Making Light Work Week 2008
We would like to produce a sort of census of the state of the TV Lighting business in 2008, by looking at what Members and Sponsors are doing during one week in 2008. The chosen week is March 24th - 30th, the week after Easter. We are asking all members and Sponsor companies to produce a diary or blog of what they are doing during that week.
For Sponsor members this could be a list of TV programmes or events worked on during that week. How many crews were out? How many freelancers were you employing? What types of equipment did you supply - Lots of moving lights, a tungsten rig, discharge sources? Can you cope with the demand? Have you had to buy new kit or get rid of old redundant kit? How much of what you were supplying 5 or 10 years ago is still going out today? Are budgets better or worse? Do producers plan any better, or is everything done at the last minute? Get your crew chiefs to note the highlights of the week.
If you are a manufacturer, then (anonymously if you prefer) tell everyone what you feel about the industry at present.Are profit margins holding up? Can you get investment to fund new developments? Is it getting harder to compete as more companies are absorbed by international groups? Is being taken over a good or a bad thing? How long does it take to develop new products? Would you better off just leaving your money in the bank?
If you are a freelancer then your input is most valuable. Names will not be used in reports unless you want to supply a personal blog of what you did that week, but we would love to hear from EVERY member, both Full and Associate, with what you did that week. e.g Worked on location for 3 days as Lighting Director, 1 day recce, 3 days waiting for the phone to ring. How long a day do you work? Do productions pay for your travel time? Do you have to bid very competitively to get work, or do producers book you based on your reputation? If you are happy to say how much you got paid for each day then so much the better. Do you work with a wide range of clients at one or two regular studios or programmes, or is your work much more random? If you have time to keep a detailed blog of what you got up to during the week for inclusion in the article then great. Your general comments on the state of the industry will be most welcome. How have you progressed in your career over the past 5 or 10 years? When did you join the industry? How long have you been doing your current job? Would youyou recommend your kids to follow in your footsteps? Do you work sensible hours, or regular 6 x 12 hour days per week?
Please send all notes and blogs to editor (at) stld.org.uk as soon as possible after the 30th March. If you are going to participate then it would be useful if you could also email editor (at) stld.org.uk beforehand to say that you will be joining in. We want to find out as much as possible about what is going on in our industry and we need your help.