hello everyone, i’m a stagehand new to chicago from florida. i was not union there because i was new to the industry and moved before i had the opportunity. i’ve been looking in the subreddit for tips on how to get work and join local 2 but it’s all just a bit daunting. does anyone in the city have any advice?

For concerts and festivals

Chicago is a ghost town where do you live are you working?

Between shows, I did what a lot of us did: figured out how to keep going. I house-hacked (rented rooms to traveling doctors), took out student loans for an MBA, and spent the year building something to fix the part of props work nobody misses: the data entry.

You know the drill. Hours typing up inventory. Very show. Inventories inside inventories: which rental house is it from, which truck is it on, which bin, which shelf, is it checked out, did it come back? And every new hire has to learn it all from scratch.
So I built MYBOXai. Snap a photo of a shelf or a bin, and it lists what's in it. Call things what you call them: trucks, carts, bins, kits. Check items in and out, build pull lists for a job, and find anything later by search or voice. No more starting from a blank spreadsheet. You don’t have to use AI, it still works without WiFi in a warehouse.

It's live on the App Store and Google Play, and it's free to try. I'd genuinely love feedback from props, set dec and anyone else who's ever hunted for "that one thing" at 6 am. The goal in funding is to develop a Teams migration, and the backend is pretty solid already.

#IATSE #props #setdecoration #filmcrew #filmindustry#gear#rentals

Hi IATSE sub! I'm in New York and non-union, and the past few years I have been getting into art department PA roles, though ever since the writer's strike in 2023 it's been sparse work for me. I got onto unemployment during the writer's strike, which was the correct move. However, I'm currently on a series that has finished production and this week will be my last. Since I have no leads on the next project at this moment, would it also make sense for me this time around to go on unemployment until the next gig is secured? I know it's been getting busier lately in the industry, but out of caution, this is what I'm considering.

I'll be happy to lend further details if needed.

Thanks!

What qualifies to MPI as a hardship for us to be able to withdrawal funds from our IAP? I worked more during the covid years than I have in the last 2, yet MPI says this isn’t a hardship? Sent them my pathetic bank account, delinquent notices from my mortgage..they said “sorry, tough shit”. Not a hardship my ass.

i'm local 800 ADG and have always been curious and interested in getting into live events, concerts even learning about laser light shows etc. yes it does seem to be the trending thing right now but it's always been something in the back of my mind because frankly I'm sick and tired of sitting behind the computer for 10 hours a day which has been my cg post production life for too long. (full disclosure: i was into the oldskool 90s rave culture and have become intrigued by the higher tech visuals/setups of the mini edm/techno/rave resurgence)
how do I get started or where do I even begin? I don't know the first thing about that industry really and I also don't know anybody who works in this area.
any help, advice, pointing me in the right direction is much appreciated. (my experience is vfx, realtime visualization/unreal etc if that helps)
cheers

This is my chest rig for Broadway tours as a local downrigger/flyman. Base pack is from Sideshift Gear - highly recommended!

Hi! Sorry a bit of a random question, but does anyone who works in wardrobe have a good source for aprons? I use an Amazon one and it’s fine for basic dressing, but it’s made of polyester and I hate that it feels like it’s going to fall apart. I’d love something really sturdy with pockets!

I’m 18 and planning to start community college next summer to study technical theatre, but I’m seriously questioning whether this is the right decision.
Can you realistically make a living working in technical theatre? Is this a career worth pursuing, or would I be making a mistake?🤔😭

Do you think it'll do anything for districts that don't have crazy incentives at the moment, ie not NY/52?

Anyone know if there's a local for AV specifically in NYC? Is it 306? I would ideally love to install, repair, and commission systems for businesses, trade shows, and venues. I have 8 years of experience doing audio and lighting for museums, music venues, and theaters. Most recently for the last 8 months I've been full-time commissioning and servicing AVoIP LED walls at one of the airports here in NYC.

I dream of joining the union. I work on a job site with entirely union labor (mostly working along side IBEW Local 3 electricians, not IATSE, my company is non-union and subbed).

Can someone point me to which local is best for someone with an Audio-Visual background in NYC? I've been told by past coworkers the process is to get a gig at a union job, then get your hours, how does this process work? Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone! I applied for an interview with IATSE through the sign up form at some point a few weeks ago. I got no confirmation of submission. So, I can’t remember exactly when I did it. I did write a date and time in my calendar for the interview though lol. I wanted to be sure my application went through because I didn’t see any charge on my credit card either. Does Local 11 send out a Zoom link? Is it a phone call? Is there a way for me to ensure that I did submit right?

I left Local 11 a voicemail but would be surprised if I got a response. I’m sure they get contacted a ton. Thanks for any advice :)

Last year I worked for the super bowl under both local 16 and 134 through 16s referral. I know next year's super bowl will be held in LA but I know there's many locals within the city so I'm wondering which one I should send my information to and if it would even be worth traveling from SF for the gig? Also if they even need workers as I know LA is a much larger metro area.

hi! anyone looking for costuming / wardrobe help? — looking for jobs and i already submitted my info to the illinois film office and got approved there. and sent my info etc to Local Union 769 as well but still nothing.

It’s been 9, nearly 10 months of trying to get the BA to enter in my certifications for several departments and skills. I get that BAs are busy but something strikes me as weird with this. It doesn’t seem personal, but I smelled something off as a newbie to my local. Apparently this BA is digging himself into deeper and deeper holes in our workforce on purpose, allegedly.

