On the Job at Fox Studios Lot
By Robert Fulton
The Fox Studio Lot in Century City is one of the smaller worksites in the IBEW Local 40 studio portfolio. That said, the workers at Fox have an outsize reputation for their longevity and dedication to the electrical work that keeps the studio running.
Local 40 Business Manager Stephan Davis said that the team at Fox ensures they’re doing the electrical work. He gave an example of how the electrical department brought in folks familiar with card readers who had an electrical background instead of outsourcing card reader work.
“Fox stands out because they’re really good about keeping a lot of the work in-house,” Davis said. “They get creative sometimes doing that.”
The Local 40 members at Fox work on anything from set lighting and HVAC to construction and a catch-all electrical repair shop.
Marco Alvarado is the Foreman of Fox’s electrical repair shop. He’s worked at the lot for 25 years, the last four in his current capacity.
“Our job is to make sure that everything that goes out stays in working condition.”
The shop is responsible for guaranteeing that anything electrical gets fixed and stays working. Or, as Alvarado put it, they plug it in, and if it doesn’t work, they go in and fix it.
“I love that part of it,” Alvarado said. “I love just getting my hands into everything.”
Matthew Manjares is a journeyman new to the electrical repair shop working under Alvarado.
Mechanically inclined, Manjares likes to dig in and get “into the basic mechanics” of “finding out how everything works.” The repair shop is a great fit.
“I like that it’s a variety of things,” Mejaras said. “We work on the roadrunners, we work on the light fixtures. Personally, I like seeing results. When I finish a job, just seeing it go from how it came in to it’s ready to go, cleaned up, that makes me feel good about the work.”
Fox Studios has what is essentially an Audio/Visual department. For Anthony Lehman, it is a shop of one. From what once was VCR repair (kids, look it up), he now focuses a lot on internal video conferencing.
“In this department, we do a lot cable system mainly,” said Lehman, who has worked at Fox for 35 years and the last 10 in this department. “That’s the main focus. From there it branched into the TV system.”
Ryan Gates is the foreman of Fox Studios’ Electrical Department, overseeing approximately 20 electricians. His team tackles maintenance, remodels, new construction, you name it.
“Basically, keeping this place running,” Gates said, who has been with the union for 20 years, the past five at Fox. “It’s always changing. It’s steady. It’s a cool place to work, see a lot of cool things here. Good crew. I really like working here.”
Gates highlights not just the variety of work, but also the camaraderie.
“Everybody gets along with each other. It’s a good environment. It’s just cool to see the change and grow up and stick together. It’s definitely been a good experience.”
John T. Field has been a union member longer than he’s been a Local 40 member. He started with Local 250 in Gardena but was turned off by the inconsistent work. He moved over to Local 40 and Fox Studios 20 years ago and hasn’t looked back since.
Field is the HVAC foreman at Fox, overseeing a nine-person crew.
“It’s constant work,” he said.
Constant work and the support of Local 40 have made for long tenures at Fox.
“You have people that are here for a long time and really value being here and the work they do,” Davis said.
