sound experience into a career in sound for film and television. They rec-
ommended he contact Charlie Knight, owner of a film transfer business
and equipment rental house.
"Every morning at 8:00 I knocked on his door and he would say, `Go
away! Go away!'" One day, Knight finally asked what Shotland wanted
and he responded, "I want to work as an apprentice and learn to run all
this equipment. I don't want to be paid. When I start doing whatever it
is that you do here, and I'm able to work on my own, then we can talk
about pay." Knight agreed to the proposal and Shotland started the fol-
lowing Monday. A few days into his training, he mastered the transfer
gear and was put on the payroll.
In addition to doing trans-
fers, Shotland began prepping
and fixing the gear that was
rented to sound mixers.
During the actors' strike, when
gear was not being used, he
came up with the idea of
renting the company's walkie-
talkies to the PGA tour, music
concerts, and other live event
promoters, earning him a per-
centage of the profits. He also
supplemented his income by
renting out equipment left over
from his sound reinforcement
days, for use in on set music
playback.
Ready for another challenge
and wanting to get out of the
office, Shotland started looking
for a new job. Through a soundman he had met at the rental company, he
received an offer to work as a cable man and second boom operator on
Highway to Heaven. Committing to work on the show for a season, Shotland
stayed until the series ended several years later. "They called it Michael
Landon's day care center, because he wanted people to see their families."
Instead of a 60-hour work week, Landon usually let the crew go after 40.
"After Michael passed on, I was talking to friends and they asked,
`What are you going to do now?' I said, `I'll just get another job.' And
they said, `Bill, you have no idea what it's like out here. The business has
really changed in the past nine years.' . . . Twelve-hour days had turned
into 16-hour days"
What do you like
least about your job?
"What I like least about
my job are the super-long
hours. I just want to
work 12 hours and go
home. Twelve hours is
enough for any person. I can't even express
how beaten up the body feels when you get
into 16- and 18-hour days, day after day
after day."--Bill Shotland
What do you love most
about your job?
"What I love most about my job is that I do
not go to an office. I'm in a different location
every day, so I get to see different things."
--Bill Shotland
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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