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sk3l3tor
Aug 15, 2014
So this is my first thread on the forum officially, and i need some goon-advice.
First off i've had poo poo luck employmentwise my entire life. and i never really cared for work.

This story might be gay but whaterver, i need to post this somewhere because i feel its changed my entire life.


It started when me and my woman were financially hosed for rent and i needed to stop trying to get internet rich and make some real loving changes with my life. So i got this temp job at this lovely rear end slave-labour agency at this hot rear end warehouse that took me 1hour and 40 min to get to from where i lived. It was the only job i could find at the time and i needed to not make my girlfriend and is homeless. so i kept that job the last 3 months, and around September 1 i had had it, i did the financials and at that rate i was netting -230$ a month after paying all my bills, 200$+ was going to public transit. I quit, and i looked on craigslist.....
That's where i saw the ad:
(it had been posted hours before, i just refound the ad to make the post cause he's still looking for a few more guys because the others i started with haven’t worked out)


So i email the reply email, 2 minutes after it posted, he called me 3 minutes after that, we talk about my last job and asks me if im ready to work tomorrow, i didnt loving hesitate, i asked him what time, he told me 8.

Had no idea what the job was, I show up to a company that builds sets for movies/tvsh ows/Commercials as a Production Assistant. I had hit the loving jackpot of the blue collar industry as far as im concerned. My entire life I’ve been thrown into poo poo jobs and the last 3 months of that assembly line was hell. I've been working at this job for 3 days and they asked me what i think is a pretty serious question and i need some serious advice. SA has been her for me through some seriously bad times in my life and you guys always seem to churn out some wisdom in very very small amounts.

i have to pick between an apprenticeship in carpentry and set design.
I’m not entirely sure what each one entails so I’m hoping i can get some insight on each one.

Thanks in advance and I'm awaiting some hilariously worded stuff from you shitlords.

Somebody fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Sep 13, 2015

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Dusty Baker 2
Jul 8, 2011

Keyboard Inghimasi
Carpenter is more Jesus-like but I think set designers get laid more so idk dude???

the talent deficit
Dec 20, 2003

self-deprecation is a very british trait, and problems can arise when the british attempt to do so with a foreign culture





sk3l3tor posted:

i have to pick between an apprenticeship in carpentry and set design.
I’m not entirely sure what each one entails so I’m hoping i can get some insight on each one.

I worked in the film industry in Vancouver for 6ish years. Feel free to ask me questions.

IATSE or NABET? Or non-union? Is the apprenticeship going to be in feature film, series or commercials?

Carpentry is going to be more stable and is going to have more opportunity for career advancement (from labourer to actual carpenter to lead to foreman to coordinator) but is going to require more hours if you want to move up. Get ready for 90 hour weeks if you work in features. Set design you're probably going to be unable to move up much unless you have a background in arts/design or you're some kind of savant. Even if you're some kind of savant you'd probably want to start in paint or setdec and get into set design that way as it's easier to get to a more senior position in those departments and then move laterally. Set design is going to be a better lifestyle however, although you will almost certainly make less money.

Make sure you talk to an accountant as soon as possible about your tax situation. You're almost certainly an independent contractor and not a regular employee.

GrimaceXL
Jul 26, 2014
Yeah, you can make the independent contractor thing work to your advantage at tax time. Claiming a percentage of household expenses is not unheard of (talk to an accountant).
I work in the industrial field and we can always use carpenters for scaffold building so there's lots of work in and out of set design in carpentry. Good luck! I'm happy to hear you have a good opportunity in front of you.

sk3l3tor
Aug 15, 2014

the talent deficit posted:

I worked in the film industry in Vancouver for 6ish years. Feel free to ask me questions.
Thanks most of what you've replied with has given me a lot of insight, i appreciate you taking the time to post that for me.

How many years am i looking at for this apprenticeship, a few people told me 4, and another guy told me 6.

quote:

IATSE or NABET? Or non-union? Is the apprenticeship going to be in feature film, series or commercials?
its IATSE 873

quote:

Carpentry is going to be more stable and is going to have more opportunity for career advancement (from labourer to actual carpenter to lead to foreman to coordinator) but is going to require more hours if you want to move up. Get ready for 90 hour weeks if you work in features. Set design you're probably going to be unable to move up much unless you have a background in arts/design or you're some kind of savant. Even if you're some kind of savant you'd probably want to start in paint or setdec and get into set design that way as it's easier to get to a more senior position in those departments and then move laterally. Set design is going to be a better lifestyle however, although you will almost certainly make less money.
yeah im starting to lean towards carpentry, i did a pro's and cons list and carp. has a lot more pro's and seems to be a better fit for someone like me.

quote:

Make sure you talk to an accountant as soon as possible about your tax situation. You're almost certainly an independent contractor and not a regular employee.
THIS! i'm gonna do that TODAY


Thanks alot for the info again, it's invalubale to me

the talent deficit
Dec 20, 2003

self-deprecation is a very british trait, and problems can arise when the british attempt to do so with a foreign culture





sk3l3tor posted:

How many years am i looking at for this apprenticeship, a few people told me 4, and another guy told me 6.

I didn't do an apprenticeship since I was a category where they didn't really exist. They are probably doing the standard Ontario carpentry apprenticeship programs so however long those are. You're pretty lucky getting in with an IATSE production at the start of your career. On the west coast at least it's definitely the best of the unions to be affiliated with.

moana
Jun 18, 2005

one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web
I'd lean towards carpentry just because if you ever get fired, those are skills you can parlay into other jobs much easier than set design.

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Pryor on Fire
May 14, 2013

they don't know all alien abduction experiences can be explained by people thinking saving private ryan was a documentary

The one person I know in this field has a pretty good gig designing stages for shows in Vegas and it's a union job and he makes six figures and seems pretty happy now that he's sober. Carpentry is pretty boom/bust along with the rest of the construction industry, I'd guess the stage design stuff is a bit more steady in downturns. Sure there's a strike that shuts everything down once every 10 years but I know carpenters who were on food stamps for like three years starting in 2008.

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