Meet Willy and find out more about his life as a build manager including creating sets for the Shangri-La area at Glastonbury 2019. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
Willy:
So my job here is build manager. I deal with structures – all the scaffolding and the big stages and also the set, the timber, ordering materials, booking crew, jobs list for the set building carpentry department. So I started on 20th May to mark out when it was just grass to my knee. A lot of the pre-production is me working with Kay, the designer, and turning her creative workings into working drawings and I'd send them to this scaffold company. They send them back with what they're actually gonna build and then the chippies and the set starts to go up.
I'm a musician, I play a lot of music and I ended up working for a circus company in Bristol. I wanted to learn a different trade, so I got into carpentry and scenic carpentry and things like that so that's where I learnt how to make flats and props and ended up here in I think 2006/2007 just, you know, on the unpaid crew and then starting getting paid crew and working putting set up. Eventually, I had sort of been here doing it longer than anyone else. So they said: "Do you want to do the build manager gig?" and I said "Yeah". 2016 was the first year I was the build manager.
It's really fun seeing the big structures. They look sort of quite small on a 13 inch laptop screen and suddenly you're standing in it and it's 10 metres tall. You know it's pretty good!
My advice would be, be active and be positive and work hard and smile. That's a really valuable skill being engaging with people and being quite happy to say: "I don't really know what I'm doing, will you help me?" Yeah, of course because there are some people who act like they know what they're doing but don't, it's just like no. But people who are open and willing to learn and be a part of it, that's what it's about really, skill comes later. We're not doing any fancy stuff here, you know what I mean? It's like it's all about the vibe and the passion and positivity – that's way more important.
It's really fun seeing the big structures. They look really small on a 13 inch laptop screen and suddenly you are standing in it and it's 10 meters tall!
Willy is the build manager for Shangri-La, an alternative arts and music area at Glastonbury, which was themed around environmental issues and climate change in 2019
He deals with building the big structures and stages. He works with the designer to plan and organise the scaffolding design, using an aerial photograph to work up drawings for the scaffolding company using 3D software
He is also in charge of ordering materials and booking/managing the carpenters and set builders. It's a very active job – he walked 280 miles during the course of the build this year
Willy started off as a musician playing for the Carny Villains, the house band for the Invisible Circus, a performance company in Bristol. Whilst with the circus, he became interested in carpentry and scenic carpentry and learnt his trade
In 2006 he got a job on the unpaid crew at Glastonbury through his connections at the Invisible Circus, then worked his way up to paid crew and becoming build manager in 2016
At school he liked Sport, Drama, English and Music. He went on to study Media Studies, Music Production, English and Sociology at college. He draws on Sociology when managing the team as he needs to make sure people are motivated and enjoying their work in often tough conditions
He balances his work as a musician with set building for other festivals such as Boomtown as well as other set builds, set dressing and movie premier installs
He didn’t have a specific career plan, but has always been open to opportunities. His main advice is to work hard and be open and engage with people positively. He has found it's important to admit when you need help and be willing to learn.
What to expect if you want to be a festival build manager
What will I get paid? Your income will depend on how long you have worked in the field and what skills you have. Depending on your skill level you may have to start with unpaid work until you have the experience and skills to get a paid job.
Where will I work? As a build manager you will work on location and build sets wherever the event is being held.
What are the working hours like? You will normally be working to a tight deadline which will be dictated by the event you are working towards.
What qualifications do you need to be a festival build manager?
None in particular - a positive attitude, a willingness to learn and a good people manner is more important although carpentry knowledge is useful. These skills can be learnt on the job.
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