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AES Convention

The Audio Engineering Society Convention (AES), held in Los Angeles for the first time in 12 years, drew record attendance. The event attracted more than 15,000 attendees to seminars, workshops and exhibits from 300-plus sponsors.

The Convention had workshops featuring Production Sound recording with Local 695 members fully involved in the presentations. Jim Tanenbaum and Mark Ulano discussed the requirements for making quality recordings in the “Superstars of Production Sound Recording” seminar. Subsequently, Sound Mixer Jay Patterson and Boom Operator Peggy Names came in for a Master Class on techniques and equipment used by the Production Sound Crew.

The AES will return to Los Angeles for a first-ever Conference on Audio in Hollywood on March 6-8, 2015.

IATSE Officer Institute

In October, IA officers from dozens of locals across the country attended the week-long IATSE Officer Institute at Local 80 in Burbank. Representing Local 695, Interim Business Representative Scott Bernard and Education Director Laurence Abrams attended presentations on Labor History, Labor Law, Organizing, Collective Bargaining, Union Finances, Contract Administration, Grievance Handling and more. International President Matthew Loeb and Michael Miller, International Vice President and Department Director of Motion Picture & TV Production, were on hand as well as the trainers and labor experts who helped design this unique program. President Loeb announced plans to continue conducting the IATSE Officer Institute over the next few years with the goal of advancing the effectiveness as well as the activism of the entire network of IA locals and their memberships across the US and Canada.

Shahs of Sunset

When 16 editors and assistant editors at Shahs of Sunset walked off the job at Berne, LLC, a subsidiary of Ryan Seacrest Productions, they thought that it would be a simple matter to settle with the show. They didn’t have a serious grievance and were primarily seeking health benefits and contributions to a retirement plan. They walked out on September 10, only a month away from the announced season premiere on October 13. In a statement to Deadline Hollywood, Ryan Seacrest Productions indicated a willingness to meet but never responded to any overtures from union organizers. Bravo, the network carrying the show, dismissed the striking editors. Normally, an employer is enjoined from dismissing unionizing workers but Bravo asserted that the editors had never been their employees.

With no one from production willing to negotiate, things settled down to a long slog. The striking and dismissed editors maintained a picket line at the Bravo offices at the NBC/Universal building on Wilshire Boulevard for four weeks. They also displayed an informational banner and large, inflatable rat at the New York headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, alerted Bravo advertisers of the job action and held a rally in South Weddington Park in the shadow of the Universal and NBC black tower.

After four weeks of resistance, Ryan Seacrest Productions entered negotiations with the IATSE. They came to an agreement and, on October 10, the Shahs of Sunset crew voted unanimously to ratify a contract covering production as well as post-production work.

Safety App

A safety app to facilitate set safety and reporting dangerous conditions is now available as a free download for both Android and Apple phones. The Pledge to Sarah organization developed the application and detailed information is available from www.pledgetosarah.org/app

The app features a list of safety hotlines, a complete list of CSATF safety bulletins and the text of the twenty-one most relevant bulletins including working with firearms, animals, stunts, fog, process trailers and other commonly encountered situations. The app also has well thought out features to facilitate anonymous reporting. Each safety hotline number is accompanied by two “call” buttons, one just to dial the number and another to make the call with Caller ID blocked. There is also a function to take a picture of a time sheet and email the image to a Friends of Sarah Jones clearinghouse that will forward only the essential information to unions and protect the identity of the sender. Armed with the documentary evidence this function supplies, rather than just anecdotal accounts, representatives can more effectively address the issue in negotiations.

In Memoriam

HARRY C. HOWARD
Video Engineer
July 21, 1940 – August 6, 2014

From the Interim Business Agents

AB 1839

On September 18, 2014, Gov. Jerry Brown and members of the California film community gathered in front of the TCL Chinese Theatre to sign Assembly Bill 1839 into law. As a result, IATSE Local 695 members can now expect substantially more job opportunities at home, here in Hollywood. State Assembly member and co-author of the bill, Mike Gatto, announced: “Today, with the stroke of a pen, California is doing something significant to bring good jobs back to our state.”

The state of California will now support the film and television industry to the tune of $1.6 billion in tax incentives over the next five years.

This was not something that just happened overnight; this victory was years in the making and put the IATSE on the map in Sacramento. There were countless people working behind the scenes, meeting one-on-one with key players and walking the halls of the State House. We, the members of the IATSE, now have standing in Sacramento.

I have been fortunate to speak with many of our elected leaders up and down the state and the message you sent with your letters and participation in the rallies in Burbank, San Francisco and Sacramento was impressive. It went a long way to show that the IATSE will not be pushed aside when our jobs are threatened.

On Sunday, October 26, we held a celebratory rally at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, where many political leaders came to thank you for standing up and bringing this bill home. “Production and production jobs aren’t running away from California, they’re being lured away … but that stops today,” proclaimed Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

There are way too many people to thank for the countless hours of work fighting for this much-needed tax incentive. I’m proud to report to you that Local 695, its leadership and members were right there on the front line leading the charge.

So now I say, “Let’s get back to work.”

Scott Bernard
Interim Business Agent

Contributors to this edition

Mark Agostino began his career as a studio recording engineer. After four years missing the light of day, he was in dire need of a change of scenery (literally). Along came an opportunity to join Local 695. He snatched it up and has been specializing in multitrack music playback and live recording for the last 18 years.

Richard Lightstone, CAS
Richard began his career in Canada and it continues in Los Angeles. He served as President of the Cinema Audio Society and is also a co-editor of the 695 Quarterly.

Lisa Piñero, CAS
Lisa Piñero, CAS, a production sound mixer for more than 25 years, has credits including documentaries, television and feature films. Her recent work includes projects with directors Oren Moverman, John Hillcoat, Nicole Holofcener and the three most

David Waelder
David has recorded sound for films for several decades and has been an editor of the 695 Quarterly since its inception five years ago.

Photos courtesy of the respective contributors

From the Editors

Ingenuity and Enthusiasm

The accomplishments of the Local 695 members featured in this issue span fifty years, from Jimmie Songer’s work perfecting video assist in the late ’60s to Lisa Piñero’s efforts to make World War II communications gear functional for Fury. There’s a remarkable consistency in these efforts. In every case, success was the result of a focused determination and attention to detail. Jimmie Songer introduced new materials to viewfinder optics to gain sufficient light for his design and worked with electronic circuits so miniaturized that he needed a microscope just to follow the traces. Lisa Piñero brought in a consultant to assist in rebuilding and repurposing antique tank communications.

If there is any new development, it is the growing complexity of the process. As Mark Agostino relates, accomplishing Clint Eastwood’s goal of live-recording the Jersey Boysmusicians required deploying microphones in several adjacent rooms to capture audio simultaneously from both on-screen and offscreen musicians.

We applaud the commitment and ingenuity of all these 695 engineers practicing the craft at the highest levels of skill and professionalism.

Fraternally yours,
Richard Lightstone, Eric Pierce and David Waelder