Archive for Television Production Stories
Across the Pond – Manchester Edition
Posted by: | CommentsThis trip started in Manchester, with a bunch of wise-ass WWE crewmembers standing in front of a bunch of sour faced customs officials. We sat and waited as the sour faced agents ‘activated’ our paperwork. In trips past, we’d walk up to the desk with a work permit, the agent would ask us some silly questions, then stamp our passports and we’d be on our way. Many trips ago, I learned the hard way that these officials have zero sense of humor. Upon handing over my work permit, the guard asked me what exactly I did for World Wrestling Entertainment.
“I am an audio engineer.”
“And you are telling me there is nobody in all of the United Kingdom that can perform your duties?”
“Nope,” the old wise ass Frenchy answered, “because we haven’t been able to find anyone sober long enough to do it.”
That little comment earned me a nice, long timeout in the immigrations office. Now I just shut my mouth and play nice.
Time Flies
Posted by: | CommentsHow long has it been now?
Fifteen years?
Sixteen?
I sat down this morning and tried to figure out exactly how long have I been a part of the never-ending carnival of insanity known as freelance television production. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even know, the past however many years have blurred by so fast there’s hardly even time to figure it out.
This strange career started innocently enough as a part time job as a cable-coiler at the Boston Garden during Celtics games. The job paid $50 a night, $25 of which was spent on parking, and at least $15 on gas. I probably took home about $200 for the entire season. Back then I wasn’t a very good businessman, but back then that’s what you did to pay your dues.
During that time, my ‘real’ job, my day job that paid the bills suddenly disappeared, as the cable company I was working for was swallowed up by a larger cable company. I decided to try my hand in the murky waters of freelancing until I could find another ‘real’ job.
That was fifteen years ago, or maybe sixteen; in a time before cell phones, before Facebook and blogs, before the Internet, before everything was soullessly digital.
End of an Era
Posted by: | CommentsToday is a sad day in television, because this day officially marks the end of the Supershooter 22 era for me. Supershooter 22, the production mobile unit of the WWE for the past six years will be retiring from this show at the end of the year. Starting in 2008, our former home will become,at least initially, the control room for a game show.
Never good at long goodbyes, I’ll be away on vacation for the official SS-22 farewell shows after Christmas.
March 6th, 2001 – Back when the mobile unit was new, and the WWE was still called the World Wildlife Fund
SS-22 Today – Six Years, 392 Show, 500,000+ Miles and One Corporation Name Change Later
SS-22’s Blogger Central Master Control
My Job – Taming the Spaghetti
Look Closely – I’m In There
And some times I have to step up into the ‘Big Chair’ and mix the show. Unless something extremely drastic happens, my last WWE show as a mixer on SS-22’s Calrec Q-2 audio console happened two weeks ago in North Charleston.
Good Bye Q-2.
The New Home of Frenchy’s Rant
WWE’s Supershooter Jelly – Still Wrapped in Plastic
Since we are going all-digital all-the-time, our Q-2 console needed to be upgraded. We opted for another Calrec, the excellent Alpha Bluefin series.
Bluefin – Still Under Construction.
Santa’s Elves, Hard at Work.
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