Pyro CAREER Advice

My advice is to work with a company on their July 4th displays. They usually have multiple shows per night for several days before and after the holiday, so they are always looking for able and willing helpers to assist their shooters. Now might not be a bad time either since there are a lot of Christmas tree lighting celebrations, but these are mostly smaller shows (boom, boom, boom, done).

A company that does July 4th displays will most likely also do indoor/close prox and any number of effects. The company I work for shoots fireworks year-round for many types of events.

When it comes to education, it really is a lot like the rest of the industry, in my experience. Showing up, working hard and loving fireworks is a safe bet. The training you receive will be mostly in-house and on-the-job, and specific to the state you are working in. Taking classes at a university would merely be redundant (unless you want to open your own company, in which case I recommend a degree in Business). Here in Texas, you can study and test for your 1.4G [medium-level] immediately. Once you pass that, you can legally shoot medium-level firework shows. The 1.3G are the larger shells used for outdoor aerial displays (most common on July 4th). For that, you'd need to have helped on 5 1.3G shows before you are eligible to test. Indoor (close prox) may be a different can of worms, but reputable companies handle and train for these as well. New York may be more strict, but this may be a good thing for you since it also weeds out competition. Since you are willing to work for it, go for it!

In Texas (but probably many other states), you need to be listed as an Employee Possessor through the company you're working with, which is handled by the ATF, in order to be involved in shows (and transport/handle pyro). However, the process is easy and you really just need to pass a background check. My company did the legwork for me (YMMV, again, NY is probably different).

If you have any other questions regarding working in pyro, contact me or CreativeSPFX, who happens to be my boss. He founded Illumination Fireworks LLC and could tell you more than you'd ever need to know about the fireworks business.

Good luck! And to recap; call pyrotechnic companies around the holidays and the 4th. They are generally looking for people to contract in as long as they are willing to have fun and work hard. This can very well turn in to a full-time job if the company sees fit, and it's a great business to be in.

Source: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/special-effects/30172-pyro-career-advice.html

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