BULLETINLocal 728 studio electrical lighting technicians

the only iatse local dedicated to set lighting Full color version available at www.iatse728.org

CharteredMay 15, 1939

Vol. 26; No. 42016

hollywoodC A L I F O R N I A

Inside Your BulletinPRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Our Level of Excellence is No Coincidence, Page 2BUSINESS REP’S REPORT

The New Member’s Roster Dilemma, Page 3

Then &NOW

A look into the pAst with A profile on Brother John Monte And A fAst-forwArd

Brother John R. Monte with actor William Holden,

circa late 1940s

on our present, including new perMits, Being the Best in the Biz, trAining And how to sAve now for

the future

Members (L-R) Robert Quiroz, Glade Knight, Chris Carroll, Chris Stanman

and Rudy Melendez at Universal working a Comcast event,

circa February 2016.

SPECIAL COLUMNJohn Monte Profile, by Member Doug Mathias, Page 4

TREASURER/CALL STEWARD Financial Planning Milestones in Your Thirties, Page 6

HOTo f f t h e PRESSClass announCement, Page 4

THE

by Alan M. Rowe, President

PAGE 2

I.A.T.S.E.Local 728

Hollywood, California

PresidentAlan M. Rowe

Vice PresidentGreg Reeves

Business Rep-SecretaryPatric J. Abaravich

Treasurer-Call StewardPascal M. Guillemard

Executive BoardJoseph GalloMichael Gips

Darryl HerzonRoger L. Lattin

Charles H. McIntyre, IIIIain O’Higgins

Michael Paul OreficeR. Bruce Prochal

Jeremy SchonwaldJason R. Young

Sergeant-At-ArmsRichard McConihay

ParliamentarianPascal M. Guillemard

Safety & TrainingAlan M. Rowe, Director

Shop StewardsCBS - John L. Murray

Fox - Ronald Orefice, IIParamount - Frank Valdez

Sony - John JacobsUniversal - John Kennedy

Warner Bros. - Chris Hathaway

CLC DelegatesPatric J. Abaravich

Dennis K. GrowPascal M. Guillemard

Darryl HerzonIain O’Higgins

S. Cricket PetersAlan M. Rowe

The BulletinPublisher

Margie StitesEditor

Alan M. Rowe

Office StaffSean Harkess

Julianna BesseyClaudia Smith

IATSE LOCAL 7281-800-551-21581-818-954-0728

WWW.IATSE728.ORG

Our Level of Excellenceis No Coincidence

Being the Best of the Best

For over 75 years, Local 728 has been lighting the sets of motion pictures and television productions. Our

work has been seen all over the world and has been broadcast into space. During that time we have defined the art of lighting the set and set the standards for lighting and electrical safety and efficiency not just for the motion picture industry, but for the entire entertainment industry. We, the members of Local 728, are not just lighting technicians, but the undisputed best in our craft. The level of excellence in our abili-ties is no coincidence. As any one of us will testify, this work is not easy. If we were looking for an easy gig, none of us would have settled in the lighting depart-ment. As you have heard me say before and I tell it to AHJs (Authority Having Ju-risdiction) and OSHA all over the country, “In the set lighting world, if it is not hot or heavy, it will kill.” We take our jobs seriously because we have no other choice. We chose this profession because we love it. We love the challeng-es, lifestyle, the variety, the crews, the fun we can have, and we love the hard work. It is this love of the craft and respect for the work that makes us professionals. There are certainly benefits to us and our employers that come along with be-ing the best. One primary benefit is that this helps protect us from other organi-zations trying to take our work. We are more efficient, safer, and have a higher quality of work than our competition. This means fewer accidents, less time wasted during rigging (which means more time for the creative team), better

quality during production, and fewer resources squandered since the job was done right the first time. Being the best does take a commit-ment to learning new skills and push-ing ourselves to achieve new levels of knowledge. One way we can do this is through certification. This summer the Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) will be releasing a new certification for Portable Power Distri-bution Technicians. Unlike the Enter-tainment Electrician certification, the Portable Power Distribution Technician

