Nicolas, Stage Manager for Film Shootings in Paris
The following article is an excerpt from our latest printed Ecosprinter titled Reclaim Your Rights! – The Social Issue. We decided to bring you the articles from this edition in a digital form as well.
by Alexia Delfosse
Nicolas is a stage manager for film shootings in Paris. He works for the cinema and television sector.
“I take care of all the logistics of filmand TV show shootings. Theynormally take place in Paris, sometimesin other regions of France. My work consistsin asking for authorizations to film out-side(in public places) or to park somewhere, in organising meals,accommodations, transports for thestaff, sometimes in negotiating the prices of decorsand in trying to find vehicles. For example, ifwe are shooting a movie that takes place in the 80’s,it is my job to find cars from the 80’s.”
“I have been doing this job for 12 years,since 2007. I didn’t reallychoose to do stage management at first.I wanted to work on film shootings and it was agood gateway to work quickly. I began to work in shortfilms for free and then the people I worked withon these short films asked me to work with themon TV movies, and then on cinema movies.”
“The working conditions are hard sometimesbe-cause we work many hours.The stage manager is often thefirst to arrive on the set and the last one toleave. We sometimes have to install the dressing rooms and everythinghas to be ready before thestaff and cast arrive. As we are the first ones toarrive, sometimes I wake up at 4 am, and I come homeat 11 pm. The extra hours are paid or not ac-cordingto the film budget.”
“Before I began to work in the cinemaindustry, when I arrived inParis, I was living in squats. Icouldn’t afford rent in Paris and it granted me sometime. Having to pay rent in Paris would havemean working in a full time restaurant and itwould have been too complicated for me to run fromset to set to distribute my CV.”
“I benefit from a specific unemploymentregime for people who areworking in the film sector in France.It allows us to live when we are not shooting. We pay contributions toan organization called theUNEDIC when we are working and this organizationgives us an unemployment benefit whenwe are not working. Therefore, I don’t work thewhole year, but rather only between 4 and 6 monthsdepending on the years. There are some yearswith more shootings, and therefore more work,but sometimes it is not the case. The rest ofthe time, I am unemployed but it allows me to workon personal projects and to support causes, e.g.the local campaign of the French Green Party (EELV)in the 12th district of Paris.”
“I lost my unemployment benefits once*. It was in 2013. This year was particularly harsh for every-one because there was a lot less shootings. As it was the year of the negotiations to reform our status for unemployment benefits, a lot of directors waited until the end of the negotiations to begin new projects. We were all in a difficult position. Hopefully, I could quickly find a big project of TV show for TF1 – one of the biggest TV channels in France. It allowed me to start over but this year was very difficult. Actually, that’s a problem we have to face each year because it is never sure that we will have our hours done by the end of the year. This is the stressful part. There is some comfort in this situation because it allows us to work on personal projects but this stress is always here.”
* This benefits are based on a minimum of hours worked in one year.
“I like the constant change that allows mywork. From one set to another,we don’t work with the samepeople, we don’t do the same things. All thedecors are different, therefore all the logistic isdifferent on each set. Every film is a new challenge. We don’t organisethings the same way when weshoot an American movie in Paris as whenwe shoot a little French TV film in the south ofFrance.”
“I could work with the sisters Wachowski during the 15-day shooting of the last Sense 8 episode that took place in Paris. It was nice, but it is not the same logistic at all as a little French TV show. The latter would last 5 days of real shooting and I would have the impression of having worked for 3 months. But, the pleasure of being on set watching the actors of a show you like act has no price.”
Alexia can be found doing yoga and meditation every now
and then and loves the peaceful sound of a river’s water running
or a cat’s meow. She loves hispanic civilizations and has a passion
for the concept of “buen vivir”. She is an ecofeminist environmental
activist who wants to spread caring and love everywhere. She
has been a member of the Ecosprinter Editorial Board since 2018,
as part of a strong belief that every political layer is important to
save our planet. That’s why she is currently working as a campaign
manager for the french green party local elections in the 12th district
of Paris while finishing a Latin-American studies master’s degree.
In her spare time, she sings, reads and runs a lot and likes to
go dancing - always at the sound of latin-american music.