Times are tough. People and lighting companies are running short on gigs. For the first time since 9/11, shows that I normally do each year are scaling down their productions, if not cancelling them all together. Empty spaces on car show exhibition floors say a lot. Empty venues and minimalist shows coming in say just as much.
This has led to countless e-mails from friends telling me they are available for gigs, looking for work. I heard last month about one large production company releasing a lot of their staff on one sad Monday — not just touring guys, but people that had been faithful to that company for 20 years. If you have a good job and you are working every day, count your blessings right now.
Peanut Butter Again
This all goes hand-in-hand with clients calling their usual lighting suppliers and begging for a big reduction in rental prices on their gear. Of course, this is impossible as everyone is hit hard right now and it’s a struggle to keep the doors open five days a week. This is typical when a recession hits. We are all affected. I had a good year last year, but know I will be eating a lot more sandwiches than client dinners this year. Many of us will grudgingly take gigs for less than our normal rate because any work is better than zero income. I doubt a raise in salary is an option for any employer at the moment, so why even ask?
I’ve been blessed with a good streak of luck the last few years. I have had a gaggle of people requesting my services to the point where I can fill empty holes in my schedule and I am able to make a good income. But all of a sudden this winter, gigs are becoming scarce. I’m getting calls, but the gigs being offered are not falling in the holes in my schedule. I’ve had three people call to book me for the same week in January, but nothing for the other weeks. And I am lucky to be gigging that week.
Punt, Pass, and Kick
In this industry, we always try to help each other. I was able to pass on the work I can’t cover to a couple of buddies and they are grateful. But I have also reduced my rate on some projects, just so I have work, rather than scare the customer away. I’m not saying you should take on a gig you can’t do just so you can make some money. I’ve hired guys to program a particular console only to hear later that they spent the majority of their programming time reading the manual and calling other operators while punting through a show. I got a call from a friend last month in desperate need of someone to program a particular media server I knew little about. I’m sure I could’ve figured it out, but I passed rather than jeopardize his show. Instead, I gave him the phone numbers for a couple of other people even though I could’ve used the cash.
Giving Away the Store
This brings me to another point that I must vent about — giving away gear. As much as production vendors hate to do this, they sometimes do slash their prices. If their gear is sitting in a full warehouse it makes no money. I understand that vendors have to pay bills, but giving away gear for half price is just plain bad business for everyone. Few things piss me off more than “lowball” rental prices.
About 10 years ago, a certain lighting vendor was underbidding everyone else by a mile. They were putting out touring systems for half of what everybody else was charging. After a few years, word got out that if you rented from them, you were getting crappy lighting systems with bad gear and underpaid, sorry-ass techs. Shows were in jeopardy of being cancelled or run with the house lights on because the crew couldn’t make the rental gear function.
Deja Glue
I’m ashamed to say that I’m starting to see this all over again. If a vendor desperately needs work, it is their prerogative to cut a deal for a tour. But to undercut everyone else by 40 percent is just bad business for everyone. And if this company doesn’t think that production coordinators can see this, they are on glue. A tour manger willing to rent gear at these lowball prices will have to deal with a variety of issues they don’t even know about yet.
For these lowball prices the first thing you will receive is a disgruntled and/or inexperienced crew. And Lord knows, once you get a few people on your tour whining and bitching, it will spread like a cancer. Is this what you want? Or a crew with one knowledgeable chief and a bunch of lemmings who know less about constructing a stage set or light rig than AIG knows about making a profit? You may save a few grand a week in lighting rentals, but you’ve added double that on your local labor bill.
Spare parts? “It worked when it left the shop. Just ask the crew guys.” Oh wait, because some company low-balled the touring price, they had to hire temp labor to prep the system before it left the shop. Now the touring techs are sending daily lists to the shop begging for replacement parts to make a fixture work. They will never get them. Old faded light bulbs? There’s no money for new bulbs with this budget. Heck, you’re getting what you paid for dude.
Pay Now, or Pay Later
Repeat customers — that’s what the vendor biz is about. Do you want to risk your reputation, as well as that of the customer, for a few dollars? When I go on site and see PAR cans that look like they’ve been focused with ball peen hammers and dimmers that have been “fixed” with steel-tipped boots, I cringe. When I see a moving light fixture with very little light coming out of it, I get upset. I make it a point to pass my opinion about this lighting vendor and their gear on to everyone. If you want me to come back, don’t send me crap. Even worse, don’t send me guys that can’t make your crap work.
Strangely, this is the inverse to what the Yankees did when they signed CC Sabathia in the off-season for a zillion dollars. The other teams bidding for his free agent contract offered him 100 million dollars. The Yankees cut right to the chase and offered 140 million. They did not wish to bid against anyone else, they just wanted to seal the deal now and figure stuff out in the future. It’s kind of like our social security program. Don’t worry now; our kids will pay for it later. But do you think these low bidding vendors will pay for it in the future? You betcha.
Nook Schoenfeld is a freelance lighting designer and he can be reached at nschoenfeld@plsn.com.