certification will focus on the crew and not just the crew chief. This certification focus-es exclusively on the portable distribution systems (of which we set the standards) we use every day. While this topic is a subset of the Entertainment Elec-trician certification, it stands on its own. Even though this certifica-

tion covers tradeshows, corporate shows, outdoor live events, and theaters, as well as motion picture/television studios, it is right up our alley. Local 728 is represent-ed by John Lacy and myself on the panel of Subject Matter Experts. (Please see all the details on Page 4.) We will start up a study group soon so that anyone who is interested in taking this or the Entertainment Electrician exam can prepare. The certification will be available starting in September but I recommend taking it towards the holi-days since September is the beginning of our busiest time of year. If you are interested in this certification, please let me know.

... There are certainly benefits to us

and our employers that come along with

being the best ...

PAGE 3

UnionSpotlight

DeceasedBrother Howard Taylor Smith, 90 years old, a member since October 9, 1961, passed away April 9, 2016.Sister Gina Marie Isaacs, 55 years old, a member since March 14, 1987, passed away April 22, 2016.Brother Erik Bernstein, 50 years old, a member since October 3, 1995, passed away May 10, 2016.

by Patric J. Abaravich, Business Representative, Secretary

generalmembershiP meeting

will be held on

July 16, 20169:00 a.m. sharP

iatse loCal 7281001 w. magnolia blvd.

burbankPlease bring your

union Card Continued on Page 8

New membersCongratulations to the fol-lowing new members sworn in on April 8, 2016: Christopher Michael Chalk;sworn in on April 25, Eric Nystrom; on May 2, Usevalad Shybkou; sworn in on May 14, Joshua Atkin, Edward Con-roy, Benjamin Cumming, Ari Davidson, Justin Flood, Justin Garcia, Raymond Hoy, dennis ivarsson, justin johnson, jeremy kerr, kiva knight, greg ladwig, luther little, jr., greg loebell, vito messina, austin newburn, kevin pittman, paul reifenberg, zachary savitz, mi-chael schmidt, john schneider, janette shugart, kevin skaggs, kevin stallard, chandler tan-go and reynol trevino iii; and sworn in on May 16, Brett Carl-ton, david Christian Carlton, Sean Kahikina, Michael Koep-ke, Javier Lopez and Stephanie Saathoff.

NOTICE OF APPLICATION(*IA approved and initiation fees paid

in full. to be sworn in at the next membership meeting.)

Continued on Page 8

As you begin to read this, you’ll quickly discover that as a member you don’t fall into this

category or are faced with this dilem-ma. But, you may be working with some people that might. Because of the increase in work in California recently, I’m getting more and more phone calls from soon-to-be new members faced with this oftentimes confusing dilemma: how many days they have and in what category are they in. If you have the opportunity to em-ploy a permit, you might want to start a conversation with them about their days – and where they are getting them – just so they understand there are three dif-ferent rosters. “How many days do you have? Are they all in the same category?” Although any project they’re working on is heading them in the right direction and adding days to their account, many don’t realize that they need to complete 30 days in a specific roster.

THE THREE ROSTERS The three rosters are the Industry Experience Roster (IER), New Media Roster and The Commercial Roster (TCR). Ninety-nine percent of us are on the IER. Basically, you get your 30 days working on a television show or movie, then you get a notice from me to make application and become a member. Getting your hours with the IER is like the E Ticket at Disneyland, meaning you can work on anything. For the Commercial Roster, you can happily work doing commercials but once you get a total of 90 work days (the initial 30 that got you into the Local plus additional 60 days) under the Com-

New Member’sRoster Dilemma

A must-read for everyone so we’re all on the same page

mercial Agreement Contract Services Administrative Trust Fund (CSATF) will flip you to the IER. Then there’s the New Media Contract. Again, 30 days on a New Media project allows you to make application to the Local. With an additional 90 more days – for a total of 120 days – CSATF will then flip you over to the IER.

