The 25-year-old Alan Smith (pseudonym) has been involved in the production of a popular American cable TV show since the beginning of this year, where he served as a production assistant. After 9 months of continuous work, Allen’s feet and waist were greatly injured. In severe cases, it was even difficult for him to sit down.
“We often work continuously for 16 or 17 hours, and the lunch time will be postponed to the time when the lunch subsidy is implemented. Because overtime, the lunch compensation that can only be paid to the people behind the scenes is often less expensive than providing a lunch.” Allen told the “Daily Economic News” reporter. “Many practitioners in this industry have similar experiences.”
After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Hollywood was closed for several months, and many film and television practitioners also lost their source of income. After the resumption of work, the major manufacturers eager to make up for the losses of the shutdown have become more radical in advancing the project, but the supporting working environment provided for employees has not been able to keep up, but has become more demanding.
Because of this, the people behind the scenes in Hollywood are brewing a general strike to fight for higher pay and reduce working hours.
On social media Twitter, an account dedicated to collecting stories from members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in Hollywood, USA, shared the hardships of more practitioners with the public. Among them, working hours that endanger health, low salaries that are difficult to support livelihoods, and unreasonable rest arrangements are the most frequently mentioned content. IATSE can be understood as a union of people behind the scenes of Hollywood.
Prior to this, IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had negotiated a contract for several months, involving the salary standards and working conditions of approximately 60,000 behind-the-scenes production workers. But the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement for a long time.
On October 13, IATSE Chairman Matthew Loeb (Matthew Loeb) stated that if a new agreement cannot be reached with AMPTP on improving the treatment of crew members,About 60,000 film and TV producers in Hollywood and streaming companies will go on strike on the 18th。
Public information shows that IATSE was founded in 1983,At present, the members of the union are the staff behind the scenes of about 150,000 film and television projects in the United States and Canada, with occupations such as photographers, editors, costume artists, lighting engineers, stunt directors and screenwriter assistants, etc.。
Behind the spotlight
Picture source of a shooting scene in Hollywood, USA: Visual China
“Everyone’s working environment has become worse in the past two years.The epidemic has made production companies confidently forcing staff to work for them under poor working conditions. This became the fuse that angered everyone and the reason for the high enthusiasm for this strike. “Allen said.
On Twitter, an anonymous netizen described: “Many people don’t know that the working hours of production coordinators, assistant production coordinators or accountants are very long.And they don’t have overtime pay. As the first assistant accountant, I usually work more than 17 hours a day, but the hourly salary is only $12. “
The netizen also mentioned, “I worked six days a week for 9 months, and went to the office at 8 in the morning and worked till midnight. My back and eyesight were damaged. I could only sleep for 3 hours a night, at 2 in the middle of the night. Still replying to emails.”
Jason E. Squire, an emeritus professor at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, told the “Daily Business News” reporter: “Many IATSE union members are free practitioners, so once they have no projects to participate in, It means that without a job, it is difficult to get a guaranteed salary.” Squier is the teacher of famous director Doug Liman, Marvel President Kevin Feige, etc., and is also the editor of “The Movie Business Book” The book is called a film business apocalypse by industry insiders, and the latest Chinese version will be available in China next year.
According to the annual survey conducted by the “PayUpHollywood” campaign initiated by WGA director Liz Apol,In 2020, nearly 80% of employees engaged in assistant and other supportive jobs have an annual salary of less than 50,000 U.S. dollars, and more than one-third of them have an annual salary of less than 30,000 U.S. dollars.。
As the headquarters of Hollywood, Los Angeles has gathered a large number of professionals in the film and entertainment industry. According to a study conducted by Freddie Mac in 2019, based on the median rent, Los Angeles residents with an income of less than $53,600 are in a “cost-burdened” state. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines families with “payment difficulties” as families whose housing expenditures account for more than 30% of their total income and who may have difficulty affording necessary expenses such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care.
More than 19% of the people in the annual survey said that due to the “no income situation caused by the new crown epidemic”, these people chose to leave Los Angeles or move to family or friends.
As usual, IATSE and AMPTP will renegotiate each union contract every three years. The last contract negotiated in 2018 will expire on July 31, 2021. Therefore, the two parties have conducted new negotiations this year. The focus is on increasing salary levels, reducing working hours, and adding salary for streaming media content. .
The impact of streaming
Image source: Every photo by reporter Ren Gang (data map)
As the film and television entertainment industry enters the era of streaming media and the rise of streaming media production companies, the film and television industry in the United States has ushered in an important turning point.
Streaming media companies represented by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu have begun to enter the field of film and television production, and Netflix has become the leader among them. In 2013, Netflix launched its first original series “House of Cards”, which was well received and made the first shot of its self-produced drama. In 2017, Netflix began preparing to shoot original movies, and since then, “Rome” and “The Irishman” have been launched one after another. And also in this year, Netflix’s subscribers surpassed the total number of cable subscribers in the United States for the first time.
The outbreak of the new crown epidemic has brought a huge impact to the entire film and television entertainment industry. The suspension of the traditional offline entertainment industry has promoted the rapid expansion of the streaming media market-Disney’s Disney+, Apple’s Apple TV+, Warner’s streaming media platform HBO Max, As well as the newly launched Discovery+ and Paramount+ in 2021, they have joined the streaming war and began to fiercely compete for market share. Major filmmakers are working overtime to produce new dramas.
The rise of streaming media has promoted the online development of the film and television entertainment industry, but it has impacted Hollywood’s original industry norms.
