Film Sound Worker Needs New Pitch

The late actress Billie Burke said of Hollywood, “To survive there, you need the ambition of a Latin American revolutionary, the ego of a grand opera tenor and the physical stamina of a cow pony.”

Had she worked in Tinseltown today, she might have added: the tenacity of a terrier and a bottomless trust fund.

Tim Song Jones, 42, knows this all too well. He’s been toiling in the film business for 11 years, first as a post-production sound technician, then as a microphone boom operator for the last three years.

But in the last several years, despite regularly sending out resumes, calling his union for leads, advertising in post-production guides and attending industry meetings, Jones’ Hollywood career has not advanced. In each of the last three years, the most he’s been able to earn is about $18,000.

“I’m tired of the constant job hunting, the hazards, the long, wildly fluctuating hours . . . and the inconsistency of pay,” Jones said. “I have a wife and 2-year-old daughter, and we need more income to meet our goals.”

The family, who live in Monrovia, have been living mainly on the earnings of Jones’ wife, Carol, 42, a full-time pediatric occupational therapist.

Jones’ frustration is a common one in Hollywood these days. The trend for more out of town production, film and TV budget cuts and other industrywide changes are squeezing people out of jobs, with the result that even seasoned veteran freelancers are finding they can’t make enough in a year to stay in the business full-time.

True, the most in-demand, experienced boom operators can still earn upward of $70,000 a year, but Jones is not a member of that elite. He attributes this partly to his quiet nature.

“I’m not a very good schmoozer,” he admits. “And that seems to be the lifeblood of Hollywood, even for lowly technical types, because so many referrals come by word-of-mouth.”

Jones also has thought about getting into looping (post-production dialogue recording) and Foley (post-production sound effects).

For help in focusing on his vocational situation, Jones spoke with Los Angeles career consultant and psychologist Elaine Kaback.

“I’ll explore anything,” Jones told Kaback. But as the two chatted, it was clear Jones wanted to remain in a Hollywood occupation.

She suggested a number of non-Hollywood possibilities: sound technology; forensic work; and recording engineering. She asked whether he’d consider teaching or office work.

He vetoed all those ideas, saying either that he wasn’t interested or that the nature of the work would not suit him. “When I think of a stable, formal office job, there’s a sensation in my gut that’s not pleasant,” he said.

“You have a dilemma,” Kaback responded. “You need to ask yourself: ‘Do I want to go on a route to help my marriage, income and stability? Or pursue my interests, the things that most satisfy me, so I can reach my career goals?’ ”

To move forward, she said, he needs to do some prioritizing among his conflicting values.

First, his marriage. He and his wife need to be clear on what each is expected to contribute as far as finances, child care, etc.

Second, Jones must be realistic in assessing his career prospects. It may take several years before he can earn a full-time living as a boom operator. Jobs in looping and Foley are even harder to come by, veterans say, and require a number of unrelated skills. What will the couple do in the meantime?

Third, Jones may wish to take assertiveness training, to improve his telephone and in-person selling skills.

Allan Nicholls, an assistant director and music supervisor who works with director Robert Altman, offered a strategy for Jones: That he try to ally himself with a sound mixer, the person who oversees sound crews, so Jones could go along as this person moves from project to project.

Here are the suggestions Kaback and other experts have for Jones and others in a similar situation:

* Maintain an optimistic outlook. This is one of the biggest challenges people who work in Hollywood face. The “big waits” between jobs affect people emotionally as well as financially.

Richard Wessler, chairman of Pace University’s psychology department, says it is essential to refrain from self-pity and negativity during these times. “Choose to be optimistic,” he says. “Believe everything will work out.” Remaining positive and action-focused, Wessler says, will help Jones feel equipped to handle the challenges.

* Involve your spouse. Jones and his wife may wish to set a deadline for Jones to succeed in Hollywood, suggests Los Angeles marital therapist Marion Solomon, who works with entertainment industry professionals. This would give Jones a formal goal to work toward. If the two still feel they need additional guidance, they should consider visiting a couples counselor or private therapist for individual sessions, Solomon says.

* Become more assertive. On the phone, Jones comes across as soft-spoken and slightly reticent. He pauses thoughtfully before speaking--a good in-person habit, but a drawback on the phone, says Jeff Davidson, author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Assertiveness” (Alpha Books, 1997).

Jones should smile when he’s talking to a caller, Davidson says. “It may sound strange, but smiles convey over the phone,” Davidson says.

And pauses, Davidson pointed out, “may unintentionally confound, confuse or irritate the other party.”

Jones might wish to role-play business calls with his wife or with friends, and record his work calls (with the other parties’ permission, of course) to see how he’s coming across and how he might improve his presentations.

