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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED owner here, should I join local 600

T

Timmy Rubensteiner

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I own a RED camera. I was considering joining local 600. Is this a good idea or not?
 
If you want to work on major studio features, you will have to join.
Once you get your qualified hours in, they have one of the best benefit plans anywhere, including medical.

As a former Local 600 member, I say get in if you can.
Wait! Former member?

Every company I have worked for is out of business. Then I ran into age discrimination.
Ok. Unless someone comes right out and admits it, I am unable to prove age discrimination, but I know it's there.
Result: no work, yet I am still one hell of a good cameraman with a vast amount of knowledge.

Oh, yes. Fully vested in my pension, but in the mean time, I would rather keep working.
 
First question, as what, in what classification? DP? Operator? AC? DIT? Second, when I joined in 2003, it cost me $10,000 to join as a DP (other classifications were lower of course). At that point, I had 23 non-union features in a ten-year span on my resume and was just starting to get considered for union jobs, so it made sense to join. But as a beginner? Well, first of all, there is a minimum experience requirement -- you have to prove to Contract Services that you had 100 days of paid work in your intended classification within a 3-year period back-dated from the time of application, and the work has to have been done in the U.S. or its territories.

So you have to meet the experience requirement to the satisfaction of Contract Services (a wing of the Producer's Guild, not IATSE) and you have to be willing to pay the fee to join (payable in installments however), plus quarterly dues. But what you get is a generally higher pay rate plus a pension and healthcare plan. The question is whether you are seriously being considered for union jobs that the work will more than pay for the fees, etc. I took me ten years as a DP to reach the point where I was going up for union jobs on a regular basis -- for some people that happens sooner, particularly in other classifications like AC.
 
Dan Kanes said:
Laughing My Ass Off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFtS9t2hDzY
Click to expand...

Oh so demented and sad... But funny.

I'm thinking:
6a00d83451eb0069e2011570ea5170970c-800wi.png


But I don't know. This must be the funniest troll I've ever seen. It's so cute you almost want to take it home... Then you remember little Gizmo.
 
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Timmy Rubensteiner said:
I own a RED camera. I was considering joining local 600. Is this a good idea or not?
Click to expand...

Timmy - NO---I think you are best to ask your buddy Bubba Jo - he's great and i bet he has a LOT of advise for you. First, always drink Miller Lite....because it is a union beer company and looks good when you drink them.

go Bubba Jo:

 
Timmy, try sending Red a proposal to do their videos. Their teaching videos could really be improved and you seem to just be the right guy at the right time. And get in now while the Red One is still fresh. My only suggestion is that since Reduser has an international following, you need to add a few more sub title lines to give your work a more international flare, like Latin or Yiddish. Be sure to get a deposit from Red. They know all about deposits.

As to unions, you good old boys know all about unions. That's why the south is so successful these days. Just remember what happened to the 300. No runaways there. But they didn't become the 600 either.

Oh, don't forget. You need an agent above all else.
 
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