Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469942
46 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2022 While I was hustling on small gigs and nonscripted productions, I spent the next year writing and shooting personal passion projects. While shooting in my apartment complex, I met Michael Kish, one of my neighbors who has since become a close friend. We met in the elevator in the middle of the night after we'd both come home from our long workday. I said, "Hi, long day at work huh?" He replied, "Are you the guy who's shooting porn in his apartment?" For the record, no, I was not. But after a bit of an awkward silence, we both chuckled and introduced ourselves. Mike, as luck would have it, would be my insider into the scripted world. He was a background PA for ABC's Black-ish at that time and he would always do his best to bring me on board. I will always be grateful to Mike for the opportunities he gave me. I started developing a new circle of colleagues who would help me find film and TV work. I started gaining more knowledge and understanding of what I want to do in the industry. Then came March of 2020 and the entire world locked down. Like most people reading this article, I was absolutely terrified by the pandemic. I lost my job. I felt cut off from my friends. I was afraid for my family and I was afraid for myself. And I had nothing but time on my hands. So I started writing and developing projects with my roommates, Dilek, Kyle, Natalie, and Emre. They may not have been filmmakers but they were passionate artists and I am thankful for all of them. It took bravery to go out and shoot in those strange days. We, of course, made it as safe as possible. Experience shooting during the pandemic helped me to start work with a German reality/ challenge show as early as May of 2020. That job led to another one at the reboot of Saved By the Bell, which I believe was one of the earliest shows to resume production. And that show brought me to Star Trek: Picard. Boom baby, was back at it! I started working on set of the second season of Star Trek: Picard in the COVID Compliance Department. I was that safety guy for a whole season of the show. But I was overjoyed just to be in that environment. I could watch and learn so much. Obviously, the safety of the set was the priority, but my job was literally just to observe people's behavior and compliance. So I made a point to pay attention to the specifics of each department while I was at it. That's how I met Amber Maher, the Video Assist Operator on the show. The possibility of watching the creation of the show through the QTAKE system sounded absolutely marvelous. She got to see and hear every single take and even strung together light edits on demand. It was the coolest thing. So, naturally, I went up to her and said, "Hi, my name is Vadym. Can I ask what you're doing on set?" That went a long way. Amber fought tirelessly to get me placed in the Y-16A Training Program with Local 695. I got my first official day in the end of October 2021. Since then, I have worked as a Y-16A Video Assist Trainee for eight hundred hours