Mun2... For The Last Time???

At Mun2 on City Walk again today. I like this gig because it gives me time to surf the net and get things done... Like writing my blog. I was down in San Diego over the past weekend. For a recap of the activities, check out my post on Sean Patrick's Blog. No point in posting the same information here right?

This may be my last day here. Not because I hate the gig and don't want to do it. On the contrary, it would be a great gig if it was a little more regular. It seemed like it was going to be earlier this year. They had redesigned the sets, they added a show, changed hosts, and for a couple of weeks, I was getting steady work.

Then it all changed. They stopped shooting weekly and since then, it's been more or less shooting monthly. They now shoot what is called, "E.N.G." or "Electronic News Gathering", which is a fancy way of saying, "one host, one camera, no crew". When they do shoot in the studio, they need the lights turned on, which gives me a day of work. They don't really use the sets anymore, they just sort of use the studio and I just turn on the lights that light the set. Key and fill light on the host, well, they get what they can.

Easy day for me.

Although today, I just over heard a conversation between a PA and a director for one of the shows. The PA asked him if this was the last day they were shooting in the studio and he didn't know. At first, I didn't think too much of it. I thought what the meant by "last day" was last day of shooting for this episode. But then the gaffer on call with me was filling out an inventory sheet, walking around the studio trying to find all the bits and pieces listed. Then it occurred to me, is this possibly the last day of shooting in the Mun2 studio ever?

Makes sense, they shoot only once a month, and they don't use all the equipment in the space, (they have 3 cameras on pods and one on a boom that aren't used for E.N.G. shooting, nor do they use the control room upstairs, or the sound room downstairs). The gaffer is checking an inventory list which could possibly mean they are trying to find all the gear to collect it and move it out (I asked the gaffer, he didn't know why). If they are no longer using the studio to full capacity, why keep the gear here? Why not ship it back to Miami where the main studios are, or better yet, sell the gear off it you are tight on money. If that turns out to be the case, I may have to buy the lighting console.

It would be a pretty smart investment on my part. Any show I do, I'd just rent my console to them and make the money back. I have a lot of friends who do exactly that.

This much I do know, the reason they don't shoot regularly in here is because they shows they were shooting weren't getting the audience they expected, thus there was little money from sponsors. The only reason this space exists is because it was moved out of Miami because of hurricane threats almost three years ago. There is a lease on the the space. Although I don't know the terms of the lease, but if the lease is up, they may as well pack it up and stop paying rent on a space they don't use regularly.

We'll see. It should be a sad day if today is the last day of Mun2 shooting. But I may never find out. Seems nobody here knows what's going on either.

...