggling businesses. They will stop struggling when their quarterly profits go up after the public consistently buys their products again, not when you just hand over a onetime cash award.