Flying high
T.J "Tiny" Good
Age: Early 40s
Industry: Building & Construction (Entertainment)
Imagine a job were you get to soar above the MCG on a wire system during the Olympics or hang from the walls of the Telstra Dome while Robbie Williams performs below. One man, known as Tiny, is doing exactly that.
Tiny Good has a job many would envy. He is the Director of his own company called Showtech that he started up in 1987. They are one of the leaders in the Entertainment industry, providing rigging and technical services for feature films, live TV shows, rock concerts and all manner of stage spectaculars. He got his name because of his perceived size while up high in the air working his magic.
"I run a company where every day is different, and you never know what situation you are going to end up in."
"I like to think of it as the Thank God Your Here of the rigging world," he jokes.
One day he might be coordinating a rigging crew at a stadium in Athens or Abu Dhabi and the next erecting the world's biggest 'half pipe' skate ramp at Melbourne's Avalon airport for a car tyre commercial.
"I get to play with a lot of big equipment and do things no one else in the world will ever do."
Riggers: Bringing it together
Tiny explains that the riggers do all the structural support for a production, they build the scaffold, climb around roofs, and ensure that all the lighting, effects and scenery can be supported.
"We are like the traffic cops for everyone else in the production. We have to liaise with lighting, sound, set designers, and technicians then talk to the stadium and engineers and work out exactly what can be done.
"We come in and bring all the separate elements together. And that's the challenge."
Tiny's list of productions is exhaustive. He has travelled the world with Circus Oz, worked on many TV shows for the major networks like Hey Hey its Saturday and the Footy Show, sporting events like the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Athens Olympics and toured on big name music gigs like Robbie Williams and U2.
With such an impressive resume, it is difficult to name a highlight, but Tiny says working as Rigging Supervisor in the 2006 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony has to be one.
"As well as designing all the flying systems and working out how to fly the tram across the MCG, we had to train the aerial performers, none of whom had ever been in the air before," he explains.
"So we were fitting and teaching them how to behave in a harnass in the air, then working with choreographers to ensure all the sequences would work seamlessly."
One essential component of his work is safety, and Tiny is also one of the few in the Entertainment field who is also a WorkCover assessor.
"I always say to people I train: it's not worth someone getting hurt or killed. I have no issue telling production managers and designers if something is unreasonable or there isn't enough time to configure it safely, though luckily that doesn't happen very often."
Getting in with a Trade
The way into this field for Tiny was through a trade. He always wanted to work in the Entertainment industry and enjoyed helping out the carpenter around the house when he was a child. "People already working in the industry always said to me, "Get some sort of trade skill behind you because it is always something to fall back on."
In addition, many people working in the technical side of entertainment use an electrical or building trade as a stepping stone into their career.
After finishing his schooling at Caulfield technical school in Melbourne, Tiny started an electrical apprentice with Philip Morris, and also got an early start working in live theatre shows.
"Showtech started out as a bunch of people providing the crew for some amateur theatre productions, and it grew from there."
He also did his 'Riggers ticket', now known as a Riggers Certificate, which Showtech now run courses in.
Opportunities
Tiny says there are lots of job opportunities and currently a shortage of stage crew.
"There are a lot of starry-eyed young people who want to work in TV or film but not actually interested in doing the work so they don't last. The biggest challenge for our industry is that the average age of riggers is about 36, and it will stay like that unless more young people get involved."
He points out that the work is not all glamour and parties and at the end of the day the grunt work always needs to be done: sweeping the floors, rolling cables, and cleaning trusses.
"After 26 years, at the end of a job I am still in there making sure the venue is in order and read for the next event."
Tiny says the best way to break in is to get work experience and then try and secure a traineeship with some of the big companies like Staging Connections.
"Get out there and have a go. It's a fantastic industry to work in on a contract basis. I know a lot of riggers who work hard during the Summer then take the Winter off skiing."
He may be Tiny by name, but he certainly isn't by nature.
Best part?
Running a company where every single day is different. It is always a challenge and always interesting. You are always stretched both mentally and physically.
Hardest part?
We do have scary moments, we work with a lot of big systems, and there is the potential for injury if everything is not done 100 per cent correctly. I always say during my classes, that whatever you are doing, it's not worth someone getting hurt or killed.
Advice?
Go and get involved in anything along the amateur theatre line and make sure you pick up lots of pieces of paper, get qualifications and certificates. Then hound production and AV companies for work experience.
What personal qualities do you need?
You must be adaptable, willing to accept directions and responsibility at the same time, and on time every time. If you want a 9 to 5 job you're in the wrong industry.