THE MIX-MATCH What has been happening is new peo-ple coming in thinking they have their 30 days end up having a mix-match of days rather than 30 in one roster. Members get a few days on commer-cial then get permitted on a TV cable show, then they go do another commer-cial. These days are not interchangeable but many permits mix them all up. So somebody might have 11 days on a New Media project and 25 days on a cable TV show but you can’t combine those days. It has to be 30 IER days or 30 Commer-cial or 30 New Media days. After you get your 30 days on the TCR or the New Media Roster and you join the Local, there’s still one more hurdle you need to jump over. By being on the Commercial or New Media roster, contractually the employer is not sup-posed to hire you on a IER project if you are not on the IER. Certain studios like Warner Bros. checks every new hire’s roster status, I-9 and safety classes and they are not shy to tell your best boy that you don’t qualify and are unable to be hired. Everybody checks, but they are the staunchest of all the checkers. One final point: You have to get your

Applicant, Date of Application

Ari Davidson* , 01/04/2016Alicia Clifford*, 01/15/2016Carter Weathers*, 01/18/2016

PAGE 4

ETCP is proud to announce a brand new certification covering Power Distribution Technicians (ETCP

– PPDT). This new program is in response to the increasing demand within the entertainment industry to establish bench-mark standards and define the knowledge base and skillsets involved in the assembly, use, and disassembly of power distri-bution systems for a wide variety of entertainment venues and markets. These include corporate, trade show, outdoor event, theatrical, and motion picture/television segments of the industry. The first examinations are due to launch in the summer of 2016 with a target in the following cities: New York, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Orlando and San Francisco with other locations to be determined. Comput-er-based testing should be available at over 190 testing centers by mid-September.

The Portable Power Distribution Technician certification is geared towards the technician who specializes in providing electrical power to the entertainment and event worlds. The PPDT certification will target the top half of individuals who work with this technology but are not the primary technician on the job. “The time has come. I have spoken with many technicians who were intimidated by the Entertainment Electrician ex-amination because not everyone who works in power distri-bution has theatre or film experience,” commented founding member of Local 481’s Safety and Training Committee, and SME, Phil Reilly. “We have long needed a mechanism that would assure me that the workers we hire have the skills nec-essary to quickly make sense of a ‘one line’ and a hamper piled high with portable distro. I just don’t have the time to keep looking over technicians’ shoulders to double-check the work. This new certification is going to give motivated technicians a reason to step-up their game.”

The Portable Power Distribution Technician (PPDT) program is being introduced to provide much-needed service

to the industry. Both the Entertainment Electrician Certifi-cation and the PPDT Certification cover portable electrical equipment within the scope of Articles 518, 520, 525 and 530 of the National Electrical Code, and Sections 44 and 66 of the Canadian Electrical Code. The Entertainment Electri-cian program covers all aspects of the work and is intended for managers and supervisors, as well as the technicians. The Portable Power Distribution Technician program covers those that work in the specific area of power distribution only, often under the supervision of an Entertainment Elec-trician. The body of knowledge contained in the Portable Power Distribution Technician certification is a subset of the Entertainment Electrician certification. Therefore, a certified EE is qualified to perform all tasks of a certified PPDT, but a certified PPDT is not qualified to perform all the tasks of a certified EE.

All four of the examination programs administered by ETCP are rigorously developed and maintained and based on the highest levels of entertainment industry practice.  In large part, this is accomplished by the dedicated participa-tion of practitioners in each of the specialties being tested lending their expertise to validate, develop and maintain rigorous examinations.  Our PPDT Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) have worked together on these examinations for over 9 months with outstanding teamwork and a passion for the work.  These SMEs provided much needed input during the entire examination development process. Their dedication, hard work and collaboration shows in the final product and we could not have accomplished this without them.  “The SMEs for the PPDT certification come from very different aspects of the entertainment industry and their dedication to working together to make this certification relevant to both the concerns of the working person and companies that employ them is impressive.  I am in awe of these profession-als who have donated significant amounts of their time to the safety and success of our industry,” said Alan Rowe, Local 728 Safety & Training Director and PPDT SME Co-Chair-man.

For more information, please visit:

http://etcp.esta.org. For questions or candidate handbooks, please contact

Meredith Moseley-Bennett, ETCP Certification Manager at 212.244.1505 ext. 705 or etcp@esta.org.

