BEHIND THETHE SCENES CAREERS

Many people fantasize about being on television, but those we see on camera are far from the only people working in the broadcasting industry. Here are a few fun behind-the-scenes-television jobs that could be yours one day

BEHIND THE SCENES

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Film Catering (or Craft Services) provides food and beverages on a production set. They do not handle meals, but supply snacks and drinks.

Bonnie Christiansen, who has worked on features, commercials and music videos explains, “For your job, you must be prepped already. Before you even get on set, you have to do all the re-quired shopping. Every job has different requirements and needs due to budget and diets. If you’re working with movie stars, then they have riders, which means that they have contractual guaran-tees certain items will be provided on set. Commercials are a bit different because they require pass around snacks. It’s good to have those planned out ahead of time, with ingredients ready so they can be served on schedule.” Crafty’s day begins by getting prepped, waking up extra early to go to the store and getting last minute items and refills, like ice. Then it’s going to set and putting out the spread: coffee, juice, water, etc. So, when the first crew members arrive for breakfast, it’s ready. It’s always a good idea for a Craft Services person to snag their breakfast and save it since they’ll be working right away.

FILM CATERING

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The rest of the day is restocking the Craft Services table, passing food when required and making additional runs to the store. The Crafty table should always be neat and or-derly, with appropriate food rotated throughout the day. Each person does it differently, but usually, there are things like fruit and yogurt in the first half of the day and beef jerky or things like that in the second half.Wrap out can be difficult because Crafty is usually a department of one. Production As-sistants can help, but only Craft Services knows how everything should be organized. It’s good to keep an ear on set so when the martini shot is called they can begin break-ing everything down. Crafty is usually one of the last departments to leave set, and they are typically one of the first ones there so it’s good for them to not be there longer than they have to be.A competent Craft Services person will have knowledge of food but also how to deal with disgruntled people and on set politics. Christiansen advises, “Work in a restaurant and do all the positions. That way you get experience working with food as well as angry patrons.”Every set is different and usually, when things are going wrong, people tend to take it out on Craft Services or the Producers will try to fix their mistakes with the Caterer by rushing Crafty to produce extra food or snacks. It can be a balancing act that is served by having experience in high-stress situations where food is involved. Catering compa-nies are hired by production managers who put the work out to tender according to the catering budget agreed with the producer. Catering companies prepare quotes and supply sample menus, and if their tender is accepted, provide catering for the produc-tion. On big films, the Catering Crew typically involves unit leaders, location chefs, salad persons and dish washers. As in all jobs in the catering profession, the work is hard and hours can be long.