This was in the field that I went to college for. I got the job before I even finished college. It was the perfect opportunity, right?
My job progressed like this:
Camera operator for the evening news
Audio/Chiron
Floor director
Technical director
Director
Director/Technical Director
Production Coordinator
Production Coordinator/Ad writer/Extra
Production Coordinator/Morning News Director/Technical Director
I was in an ad for Auto Parts Express. My wife was pregnant, in labor, and our car was broken down. I say, "I'll call Auto Parts express, they DELIVER." Then a guy in a gorilla suit comes and gives me an auto part. I rub my wife's tummy and look satisfied. This was aired constantly over late night to the point of me being recognized as the Auto Parts Express guy. It was slightly embarrassing.
Reasons for dissatisfaction. It paid about $17,000 a year. I felt it had no future. I had to get up and be at work by 5:00 AM. I had no window. The florescent lights disturbed me. The highest paid News Anchor was paid $24,000 a year. I was depressed. It was actually in Springfield when they passed the law allowing you to be fired for being gay. One of the producers would look at the TV monitor and say "fags make me sick" whenever a gay person was on. People knew I was gay, don't they gossip. Do I have to tell each person individually. Damn it, it's not a secret, please gossip.
I had to quit.
That was obviously one of those situations where the job title made the job sound far more glamorous and lucrative than it really was. I was an intern at one of those stations, I don't even remember which one now. It was fun enough, I guess. I ran the teleprompter, feeding script pages into it. Once, moments before the newscast, I dropped the script and all the pages got out of order. That was some panic.
ReplyDeleteThis post is all 'news' to me. I had no idea anyone in any way affiliated with television could *not* be over-payed and glamorous at least by association, ie, meeting lots of famous people, being seen by millions, effecting stuff seen by millions, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhere are all the perks I assumed were part of the package deal? I guess you must have asked yourself the same question.
"Morning News Director," "Production Coordinator." So who *did* get the big perks, then?
I lived in Springfield once upon a time. I cannot believe that a gay man could stand to live there. I remember being afraid I was going to be attacked just buying pipe tobacco on that side of town. (I smoked a pipe for a couple of years after I gave up cigarettes and pot but before I could let go of having a ritual associated with loading up a pipe.)
The Springfield men folk seemed fiercely determined to stamp out the devil-loving shenanigans of those hippies across the river in Eugene, and seemed to be lying in wait should any chance to stray over the boundary line.
Frightening. No wonder being shot in San Francisco didnt phase you. You're a rock.
I remember, when I was the floor director, the news anchor got a nose bleed 30 seconds to air. I laughed at the absurdity of it. The anchor took offense, of course. She ended up shoving kleenex up her nose.
ReplyDeleteNobody got the perks at KMTR. If fact, the whole station, being a little new, operated in the red for quite a while, which they expected and prepared for.
ReplyDeleteI didn't live in Springfield. I just worked there. In a rather isolated area. KMTR was OCA's favorite TV station, probably because of the producer that I mentioned.
It's funny though, I went over to Springfield ever so often for fun. I liked going to the restaurant, Larry & Kathy's.
Oh Man, Larry & Kathy's! I forgot about that place. The nostalgia is sweeping over me. :)
ReplyDeleteThey also had one in Eugene, but I preferred the one in Springfield. We would overhear conversations that involved hitting people with two by four's and somesuch. Other places you might remember from Eugene include the Bijou theatre, Lazaar's Bazaar, and the 5th Street Market...or even the Saturday Market.
ReplyDelete