In addition to overwork and lack of rest, the unfair remuneration of streaming media workers is also a major focus of IATSE’s negotiations.
IATSE said in a statement that despite the huge project production budget of the streaming media giant,But the salary of streaming media practitioners is lower than that of other workers in the industry. Allen also confirmed this to the “Daily Business News” reporter.
Allen said that in terms of production costs, many streaming media programs have even larger budgets than cable TV programs, mainly because streaming media companies have received more financial capital support. Although the budget amount varies depending on the type of program, streaming media companies do invest a lot of money in their various projects in order to quickly expand their content library. But in terms of employee salaries, the streaming media giants are not generous.
Kate Fortmueller, an associate professor in the School of Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia, explained to the “Daily Business News” reporter that there is no substantial difference in the way traditional manufacturers and streaming media manufacturers produce movies or shows. The main difference is where the work is online, which determines the production requirements of the project and the terms of which collective bargaining contract should be followed for the employees’ salaries.
Squier pointed out to reporters, “The low salary of’new media’ projects is similar to the situation when home entertainment emerged in the late 1970s and 1980s. AMPTP believes that streaming media belongs to the field of new media, and this industry is too New and too many unknowns, they set a lower salary standard for union employees. But this is unfair, because English-based streaming media services are exploding in popularity and output. growth of.”
With the rapid development of streaming media, IATSE has also begun to seek more benefits for members in this field. The alliance has stated that in 2009, IATSE and various studios agreed that the new media economy is “uncertain” and that greater flexibility in terms of employment conditions is “mutually beneficial” for both parties. But this is no longer the case, and there is no longer a “mutual benefit” between the two parties.
Countdown to strike
American Hollywood Hilltop Nameplate Image Source: Visual China
On October 13, IATSE Chairman Matthew Loeb stated that negotiations with AMPTP will continue until the basic needs of its union members are met. On the same day, AMPTP issued a statement stating that it will continue to negotiate in the next 5 days and strive to reach a new contract in order to maintain the normal operation of the industry.
In addition to requiring more reasonable working hours, better wages and more rest time, IATSE members hope to gain a larger share of the large budget streaming media projects of companies such as Netflix, Apple and Amazon.
Squier pointed out to the reporter of “Daily Economic News” that the production of streaming media projects is no different from traditional production in terms of budget and personnel. At the moment when this kind of “new media” industry is exploding, the industry’s Practitioners deserve to be paid accordingly.
IATSE proposes for all works coordinators and assistants and other staffProvide higher wages, reduce working hours, extend meal time during filming, and provide additional salary for streaming media content production.. But AMPTP, which represents traditional Hollywood studios and streaming media producers such as Netflix, Apple, and HBO, does not give in.
“The possible outcome of this incident is that the two parties reached an agreement at the deadline for negotiations, or IATSE began to strike, but it may be short-term.” Jason Squier told the “Daily Economic News” reporter.
As of October 7, AMPTP has agreed to provide 10 hours of rest during each working day. Ford Miller told reporters that this rule has not been passed before, so it is a progress made by IATSE. But the problem worth noting is that many employees spend a long time commuting.
Currently, Directors’ Guild of America (DGA), Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Eastern American Screenwriters Association (WGAE) and International Truck Drivers Association (Teamsters) have issued a joint statement supporting IATSE as its members Seek better contract conditions.
The shutdown is costly
The Strike of the American Screenwriters Association in 2007. Picture source: Visual China
It is not the first time that Hollywood unions have planned a strike due to contract treatment issues.
From November 2007 to February 2008, WGA, which represents 12,000 screenwriters, implemented a 100-day strike due to the remuneration of the Internet and other forms of new media work. The filming of 60 American dramas was suspended, and a large number of works had no new production. out. The George Miller version of the movie “Justice League” and many other films in the pipeline have aborted; “Hero”, “Grey the Intern”, “Desperate Housewives”, “Crime Scene Investigation”, “Lost” and many other popular dramas are suspended and on strike Only slowly returned after the end. According to calculations by the Milken Institute, a think tank, the strike caused California to suffer approximately $2.1 billion in economic losses.
From May to October 2000, SAG-AFTRA’s 135,000 actors only went on strike against the advertising industry to protest the low pay of actors’ TV commercials. This was the longest strike in Hollywood history. Union members were responsible every day. Approximately US$2 million in losses.
Earlier in March 1945, the employees of the film company who joined the union went on strike to demand higher wages, causing nearly 60% of the filming to be stagnated. Later, more people behind the scenes joined, even on October 5 of that year. A bloody clash called “Black Friday” broke out, injuring 40 people.
Regarding IATSE’s strike statement, Squier thinks it is more like IATSE expressing an attitude and urging AMPTP to make a decision as soon as possible. The Alliance is issuing a serious warning, asking AMPTP to be aware of the seriousness of the problem.
“Once the strike begins, it will definitely have a serious impact on the industry. I think AMPTP will also take this into consideration.” He pointed out.
Squier predicts that there are two possibilities for the final outcome of the strike. One possibility is that the two parties have been negotiating until the deadline, that is, on the evening of the 17th, and finally reached an agreement and the problem was resolved. Another possibility is that IATSE members did go on strike on October 18. “But even if it is a strike, I think it will be a short-term one, because neither party can really afford a long-term strike.ActivityThe loss caused. “
reporter| Zhang Lingxiao Gao Han
Edit|Duan Lian Gao Han Du Bo Yi Qijiang
Proofreading|He Xiaotao
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