Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1474752
Fall 2022 – LOCAL695.ORG 45 coverage. For the most part, the people that I've met and worked with in 695 have been some of the smartest, kindest, and thoughtful individuals around. Without hyperbole, joining the union has quite literally changed the direction of my life. Prior to being a 695 member, I was a member of the gig-economy, hustling 24/7 to make ends meet and often coming up short. I was constantly stressing about money and unable to focus on the quality of my life. Suffice it to say that the experiment worked and since joining 695, a more formal Y-16A training program has been implemented with some outstanding results. One of the biggest joys for me is being able to work with trainees and pass on the game that was so generously given to me. I have personally had the pleasure of working with Brittany Darrett, Christopher Burr, Yisel Puppo-Calles, and Eric Richardson in a trainee capacity and subsequently watching each of them move onto work on shows as stand-alone Y-7A's. These are simply the few that I have had direct contact with. There are other success stories and one by one, these individuals are slowly changing the face of our union. Is the program perfect? No … but what in life is? I know, from firsthand experience, that it is shepherded by a group of individuals that are dead serious about creating opportunities in our union for those that otherwise would have an extremely difficult time trying to get in. I'm reminded of the Martin Luther King Jr. quote, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Change takes a long time, but it does happen. The folks involved in the Y-16A training program are not talking about it, they're being about it. OK. It's time to give out some more flowers… Jamie Gambell joined forces with Ben Greaves early on and consistently pitched this idea of a trainee program to the union. Jamie was instrumental in my early development and has consistently given a helping hand to trainees at various stages of their development. Shoutout Scott Bernard and Laurence Abrams for embracing the idea and facilitating a pathway forward. Casey Weiss is quite simply the G.O.A.T. when it comes to the Y-16A training program. Heidi Nakamura and Joe Aredas have consistently shown up and worked tirelessly behind the scenes to create opportunities. What is not lost on me are all of the people along the way that took a chance on me, without them I don't know that I'm in the position that I am today. So the training program is all well and good but it only works if a mixer sticks their nose out and advocate to their productions for an extra member in the Sound Department. Trainees only graduate to their roles as Y-7A's if mixers hire them as such. I'm writing this article to provide an example of what good can come out of the Y-16A training program, but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. The success and growth of the program is contingent upon everyone's active involvement, starting at the top with mixers but also boom operators and utilities that have the opportunity to work with a trainee and share their knowledge. If any of you find yourselves in that position, I urge you to embrace it with open arms and lead with kindness and patience. I don't know what else to say, except that I am truly grateful for the position that I am in and for all of the helping hands along the way. You guessed it … more flowers … these folks helped me in various ways along my path … some with their kindness, some with sharing tools of the trade and some giving me a job… Scott Harbor, Amanda Beggs, George Flores, Lisa Pinero, Ron Judkins, Jeremy Brill, Ron Hairston, Mike O'Heeny, Tim Salmon, Mitchell Gebhardt, Alexis Schafer, Sheraton Toyota, Daniel Quintana, Iris Von Haas, Erik Alstadt, and Sol Aponte. Work Union … Live Better!