Shop Structures

Scene Shop Structures:
Commercial, Regional, Educational
A Technical Production
Commission Session

commercial, regional, educational
Overview
• Responsibilities of Scene Shops
• Typical Regional Operation
• Typical Commercial Operation
• Applying the Commercial Structure to an
Educational Environment

Panel Bios
• Jean Burch
• Shannon Nickerson
• Joel Krause
• David Boevers

Panel Bios
• Jean Burch
– Project Manager, Chicago Scenic Studios
– MFA from University of Missouri – Kansas
City
• Joel Krause
• David Boevers

Panel Bios
• Jean Burch
– Technical Director of the Kirk Douglas
Theatre, Center Theatre Group
– MFA Technical Director 2006, Carnegie
Mellon
• Joel Krause
• David Boevers

Panel Bios
• Jean Burch
• Joel Krause
– 3rd Year Grad PM, Carnegie Mellon
– Associate PM, Williamstown Theatre Festival
– Currently Seeking Employment
• David Boevers

Panel Bios
• Jean Burch
• Joel Krause
• David Boevers
– Technical Director, Carnegie Mellon
– Technical Production Commission Project
Leader for Commercial Theatre Outreach

Scene Shop Responsibilities
• Bidding/Budgeting
• Technical Design/Engineering
• Scheduling
• Materials Research/Purchasing
• Technical Drawings
• Prototyping/Samples
• Troubleshooting
• Interdepartmental Communication
• Crew Supervision
• Crew Training
• Building & Installing Scenery
• Time and Money Tracking
• Quality Control
• Safe & Secure

Disclaimer…
IT DEPENDS

“Egalitarian” Regional
Production
Manager
Costume
Technical Paint Prop Master Sound
Sound
Shop Master
Director Charge Master Electrician Master
Manager

More “Traditional” Regional
Production
Manager
Costume
Technical Master Sound
Shop
Director Electrician Manager Master
Paint Prop
Charge Master

Scene Shop Staff
• Technical Director
• Assistant Technical Director
• Master Carpenter
• Carpenter(/Welder/Rigger/Stitcher)
• Handlers/Traffic/Runner

TD/ATD/Master Carpenter
Technical Director Technical Technical
Director Director
Assistant Technical Director ATD

ATD
Master
Master Carpenter Carpenter Master Carpenter
Carpenters Carpenters Carpenters

“Typical” Task Breakdown
•
Technical Director
Scheduling
• Technical Drawings
• Time and Money Tracking Assistant Technical
• Prototyping/Samples
•
Director
Troubleshooting
• Crew Training
• Quality Control Master Carpenter
• Safe & Secure

Advantages - Regional
• Defined structure & roles
• Clear lines of communication
• Dedicated personnel
• Production “esteem”
• What people tend to expect

Questions?
• If nobody asks anything it won’t be a very
long session 

Commercial Shop Production
• Owner
• Account Executive
• Estimator
• Production Manager
• Project Manager
• Purchasing Agent
• Technical Department Heads
• Drafter
• Job Lead
• Shop Personnel

The Client Factor
• Working with a client vs. working with your
designer
• Facilitation vs. Design
• Owner
• Being a client of an outside shop

Some Department Heads
• Carpentry
• Metals
• Paints
• LX
• Automation
• Rigging
• Soft Goods
• Rentals
• Traffic

Typical Commercial Relationships
Owner
Account Exec(s) Production Manager
Estimator(s) Project Manager(s) Department Heads Drafter(s) Purchasing Agent
Job Leads
Shop Personnel

Task Breakdown
(Estimating, Drafting, and Purchasing Rolled into Project Management for Clarity)
•
Project Manager
Technical Drawings
• Scheduling
• Prototyping/Samples Job Lead
• Troubleshooting
• Quality Control
• Crew Training Department Head
• Safe & Secure

OR – Really It Depends
•
Project Manager
Technical Drawings
• Scheduling
• Prototyping/Samples Job Lead
• Troubleshooting
• Quality Control
• Crew Training Department Head
• Safe & Secure

Advantages - Commercial
• More Resources
• Flexibility
• Scalability
• Specialization
• Distribution of Responsibility

Questions?
• Making any kind of sense?

Applying Commercial Structure to
Educational Theatre
• Schools typically use a Regional Model
• Could a school operate with a Commercial

Model?

Historic Problems
• Not enough bodies – gaps
• Very long project commitments
• Problematic assignment overlaps
• Projects without support
• Just plain boring assignments
• Crew time not best work time
• Too much crew time – not enough project
experience
• “Lone Wolf” Technical Directors

Goals
• Less Crew Weeks
• Less Busy Work
• Shorter Project Commitments
• Better Projects
• Better Collaborators
• Putting the right resource in the right place
at the right time

Structural Changes
• Change from TD/ATD/Master Carp to
Project Manager and Job Leads
• Change assignments from projects to
calendar weeks (crew heads and crew
members)
• Establish daily scheduling meeting

“Crazy Scheme” Schedule

Task Breakdown
• In practice often left to the students and often
varies by personality and ability
• In theory should be:
– Anything that happens on paper should be the Project
Manager
– Anything spanning projects or departments should be
the Project Manager
– Building and installing scenery should be the Job
Lead

Advantages - Successes
• Less Crew Weeks – maybe not
• Less Busy Work - yes
• Shorter Project Commitments – yes and no
• Better Projects - yes
• Better Collaborators - yes
• Putting the right resource in the right place at the
right time - yes

Advantages - Successes
• Nobody has to take on a project unsupported
• We’re able to take on additional projects on the
fly
• We’re much more able to integrate non-Drama
students into production
• Generally, faculty are very up to date on
productions

Unintended Consequences –
Negative (Things to Fix)
• Resume killer
• “Non-scheme” people have difficulty
figuring out who they should be talking to
• Reduced investment in the production by
technical direction students
• When it goes bad, it goes really bad

Unintended Consequences -
Positive
• Really good new assignment for
Production Management students
• Formed a company of sorts

Future Plans
• Address the unintended negative effects
• Refine distribution of tasks
• Find a way to alternate between Regional
Model and Commercial Model
• Migrate the shop structure to other
departments (paint, LX)

Questions/Discussion
• So, any thoughts?

Contact Information
• David Boevers
dboevers@cmu.edu
• Plug for my website:

http://cmuptm.blogspot.com
Great source for entertainment industry news

Thank You

Commercial, Regional, Educational
A Technical Production
Commission Session


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Scene Shop Structures:

Commercial, Regional, Educational

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

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Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

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Assistant Technical Director ATD

Carpenters Carpenters Carpenters

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

• Being a client of an outside shop

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Account Exec(s) Production Manager

Estimator(s) Project Manager(s) Department Heads Drafter(s) Purchasing Agent

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

• Schools typically use a Regional Model

• Could a school operate with a Commercial

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

• So, any thoughts?

Scene Shop Structures:

• Plug for my website:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

Scene Shop Structures:

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