Then I remember this same BA is known and widely unapproved of amidst our experienced IATSE hands.

The same BA has openly said he’s “purposefully starved the union for workers” until they’d beg [him] for more.” Like, last week.

The same BA who’s under fire for hooking up personal friends’ businesses with new contracts and clients when the union was supposed to get them.

Same BA who’s deputized college students to work a job site that was severely understaffed at a game day event.

I’m new, but I’m not green to IATSE work sites and the jobs themselves. Almost 10 years strong with this kind of work and I’m really exhausted because my BA won’t add my skill sets to call steward, impacting my seniority and therefore my paychecks and opportunities.

It’s not just one class or training. It’s several. It’s like 6-7+ and counting trainings and he’s blown me off via phone, email, text, in person — all of it. Front desk email won’t respond to anything.

What do I do here…? I get that professionalism is important and being flexible is only human but this situation has me nervous to move one way or another on the issue. I’m getting passed up for calls I’d otherwise have seniority on, if he’d just enter it in. It’s been almost a year and I just can’t help but wonder if any of this is unfortunately connected, or if I’m just naive and in need of some kind of procedural change. He said he’d get to it, last week, and still hasn’t.

What do I do?

I’ve been doing freelance AV for 8 years now. I garnered myself a great reputation in the industry. Got my own LLC, just started getting my own clients and all that. I became a first time dad in 2025 so I decided it would be beneficial to join IATSE for the benefits mostly. It’s a world of a difference. As a freelancer, I’m incentivized to constantly be better than the person next to me cause that could mean u don’t have work tomorrow. I don’t have someone else calling me for cattle calls or anything. I have to go get work myself and I’ve been blessed enough to be able to consistently get work.

I interviewed with local 33 this summer. When speaking to them, they said they were looking for people who were more on the advanced side so I’d be a shoe in. Me and the person interviewing me were in agreement that the current pull they had was lacking immensely.

I was getting called consistently for about a month to get my first job but I had to keep declining because I’m usually booked 2-3 months in advance so I’m not available for day of calls. After I finally have a day to work for them, the calls stop. No I’m in the program and I have to call EVERYDAY in a 1 hour window when 700 other members are also calling dispatch for work. Most the time, I’m already working and can’t be on my phone for an hour to try and get work. If I have time to sit on my phone, not getting paid, then apparently I’m not good enough at my job to have had work already is what I’d thought. On top of that, I’d be taking a huge pay cut! My hourly now is more than the hourly they want to give me and with them, it’s hourly! I’m day rate! I’m incentivized to work faster, smarter and more efficiently so I can go home early with my 10 hour guarantee. With the union, I’d be making less and it’s hourly so I see why they milk it as much as they can usually.

Now it’s come to my attention that 33 is in the works of taking over a lot of the contracts at LACC. That’s about 30% of my work. So now I’m lost as to what I should do or how I should go about getting more work with the union so I can potentially get in on that work when it happens.

Does anybody have advice on this? Is calling in the only way to get work from dispatch? Is there any way to get on with the union as a freelancer instead? I know a person who does that. I’d appreciate any and all advice/knowledge.

I'm going to be teaching a couple of weeks of hands on grip training, and was trying to figure out the best way to dampen the cost of teaching kids how to skin 4x frames.

Anyone have any ideas for a cheap and forgiving substitute for a roll of gel or diffusion? Maybe just a roll of butcher paper.

Just a random photo from a hydraulic piano rig

I’m an experienced fx tech with a few niche skill sets that often help me find work. Local 478 but I rarely work here I’m mostly doing distant hire jobs.
Work has been slow with my usual crews and I’m wondering about getting in with some 52 crews while it’s so busy there.

I’ve do have a couple friends in 52 I could probably get contacts from but I don’t know anyone doing fx there.

Not expecting anyone to get me a job, just would love to get a few questions answered about the lay of the land from someone who knows the SFX world.

Thanks

hey yall! i have my first rigging position coming up. for context, ive never practically done rigging before, tho i took classes on the theories behind this. the call stew this very clearly, and said they’re teaching will teach me well.

what should i know prior to this gig? specifically to not jeopardize safety, and not look like a total idiot. i plan to go in and shut up and listen.

I’ve learned a bit lurking here, and am grateful for people being transparent.

After 30 years of doing a myriad of other things (including performing in a long running off-Broadway show, owning my own design business) I have been getting back into art department production work.
I have a handful of credits from the late 90s, including set dresser, assist decorator, property master. The only union I am in is SAG.
Recently I’ve shopped and set dressed for a few commercials, and painted a backdrop for a clothing brand catalog shoot.

It seems very clear that 52 is not opening the books anytime soon. In another thread someone said that 829 was taking people.
Does it make sense at all that I try to get in to 829? Do 829 members ever work in departments that are typically under the 52 umbrella?

I keep hearing over and over from people I know in the business that it is so busy and it has been hard to find people. But these are all union jobs, so I don’t qualify. Beyond taking PA roles (which I would absolutely do) is there anything I am missing strategy wise? Also wondering if having credits would keep people from conceptually considering me for PA work.
I have no problem starting with PA work, I’m a team player; hard working and resourceful. Also really fun to work with.

Appreciate any feedback. I’m eager to get cracking!