Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/711111
30 CINEMONTAGE / Q3 2016 didn't even know about the union. But they started hiring stage managers and associate directors from Los Angeles, and I began to hear about the union. I knew I needed to make a life change." She moved to Los Angeles without a job in 1996. Within three days, she was working at Fox Sports News and joined NABET (the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians union). "That was the beginning of my freelance career," says Salomon, who notes that most TDs in Los Angeles work freelance. While working on The Tyra Banks Show, her head utility told her she needed to join IATSE. "And I asked, 'Why? I'm working plenty,'" she recalls. "He told me I'd get more respect and credibility. No one had ever explained to me the benefits of being in the IA. I quickly found the quality of IA shows are so much better and generally more organized — and the producers care about their crews." Almost immediately after joining the Editors Guild, which began representing TDs in the early 1980s (they were previously part of the Cinematographers Guild), she began getting calls for more union gigs. One of those calls was for Big Brother. During the 2007-08 writers strike, CBS decided to do a winter season of the popular reality show and the TD who normally worked it wasn't available. "I had filled in for him for three episodes in the previous season," says Salomon, "so it fell to me, and I've been with it ever since — with the previous TD's blessing." On Big Brother, Salomon never has a dull moment. "I have access to over 30 total cameras, mixed with the five live-studio cameras," she explains. "I blend the two, but also feed logos, graphics or live cameras to the four monitors on set." The show features various games for the houseguests. "If it's a quiz, for example, with 10 people lined up, as players get eliminated and there are two or three people remaining, I'll need to do an effect that shows two or three people, creating a double or triple box," she says. "Then I wait for the AD to tell me which cameras need to be put into the boxes before the next question is asked, along with adding a lower third. You can imagine how loud the control room gets!" What makes Big Brother so challenging, says Salomon, is interfacing a live show component with 24/7 coverage that's streamed at the same time. "Big Brother is probably one of the more pristine shows in terms of not breaking its own rules," she suggests. "They take great care and great precautions that participants don't see the technical crew, only each other." Deep knowledge of the show's characters and intricate plotlines is key to Salomon's success at her job, and she watches the show at home to keep up. "I know where the drama is," she says. "So when I'm TD-ing, I can assist the director in grabbing the shot of the look one person gives to another. I need to know where I'm probably going — but not to guess." Working on Big Brother has taught her skills that she takes wherever she goes. "I try to anticipate the director's next call," Salomon explains. "As a TD, I try to learn my director's style so I can anticipate what he or she is going to do. It's less about the equipment than the psychology of sitting next to a director and reading his or her mind." As a freelancer, Salomon works on other shows, but notes that she has "an extreme loyalty" On Big Brother, Salomon never has a dull moment. "I have access to over 30 total cameras, mixed with the five live studio cameras," she explains. "I blend the two, but also feed logos, graphics or live cameras to the four monitors on set." Big Brother. Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS