We operate the Production Office as a main point
of contact for information and assistance. If anyone
needs to see a doctor or dentist they come to us first.
This is also the case for emergency medical assis-
tance. If an ambulance is required we work with the
venue and our Site Co-ordinators to organize this and
then accompany crew to seek emergency treatment.
ESI: How does safety offsite affect what you do
specifically?
DT: As we oversee crew movements (to and for the
venue) we are aware at all times of who is on-site
(from a crew perspective). We constantly monitor this
so that if there were to be an evacuation we would
be aware of who we need to get to safety. This is now
more important than ever.
As we travel to many different countries and cities we
try as much as we can to advise our crew on does and
don’ts i.e. where pick pockets operate, places where
personal safety may be an issue etc
We also act as an extension of our Security Team in
regards to getting information out to our crew.
One of the main challenges of my role is to balance
the independence of our crew (they are all adults)
with overseeing & being responsible for their safe-
ty. We try to achieve this by offering advice and info
but also by explaining the reasoning behind certain
actions and info requests i.e. why we know to know
crew movements, where there will be bag searches
etc. This is most certainly easier now in todays climate
as everyone is aware how important safety is.
ESI: Have you had any close calls that you can
speak to? If so, what happened and what did
you do that worked?
DT: I was at the rehearsals for the U2ie Paris show that
had to be evacuated wh en the attacks happened in
2015. The evacuation was overseen by our Produc-
tion Director Jake Berry and was extremely smooth.
Once we were made aware of the situation we quick-
ly made a comprehensive plan that involved the fol-
lowing:
1. making note of everyone we had on-site,
2. posting someone to the hotel to check off all
crew as they arrived (from the venue)
3. calmly evacuating everyone onsite using the
vehicles at our disposal.
The situation was made all the more interesting but
the fact that we had an entire HBO film crew onsite
however we added their role call to ours and acted as
one large family. Also our freight and travel services
(Transam Trucking, Sound Moves, and Satellite Office
Services) really assisted on the spot with having to get
gear out and also to reschedule the show.
ESI: What is something you would suggest to
anyone starting out in your position?
DT: Take every opportunity that you can and make
the most of it. Seek out extra responsibility, volunteer
for different roles, soak up information and learn ev-
erything that you can form those around you.
Also, don’t forget to enjoy yourself. The days can be
long and the work grueling but its the best job in the
world.
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