So this week has sucked... It has been one thing after another that just has not let me shake the funk... The week started last week with the annoyance of the Show From Hell (TM). It did indeed tank for the good of all mankind. Of course that leave the pesky topic of getting paid for the remaining invoices, which are for several thousand bucks. Unfortunatly, that's not a small amount of cash for a small shop like mine. I'll get back to this in a minute since I'm going to go cronlogically... Sunday was a great day... Nice weather... I got out and enjoyeed it for a while, and then had a decent night at a pub... All in all nice...
Monday I had a show in NYC, that started at 9am... So it was a lovely commute of 2+ hours in a truck... The client in this case was a new one, but the producer was one I have done several shows for in the past... Every show this guy produces is a miserable experience. Mostly it comes from a lack of orginization, and a disregard for how these events are usually run. The guy is a control freak, but changes his mind on a whim, so we spend the entire day re-doing everything that is already done... He never schedules any breaks for food for the crew, nor does he have any brought in... I don't mind missing a meal or even two, but we were there from 9am untill 2am... The end result of his shows is in my opinion is not good... There are tons of very blatent errors, and yet at the end of the night he can't help but pat himself on the back what a great job he did... To top off the job, the client did not have the checks for the companies such as mine. That's when I lost it... Unlike the video company that can hold their tapes hostage, I have nothing... All I had was the payroll for the entire day, so I let the crew know there would be a delay in their payment if the check didn't happen... They in turn became quite surley toward the producer and client... I left that night with a personal check from the client, but I was already set up for a miserable mood...
When I got home from that event at 3am I checked my email and found that the Show From Hell (TM) was getting pulled out of the trucks it was sitting in, and shifted to storage trailers at 10am... So I dragged myself up there by 11am after yet another hour commute, to recover the equipment they were renting from me. (ladders, tools, hampers, etc) It was then that the producers called my partner who was still in the office. They asked if our invoices were negotiable. What they felt was fair was 50% of what we were chargeing. Well natually my partner declined their offer to screw us. Then they called the Production Manager who was with me at the time to have him ask me if we'd take 50%... Come on now folks, did they really think I would give them a different answer?... Fortunatly, my partner had called me while they were on the phone with the PM to warn me. So now they are hemming and hawing over our charges some more... I am having a hard time shaking the feeling I'm never going to see that money... As I said, its a healthy chunk of change for us, since we have already laid out the majority of that money... We'll see where it goes...
Wedsday I came in, and spent the day working on bids for a few clients... Nothing highly out of the ordinary... It was just a tedious day of paperwork, that I know mostly will go to waste as most bids do.
Thursday my partner headed to Philly to survey a set that we are supposed to be recreateing. I stayed back at the shop to finish the bid, and start in on the drawings, since I know we're doing the show. Well by 3:30, I was almost done with the drawings for the entire show, (no small feat) when my partner called with the update. Basicly, they have decided to change the entire design. From what my partner tells me, they knew they were doing that when they gave me the prints. Why the hell do these people keep giving me prints that they know are not going to happen?... Are they actively trying to waste my time and keep me in a bad mood?... I can tell you, when I am in a bad mood, the prices go up on everything...
Today is Friday... I hope it is an uneventfull day... I'm tired of snapping at my friends because of the stupidity at work... I have to say I miss doing all corperate work... We didn't work nearly as much, but when we did, there was never any of this garbage to keep me constantly pissed off... Two more "art" art shows untill the summer... Several corperate deals... I can't wait untill June and some serious down time...
Posted by Backstage at March 5, 2004 04:47 PM