* Know what it takes to succeed in a profession, and be realistic about the prospects: When Jones works, he can earn as much as $2,000 a week. But what can he do between projects? Gaining experience in looping and Foley may take years, particularly in Hollywood’s current economic climate, industry professionals say.

Both vocations require quick thinking and intuition.

Looping and Foley work might sound like ideal (and possibly lucrative) choices for between-gigs work, but gaining enough experience in these fields, especially in Hollywood’s current economic climate, could take years, pros say.

Most loopers are seasoned actors, trained in improvisation, and the best can do a wide range of voices and accents. They’re called upon to dub actors’ lines; do “call outs” (background shouts); perform “walk bys” (stroll by the microphone, improvising banter) and make “walla”--ambient crowd noises. An especially in-demand looper can make more than $150,000 a year at it.

But a great percentage of today’s loopers must delve into other lines of work, particularly acting, to make enough to live on, says Dee Marcus, founder of SuperLoopers in Culver City.

Foley work, which typically pays from $400 to $600 a shift, may be even more difficult to break into. There are fewer than 100 professional Foley artists in Los Angeles. Of this group, about half earn full-time incomes at the art, insiders say. Many have dance backgrounds and an understanding of human muscular movements, says Wally Burr, owner of Wally Burr Recording in Burbank. The goal in doing Foley is to move and make sounds that perfectly match on-screen action. Such people also need to be good at finding and using an array of props such as spoons, doorknobs, broken adding machines, and coconut shells--to get the right sounds.

The most sought-after Foley artists with 10 or more years’ experience may land as many 10 shifts a week, says Bess Hopper, a 13-year-veteran who’s done Foley for “X-Files” and “Look Who’s Talking.”

So how does an aspiring Foley artist learn the trade? It’s not easy. Most established Foley artists are unwilling to reveal their tricks or allow newcomers to watch them in action.

“It’s almost impossible to break in right now,” says Paige Pollack, a dancer-turned-Foley artist who works at Larson Sound Center in Burbank, explaining: “There’s not even enough work for the professionals in the business now.”

Vincent Guisetti, who’s done Foley for several hit TV shows, suggests first trying the art at home. “Play a silent tape of a show or film, and practice walking with the characters and matching sounds,” he says. He also suggests volunteering to do Foley for student film productions.

* Have a reliable source of fallback income. For most people trying to make it in Hollywood the way Jones is, that means finding a job with flexible or nighttime work hours, or an employer who doesn’t mind having you be away for extended periods when show business calls. Or working on temporary or other short-term assignments between Hollywood gigs.

“I always had 19 or 20 W-2 forms each year,” said actress-turned-publicist/writer Ann Convery, who waited tables, demonstrated toys and even handed out pens at Grand Central Station while she pursued an acting career. “But the best thing is to have a skill like word processing which you can do days, nights, weekends, whatever, and get $25 an hour for it, whenever you need it.”

The most diehard of Hollywood freelancers take the riskiest gambit of all to their careers: between gigs, they don’t look for outside income . . . they just hold their breath and hope.

“They say, ‘I’m a grip,’ ‘I’m a prop guy,’ and they think, ‘I can’t make this much money--two or three thousand a week--on the outside,’ ” says Barry Rosenberg, a Hollywood hairstylist since 1977, and owner of Kids’ Cuts in Thousand Oaks, who worked on “Apollo 13” and “Men in Black.” “So they call the union. They call everyone they know. And some lose their houses because they can’t make the payments. But they still don’t go outside the business.”

Jones has some tough questions to resolve in the days ahead. But if he can set priorites and develop a strategy for balancing his desire to work in Hollywood and meeting his family’s financial needs, he should find a way through.

Alice Gatling, an off-Broadway actress who teaches children in Philadelphia between gigs, understands Jones’ dilemma and empathizes.

“Whatever sacrifices you have to make to sustain the dream, make them,” she says. “The problem comes when our pride kicks in and we don’t want to take those steps. But in the bigger picture, they’re necessary in getting us to where we want to be. If we really believe in our dream, we’ll follow those steps.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ready fo a Change

NAME: Tim Song Jones

OCCUPATION: Freelance microphone boom operator

DESIRED OCCUPATION: Possibly [post=production work in sound effects or dialog recording.

QUOTE: “Stability, a sustaining amount of work and, of course, money are things I need to have right now.”

COUNSELOR’S RECOMMENDATIONS: Prioritize among values regarding marriage, career and financial security. Take assertiveness training. Seek additional counseling if needed.

MEET THE COACH: Elaine Kaback, PhD, is a psychologist and career consultant specializing in career development. She has offices in West Los Angeles and Redondo Beach.