HOTo f f t h e

PRESSetCP announCes new CertfiCiation

Covering Power distribution teChniCians

PAGE 5

John Monte was born on Dec. 30, 1909 in Los Angeles. He graduat-ed from Fremont High School in

1927.

Early on he showed a talent in elec-trical science and in 1933 went to work at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank as an electrician. On March 23, 1936 John was initiated into IATSE Local 37 consolidated studio crafts, and in May 1939 made application in the new IATSE Local 728. It was around 1939 when he was assigned to work in the Warner Bros portrait studio with still photographer Bert Six assisting him with the lighting of Warner Bros. stars. John’s career actually became more interesting in 1936 when he en-listed in the California National Guard’s 115th Observation Squadron based in Griffith Park which met one weekend a month. On March 3, 1941 the 115th Observation Squadron Aero Photo Section was ordered into active duty as part of the Army Air Corp. The Aero Photo Section was the first National Guard photo unit to develop a fully functional field photo lab. In 1942, John was reassigned to the 4th Air Force headquarters in San Francisco to organize their new photo lab. A few years later, on August 14, 1945, John and his photo lab staff cel-ebrated V-J Day.

On May 24, 1946 John was relieved from active duty and returned to the California Air Na-tional Guard 115th Bombardment squadron at the Van Nuys Airport. He also reported to work at Warner Bros. Studios with still photogra-pher Bert Six in the Portrait Studio as a Gaffer. AGAIN, the 115th Photo Sec-tion of the 115th Fighter Bomber Squadron was activated on April 1, 1951 for the Korean Conflict. January 1, 1953 the Squadron was returned to the California State Control based at the Van Nuys Airport. John was now a War-rant Officer with the 115th Squadron but was assigned to supervise the 146th Base Photo Lab operations at the Van Nuys Base.

My asso-ciation with John Monte

began with my enlistment in the California Air National Guard, Fighter Interceptor Wing on March 7, 1955 when I was assigned to the 146th Base Photo Lab headed by MSgt Phillip G. Uhas. At this time CWO John Monte, (Chief Warrant Officer) was in a pho-

“Dapper” John Monte

A Profile by retired member doug mAthiAs

August 14, 1945, 4th Air Force Photo Lab staff celebrating ‘V-J’ Day. Photo Lab Supervisor

John Monte is holding the bottle.

the

1939, 115th Photo Section: Sgt’s Kenyon, Vobbe, Schiebel, Donald and Monte (kneeling) checking the power generator

for the portable darkroom.

Continued on Page 8

“honor roll monument” dediCat-ed in July 1944 as a tribute to all of

the warner bros. emPloyees who served in world war ii

PAGE 6

by Pascal Guillemard, Treasurer-Call Steward

Continued on Page 8

There is an old saying that a per-son chooses their career in their twenties, but in their thirties the

financial plan they employ is what takes them down a path of financial security, or not, for the rest of their lives. Not all financial plans work out perfectly and adjustments will be necessary, but certain basic ideas should be strongly considered if you are to travel down a road where major financial hurdles are avoided. By the time you get into your 30’s you’ve probably become an established player in our industry. You have a solid list of members to contact when you’re looking for work. When you look at pre-vious years’ income you develop reason-able expectations of what your earnings will look like year-to-year. You’ve prob-ably become better at managing your finances. But that doesn’t mean that your fi-nances are where you want them to be or should be. You might still be paying off student loans and credit card debt. You

may have set up a retirement savings plan to supplement your pension IAP, but it may not be at the level you intended it to be at this point. Fortunately, you still have time to get your finances in line and start thinking about things that felt less urgent earlier in life, such as creating an emergency savings plan, a supplementary retirement plan, writing a will and creating a living trust. Right now it looks like steady em-ployment and good paying jobs in our industry will be around for quite some time. But take it from an industry veter-an; the goods times will someday be offset by harder times. If you haven’t started an emergency savings plan or if you have one with less than six months’ worth of your current total monthly expenses, it is time to work some financial discipline into your life. While there hasn’t been an industry wide walk-out by the IA in Los Angeles in decades, other entertainment indus-try unions have walked away from poor

