Dave Brown

Dave Brown began his Film Career in 1979 – “helping do some ‘hookups’ for Good Pie Pork Pie.” “Being a Sparky, I was in demand and having done a bit of Rock’n’Roll lighting I was ‘in’. Then they called me a Gaffer – I had no idea what that meant!” “A couple of days later (as the Gaffer, on a TVC) a guy called Brian Kassler told me: a Redhead was the orange light and the Blonde was the yellow light – pretty easy, I thought!”

Dave Brown is happy in the industry and reckons the rest of the crew know what his department is about. “I think maybe the Lighting Department is appreciated by other crew – whether it be actually seeing the effect of lighting, or simply that there is power out there in the middle of nowhere.” His department has an immediate impact on everyone. Because of lighting “There is somewhere to plug the hair drier or the coffee urn into.”

He’s also upbeat about rates that have changed for the better since the early eighties. “The current rate for a Gaffer is OK – as with most rates, it’s the fact that you work the eleven-hour day that makes the pay packet look good.” He notes he could be earning a similar rate in his given trade, but would probably do less hours overall and likes the way it works for him.

Not seeing any obvious change in the ‘types’ being employed in the industry, Dave notes that attitude and personality will always get you the job and “the rest will follow – quite quickly actually..!”

“Most of my film work over the last ten years has come from features. Luckily I have been involved in most of large productions in Wellington. Fifteen years ago TVC’s were my choice. ‘In and out’ so to speak, good money, long days etc – and probably the best training ground for a technician. I was trained by the best cinematographers both from New Zealand and abroad. We had a lot of laughs and made some good mates. I miss those crazy days.”

“When the work is on it’s easy to make a living – well easy in as much as you are one of only a few and well looked after. However, the last couple of years have been pretty lousy.”

A few years back Dave developed a backup plan “I thought that I should have another string to my bow… better late than never!” He had always loathed the last few weeks of a shoot “you naturally started to worry about what next?”

Dave “threw some tools in a couple of vans, employed a couple of good sparkies and out we went into the real world of electrical contracting. It’s been good – not amazing – but good, and many weeks has meant the difference between the power bill getting paid or not.”

The business is kept ticking over and includes that essential ingredient “two very good chaps who I can trust totally which means that I can nip back and forth into the film world when I can.” Dave hopes the electrical contracting should fill the gap “when I’m too old for this game”.

Dave’s view of the local industry is it has “the very best crews in the world. That is our strength. You look at the talent we have – self-taught in many respects. I often relate the film industry to that of the music industry. Same level of talent and expertise exist in each.” Lamenting the fact that the Music Industry is paid a pittance in comparison with screen, he pays homage to “that ole self-taught thing” in both “teaching yourself is an amazing discipline whether it be how to play the guitar or make a short film.”

To grow in the future Dave believes we must trust “in our own people – our own technicians and artists.” He knows we have incredible locations and world-class facilities and acknowledges the role these play but he enthuses “we truly hold up against most of the international crews and artists I’ve worked with”. He ends with a typically Kiwi, softened assertion “we need to trust in our confidence, maybe.”

Dave Brown is 2011/12 NZ Film & Video Technicians’ Guild Wellington Branch Chair.