Shop Structures

Scene Shop Structures: commercial, regional, educational

Scene Shop Structures:Commercial, Regional, Educational

A Technical Production Commission Session


Overview

• Responsibilities of Scene Shops

• Typical Regional Operation

• Typical Commercial Operation

• Applying the Commercial Structure to an Educational Environment


Panel Bios

• Jean Burch

• Shannon Nickerson

• Joel Krause

• David Boevers


Panel Bios

• Jean Burch– Project Manager, Chicago Scenic Studios– MFA from University of Missouri – Kansas

City


• Joel Krause

• David Boevers


Panel Bios• Jean Burch• Shannon Nickerson

– Technical Director of the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Center Theatre Group

– MFA Technical Director 2006, Carnegie Mellon

• Joel Krause• David Boevers


Panel Bios

• Jean Burch


• Joel Krause– 3rd Year Grad PM, Carnegie Mellon– Associate PM, Williamstown Theatre Festival– Currently Seeking Employment

• David Boevers


Panel Bios

• Jean Burch


• Joel Krause

• David Boevers– Technical Director, Carnegie Mellon– Technical Production Commission Project

Leader for Commercial Theatre Outreach


Scene Shop Responsibilities• Bidding/Budgeting• Technical Design/Engineering• Scheduling• Materials Research/Purchasing• Technical Drawings• Prototyping/Samples• Troubleshooting• Interdepartmental Communication• Crew Supervision• Crew Training• Building & Installing Scenery• Time and Money Tracking• Quality Control• Safe & Secure


Disclaimer…

IT DEPENDS


“Egalitarian” Regional

ProductionManager

TechnicalDirector

PaintCharge

PropMaster

MasterElectrician

CostumeShop

Manager

SoundMaster

SoundMaster


More “Traditional” RegionalProductionManager

TechnicalDirector

MasterElectrician

CostumeShop

Manager

SoundMaster

PaintCharge

PropMaster


Scene Shop Staff

• Technical Director

• Assistant Technical Director

• Master Carpenter

• Carpenter(/Welder/Rigger/Stitcher)

• Handlers/Traffic/Runner


TD/ATD/Master Carpenter

Technical Director

Assistant Technical Director

Master Carpenter

Carpenters

Technical Director

MasterCarpenter

Carpenters

ATD

TechnicalDirector

ATD

Carpenters

Master Carpenter


“Typical” Task Breakdown• Bidding/Budgeting• Technical Design/Engineering• Scheduling• Materials Research/Purchasing• Interdepartmental Communication• Technical Drawings• Time and Money Tracking• Prototyping/Samples• Troubleshooting• Crew Supervision• Crew Training• Building & Installing Scenery• Quality Control• Safe & Secure

Technical Director

Assistant TechnicalDirector

Master Carpenter


Advantages - Regional

• Defined structure & roles

• Clear lines of communication

• Dedicated personnel

• Production “esteem”

• What people tend to expect


Questions?

• If nobody asks anything it won’t be a very long session


Commercial Shop Production• Owner• Account Executive• Estimator• Production Manager• Project Manager• Purchasing Agent• Technical Department Heads• Drafter• Job Lead• Shop Personnel


The Client Factor

• Working with a client vs. working with your designer

• Facilitation vs. Design

• Owner

• Being a client of an outside shop


Some Department Heads• Carpentry• Metals• Paints• LX• Automation• Rigging• Soft Goods• Rentals• Traffic


Typical Commercial Relationships

Owner

Account Exec(s) Production Manager

Estimator(s) Project Manager(s) Department Heads Drafter(s)

Job Leads

Shop Personnel

Purchasing Agent


Task Breakdown(Estimating, Drafting, and Purchasing Rolled into Project Management for Clarity)

• Bidding/Budgeting• Materials Research/Purchasing• Technical Drawings • Technical Design/Engineering• Interdepartmental Communication • Time and Money Tracking • Scheduling• Prototyping/Samples• Troubleshooting• Crew Supervision• Building & Installing Scenery• Quality Control• Crew Training • Safe & Secure

Project Manager

Job Lead

Department Head


OR – Really It Depends• Bidding/Budgeting• Materials Research/Purchasing• Technical Drawings • Technical Design/Engineering• Interdepartmental Communication • Time and Money Tracking • Scheduling• Prototyping/Samples• Troubleshooting• Crew Supervision• Building & Installing Scenery• Quality Control• Crew Training • Safe & Secure

Project Manager

Job Lead

Department Head


Advantages - Commercial

• More Resources

• Flexibility

• Scalability

• Specialization

• Distribution of Responsibility


Questions?

• Making any kind of sense?


Applying Commercial Structure to Educational Theatre

• Schools typically use a Regional Model

• Could a school operate with a Commercial Model?


Historic Problems• Not enough bodies – gaps• Very long project commitments• Problematic assignment overlaps• Projects without support• Just plain boring assignments• Crew time not best work time• Too much crew time – not enough project

experience• “Lone Wolf” Technical Directors


Goals• Less Crew Weeks• Less Busy Work• Shorter Project Commitments• Better Projects• Better Collaborators• Putting the right resource in the right place

at the right time


Structural Changes

• Change from TD/ATD/Master Carp to Project Manager and Job Leads

• Change assignments from projects to calendar weeks (crew heads and crew members)

• Establish daily scheduling meeting


“Crazy Scheme” Schedule


Task Breakdown• In practice often left to the students and often

varies by personality and ability• In theory should be:

– Anything that happens on paper should be the Project Manager

– Anything spanning projects or departments should be the Project Manager

– Building and installing scenery should be the Job Lead


Advantages - Successes• Less Crew Weeks – maybe not• Less Busy Work - yes• Shorter Project Commitments – yes and no• Better Projects - yes• Better Collaborators - yes• Putting the right resource in the right place at the

right time - yes


Advantages - Successes• Nobody has to take on a project unsupported• We’re able to take on additional projects on the

fly• We’re much more able to integrate non-Drama

students into production• Generally, faculty are very up to date on

productions


Unintended Consequences – Negative (Things to Fix)

• Resume killer

• “Non-scheme” people have difficulty figuring out who they should be talking to

• Reduced investment in the production by technical direction students

• When it goes bad, it goes really bad


Unintended Consequences - Positive

• Really good new assignment for Production Management students

• Formed a company of sorts


Future Plans

• Address the unintended negative effects

• Refine distribution of tasks

• Find a way to alternate between Regional Model and Commercial Model

• Migrate the shop structure to other departments (paint, LX)


Questions/Discussion

• So, any thoughts?


Contact Information

• David Boevers

[email protected]

• Plug for my website:

http://cmuptm.blogspot.com

Great source for entertainment industry news

mailto:[email protected]

http://cmuptm.blogspot.com/


Thank You


Scene Shop Structures:Commercial, Regional, Educational

A Technical Production Commission Session

Documents

Shop Structures