contract offers and have caused the industry to come to a grinding halt. The effects can be long lasting and devastating because in addition to duration of the lock-out, it takes weeks before the movie making machinery gets back online and up to speed once a contract is signed. Unemployment benefits

will not meet your monthly expenses and temporary employment (if you can find it) won’t come close to replacing your reg-ular income. Industry vets used to tell us to live on 80% of our take home pay and invest the rest into a long term emergency savings plan, such as 6-12 month CD’s. In today’s world we find ourselves working for a lot of different rates, so it’s reasonable to allocate 5%-10% of your net income on lower scale jobs. Even if all historical precedents are broken and you retire with your emer-gency savings intact, you’ll be thankful in your golden years to have all that extra cash available. What should we do with our income if we save carefully and build up that six-month emergency savings account?

Keep on saving!

Most filmed entertainment is pro-duced by working long hours and often under stressful mental and physical con-ditions. For the most part, there are no time clocks in our business and we work until the work is done. Has anyone ever had to explain that there is no answer to “when will you be home?” Additionally, 728 members arguably perform the industry’s most physically demanding work. A lot of us got into this industry partly due to the realization that we could earn a great living in less time over the course of a year than in more traditional indus-tries, leaving us with more time to enjoy

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Mile$tone$in Your Thirties

This article can be viewed at www.iatse728.org where the links are selectable.

PAGE 7

Any Local 728 member repre-senting an employer by filling calls or who is in need of assistance with such, must contact the Local office during business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday by calling 818-954-0728, texting to 818-438-0728 or emailing tcs@iatse728.org. If you urgently need to fill a call outside of regular business hours, you must contact the Call Steward at 818-438-0728. Members seeking weekend work should notify the Call Steward on Friday during business hours. Anyone who hires off roster or hires any member who is not current with their dues may have charges filed against them and are subject to assessment penalties.

ImportantInformation

RegardingHIRING

time off. But not if you don’t save! We need the time off for relaxation, rejuvena-tion & travel. Worrying about cash flow will definitely destroy your enjoyment of well-deserved time off. Beyond having an emergency savings fund and a savings account, consider starting an investment portfolio. Once your emergency fund is set and you have some cash in savings, take any extra cash accumulated when work is plentiful and invest that money to help it grow more quickly and give you a better chance of meeting your long term goals, be it saving for a vacation, or a down payment on a home or a college fund for your children. It seems so obvious, but an important axiom to live by is “be debt free” or as close to it as possible. You may have made a dent in your student loans and paid off any outstanding credit card debt by now. But if you haven’t, now is the time to get serious about tackling that debt. For credit cards, make extra payments on your highest-interest debt first. Try to keep each card balance below 30% of the available credit limit, especially if you plan to apply for a loan. A balance above that threshold will adversely affect your credit score.Keeping your credit score up and your card balances low can also help you quali-fy for attractive rates on other loans, such as auto loans and mortgages. Financial counseling is available through industry credit unions such as First Entertainment Credit Union or Musicians’ Interguild Credit Union. These organizations understand how we earn our living and can offer specific financial planning ideas. As well, they are non-profit organizations that you belong to as opposed to being a bank customer. Write a will and look into a living trust. Most people know they should get serious about writing a will after having children. But wills also become more important as you build your savings and assets. A living will prevents your heirs from having to endure the expensive and time consuming process of probate court. While you’re at it, write up a healthcare proxy that explains your medical wishes and who should make medical decisions

in your place. As a rule of thumb, revisit the paperwork at least every five years. Make sure that your contact information and your beneficiary information is cur-rent at both the Local and MPIPHP. Your continued hours contributions and your dues include a life insurance policy that your beneficiaries will receive upon your passing. Your 30s are also a time to think about disability insurance. Most of us will go on disability at some point in our ca-reers. Supplemental disability payments can mean the difference between taking the appropriate time off needed to fully recover your health without fretting over lost income.

Listed below are contacts and websites to get you started. They are by no means the only options. The first two are the aforementioned credit unions.

