Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1525020
Fall 024 – LOCAL695.COM 19 So, after pushing fifteen hundred pounds of gear up hill, I had to haul a lot of it up the stairs. By the time that was done, I was drenched in sweat and before I could even catch my breath, the 1st AD comes up and asks, "How long do you need, because we are minutes away." I rushed and scrambled to set up, ducking and dodging around crew members having their morning conversations about their weekend and enjoying their boxed breakfast orders someone in their department had kindly delivered to set. I barely got my system up and running before I hear, "We are rolling." I just barely managed to avoid holding up production. Luckily, my equipment booted up without a problem. If there had been any technical issues, it would have delayed the first shot of the day. In the middle of the first take, a PA frantically ran up to me and told me a producer, some writers, and the VFX supervisor watching remotely were wondering why they could not see the feed yet. I politely said, "I am working on setting up the remote streaming system. I am by myself, I am a little overwhelmed this morning, I am working on it." We shot the scenes in the house. I did not have a chance to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, or take any break in five hours. I was either recording, playing back, moving, or setting up. We finished our scenes and were immediately on the move. The 1st AD screamed out to pack the trucks for a company move, but while the rest of the crew started packing and loading trucks for the next location, the director decided he wanted to watch playback of some older scenes we shot at the next location. He needed to mentally revisit the scene so he could be more prepared. There was nothing unreasonable about this request, but I knew it was going to be a problem. We spent ten minutes watching multiple scenes. When he was done, the director stepped into a van which ushered him off to the next location. That left me, a department of one, to move hundreds of pounds of equipment downstairs, wrap hundreds of feet of cable, pack up multiple carts, push them one at a time down the three blocks I'd pushed them that morning, and load them into the equipment trucks. The entire crew had already packed up and left. I was alone, overwhelmed mentally, spent physically, and it was not even lunch yet … on Monday. The worst part was that I had requested help from production and was denied. In the negotiating room, I explained that I felt that this put a liability on production if I was injured. There was moment of uncomfortable silence. The other side was shocked and aghast to hear of my experience. They were still staring at me. I had not lost their attention. I wondered if I had enlightened them into my day-to-day life of being a Video-Assist Operator. A little later in the presentation, I spoke to them about the benefits the production gets when Video-Assist is on the call sheet. We can add safety to the day, we can shorten the day, we can provide resources on and off set that are essential to keep production moving forward. We can save productions money. That was a language I knew that they would understand. I explained that in my experience, we are seen as a liability, when truly we are one of the greatest assets from the very first second of the day. Video-Assist is such a powerful tool in 2024 with no ceiling for future benefits to production. After the presentation, we returned to the Local 695 caucus room. At this point, I had no idea how my presentation was perceived by my own people. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint them for inviting me here or to make them second- guess my attendance. These thoughts in my head were rapidly extinguished when I received praises from all around. I do not Yacht 3 person video Josh Felder, one operator, 4FourCarts