Full Sail
Just Launched: Jonathan Klucharits
In FSBlog’s Just Launched feature, we talk to brand new Full Sail grads, right out the door from graduation, about what’s next for them as they head out into the workforce. This month’s Just Launched graduate is Jonathan Klucharits.
Name: Jonathan “Klutch” Klucharits
Degree Program: Show Production
Graduation Date: June 5, 2015
First Job: I did tech for my high school’s theater department back home. I did that all three years of high school, and halfway through my junior year, the teacher who was our advisor retired. And so I was the only student who knew how everything operated. The new advisor looked to me for information, to get everything written, and to teach all the incoming freshmen how to work everything.
Because of that I was able to work for a local church as one of their AV technicians. I also freelanced for a couple different companies. One of them was CPR (Complete Production Resources); another was PRG (Worldwide Entertainment Technology Solutions).
After Graduation: I’ll be on Warped Tour as an operations assistant. We’re doing 40 shows in 50 days. So I graduate on June 5, I drive up home to New Jersey on June 7, and then I fly to California on June 15. And I’m not back until August 10th. I’ll be living, basically, on a bus with 10 or 11 other people.
The Gig: I’m helping the operations manager. My job during the day is to be a floater and help with the day-to-day operations. Then if, say, we need help with a certain stage or location, I go and help them out. I just move from stage to stage. When we hit Canada, I’m in charge of making a manifest of all the rental gear we have. That just details what case is what, and what’s supposed to be in each case, so that customs knows what’s going on before we get there. At night, I’m in charge of communicating between the band and the tour audio company for the nightly barbecue. The barbecue is an end-of-day event for all the bands, their families, and the crew. There’s either a band or DJ that plays, so there needs to be audio support for that.
How You Got Your Foot in the Door: I’ve been in communication with Wynn Davis over at Career Development about it. Wynn is a former Show Pro teacher, and currently one of the industry outreach liaisons. He always wears a collared, gray Full Sail shirt. It says Full Sail on the front, but on the sleeve it says Vans Warped Tour 2013. So it clicked for me that this was the guy I needed to talk to. I sent him my resume and he really liked it, and I guess he sent it off to the right people.
Down the Road: My long-term goal would be to eventually get hired as a touring audio tech and then work my way up to being one of the leads for touring bands or touring companies. Networking is going to be a very big component of this summer. There’s a couple bands I would really love to be with. Against the Current is probably my favorite band at the moment. Another band I would love to get out with would be A Day to Remember; they’re one of the bands that really got me into pursuing a career in music.
Advice to New Students: Overall, my advice is to network and meet as many people as you can. Get business cards early, that way you have something to hand out to people. My advice for Show Pro students specifically is to get involved as soon as possible. We’ve even seen students who are still in Orientation Week and they want to get involved, so they come out and help us on Live Labs and shows and calls that we do around campus. Doing that stuff early really pays off in the end.
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