• Craig Kvinsland is a former Local 728 member who has provided our members with financial & insurance planning for several years. Affiliated with Northwestern Mutual.

• William Gibson works in association with New York Life Insurance. He has helped several of our members by providing sound financial & insurance planning.

• Jeremy Wiss from the Fraser Finan-cial Group works in association with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. to provide comprehensive insur-ance and financial services. He too has offered substantial advice to our members and has participated in our young workers financial planning seminars.

• AJ Longo Insurance Brokers is the brokerage firm that Local 728 and several of its members have used to find the best insurance deals on a wide variety of insurance prod-ucts, including, life, home, auto & business.

https://www.firstent.org 888-800-3328http://www.musicianscu.org 800-393-3833Craig Kvinsland, New York Mutual818-610-7306craig.kvinsland@nm.com http://www.craigkvinsland.com

Jeremy Wiss, MBA. Mass Mutual 323-965-6312jwiss@financialguide.com https://www.financialguide.com/Jeremy-Wiss

William Gibson New York Life 310-292-1745 wgibson@ft.newyorklife.com https://www.newyorklife.com AJ Longo Insurance Brokers 626-796-1313 Brenda@ajlongo.com http://www.ajlongo.com

$

Info Online

Continued in the next column

I.A.T.S.E. Local 7281001 W. Magnolia Blvd.

Burbank, California 91506

Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians

Visit Your Local at

www.iatse728.org

NONPROFITUS POSTAGE

PAIDHUNT. BCH CA

PERMIT #438

Continued from Page 5

Continued from Page 3

Ineed

register and

YOU VOTE!

to

NOTICE OF APPLICATION(*IA approved and initiation fees paid

in full. to be sworn in at the next membership meeting.)

tographic advisory capacity only. I was introduced to him and he told me that he was an electrician at Warner Bros. Studios in the Still Gallery. John had a commanding presence and panache and I judged he was the perfect ambassador for the Hollywood Motion Picture crowd. With his experience in the Warner Bros. Portrait Studio with Bert Six, and his spearheading military photo labs in two wars, it was no surprise that John began shooting publicity photos for motion pictures and television in the 1960s and 70s.He retired from Local 728 on July 1, 1967. The last time I saw the “dapper” John Monte was in 1981 on the second unit of “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper.” We spoke briefly of the Air Guard years. John R. Monte died in Los Ange-les on January 26, 1982. He was 72 years old.

“Dapper” John Monte

the

Chase Cooper*, 01/19/2016

Roman Rivero*, 01/26/2016

Kevin Seth Stallard*, 01/27/2016

Flavio Buenrostro*, 01/28/2016

Adam Leene*, 01/29/2016

Justin Raths*, 02/04/2016

Justin Flood*, 02/09/2016

Joel P. Mammen*, 02/16/2016

Michael Love*, 02/19/2016

Alexander Kroon *, 03/01/2016

Adam Flores*, 03/18/2016

Nicholas Dahlquist *, 03/22/2016

Rodrigo E. Reyes*, 03/22/2016

Nicholas Alvarado*, 03/28/2016

Frank Dantonio *, 04/14/2016

Christopher T. Ford *, 04/14/2016

Brian J. Kronenberg *, 04/19/2016

Conor Healy, 04/28/2016

Bryson Hall, 05/02/2016

Anderson Lau, 05/06/2016

Evan Ostrovsky, 05/10/2016

Tommy R. Kovanda, 05/12/2016

30 days on a union project or one that flips. Normally, if the project flips the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is to get benefits and days counted from date of hire.

WHERE YOU CAN HELP As we see members joining our ranks, helping new people fully un-derstand the roster placements and which roster they’re getting their days in helps them and us. It affects the jobs they accept and the members who are hiring them. For best boys or whoever is handling the referrals to get some help, please call me if there’s a question. We want everybody to be compliant. I completely understand they’re in a rush to get their days but without knowing which days they’re getting and that different roster days can’t be combined backs them in a corner when they don’t even realize it.

business reP’s ColumnContinued from Page 3