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Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

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Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#41

Post by AdrianB1 »

petee wrote: post #24
slownews45 wrote: post #13

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side. My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine. Maybe look for things as basic as: Mandated sto…

Most productions started up in August 2020 with strict Covid protocols; personally I've had 1 week off since then. Crews have been doing full days, with masks. Normal work under harder conditions. They finally offered 10hr turn around after we voted to strike; and its with strings. They cant even give an hour for sleep. Ive done the 14-17hr days, with 9hr turn around, and I live 1hr 20min from set, so thats 6hrs pers…

What is keeping people do this work? I understand medical workers to give all they can during these times, but not in the entertainment industry, it is not a critical sector. Nobody died because of delay of the latest blockbuster or soap opera.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#42

Post by toast0 »

TheDudeMan wrote: post #17
slownews45 wrote: post #13

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side. My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine. Maybe look for things as basic as: Mandated sto…

Aren't there already laws that grant breaks during work? Does Hollywood not abide by those? Who polices that sort of thing? (Also not very pro-union.)

> Aren't there already laws that grant breaks during work?

Last I looked (when working a 24/7 single person operations desk in California), you could just pay extra hours instead of having a 'mandated' break. For that role, having a legal break wasn't really feasible for most of the shifts. How are you going to get someone to cover for 30 minutes only at 4 am in the middle of the graveyard shift?

Anyway, that wasn't too bad, I did 4 pm to midnight and noon to midnight shifts, and it was OK to wander out for a few minutes to pick up takeout and eat at the desk. Lots of waiting around looking at the screen that stayed green most of the time. (Restart daemons when things turned red) Generally incidents only happened while developers were in the office, and there was one time the datacenter called to report a power outage, but it turned out it was just the breaker on the lighting circuit.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#43

Post by toast0 »

petee wrote: post #40
Aerroon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what would happen if they decide to move countries over this? Hollywood and other movie and TV production is obviously a powerful tool to sway the public. I bet there are some other countries itching to have their own media production improve. Eg the people putting money into these productions could take their money to China instead, no? The strike does seem reasonable to me though.

It happens, but at the end of the day only America looks like America, and they want that look as much as patrons demand it. Shows used to go to Canada until our tax breaks got better. Some things will always shoot here. Many projects are also tied to the whim or contract of the a big name star. Once they get digital movies down pat, they'll likely eliminate all our jobs as fast as possible. Which is why we are slowl…

> It happens, but at the end of the day only America looks like America, and they want that look as much as patrons demand it.

Lots of films set in Seattle are or were filmed in Vancouver, and you might not know it unless you live around Seattle.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#44

Post by [deleted] »

slownews45 wrote: post #13

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side. My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine. Maybe look for things as basic as: Mandated sto…

[deleted]

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#45

Post by Fricken »

petee wrote: post #40
Aerroon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what would happen if they decide to move countries over this? Hollywood and other movie and TV production is obviously a powerful tool to sway the public. I bet there are some other countries itching to have their own media production improve. Eg the people putting money into these productions could take their money to China instead, no? The strike does seem reasonable to me though.

It happens, but at the end of the day only America looks like America, and they want that look as much as patrons demand it. Shows used to go to Canada until our tax breaks got better. Some things will always shoot here. Many projects are also tied to the whim or contract of the a big name star. Once they get digital movies down pat, they'll likely eliminate all our jobs as fast as possible. Which is why we are slowl…

My home city of Edmonton recently stood in for Boston when the "The Last of Us" production came through last week.

Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary get quite a few more acting gigs playing various American cities in American productions than Edmonton does.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#46

Post by nradov »

Fricken wrote: post #45
petee wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It happens, but at the end of the day only America looks like America, and they want that look as much as patrons demand it. Shows used to go to Canada until our tax breaks got better. Some things will always shoot here. Many projects are also tied to the whim or contract of the a big name star. Once they get digital movies down pat, they'll likely eliminate all our jobs as fast as possible. Which is why we are slowl…

My home city of Edmonton recently stood in for Boston when the "The Last of Us" production came through last week. Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary get quite a few more acting gigs playing various American cities in American productions than Edmonton does.

I've seen a few movies where they tried to pass off Vancouver as New York. No offense to Vancouver but who do they think they're fooling?

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#47

Post by oceanghost »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #36
oceanghost wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a Walmart 20 years ago that would lock employees in at night-- even when their shifts were over, in an attempt to get them to work extra hours. My first gig out of college-- the company said they didn't pay vacations or holidays for the first 6 months. I had no idea this was illegal in California, but one of the other hires did and got them in some major amount of trouble for it. They also asked me to sig…

I think smartphones are helping change the game a little. With instant video streaming and ease of providing proof, I predict employers will be more wary of trying to get away with nonsense like locking people in, especially big employers. One big change that needs to happen, especially in the labor “friendly” states of CA/WA/NY/MA is modifying the all party consent recording laws to one party consent. Employers (and…

I agree with this completely.

I've been in situations where proof of what happened was badly needed.

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#48

Post by scrumbledober »

tonyarkles wrote: post #25
thrill wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, a lot of television shows really suffered due to it.

Although, if legend serves correctly, the entire last half-season of Battlestar Galactica was rewritten during the strike and the writers were much happier with the second version.

and we got dr. horrible

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#49

Post by nradov »

slownews45 wrote: post #13

I'm not super pro-union (plenty of mess there) but there really are some reasonable asks union side. My guess, folks have been NOT working the 12+ hour days, have NOT been doing the "rolling lunches" and other wild hollywood stuff (that a construction worker would think was crazy) during COVID. Might have opened their eyes to life outside of the hollywood dream machine. Maybe look for things as basic as: Mandated sto…

Sometimes when shooting on location with permits to close city streets and the like there are heavy costs to running over the schedule. Or in some cases it's not possible at all. They might also be using expensive rental equipment which has to be returned by a certain time. So it can be cheaper to just force everyone to work through lunch and pay the overtime.

(I don't think abusing workers that way is justified just to save a buck and I hope the union members achieve their goals.)

Re: Strike Date Set for 60k Film and Television Workers

#50

Post by petee »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #41
petee wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most productions started up in August 2020 with strict Covid protocols; personally I've had 1 week off since then. Crews have been doing full days, with masks. Normal work under harder conditions. They finally offered 10hr turn around after we voted to strike; and its with strings. They cant even give an hour for sleep. Ive done the 14-17hr days, with 9hr turn around, and I live 1hr 20min from set, so thats 6hrs pers…

What is keeping people do this work? I understand medical workers to give all they can during these times, but not in the entertainment industry, it is not a critical sector. Nobody died because of delay of the latest blockbuster or soap opera.

We're not saving lives, but we know what we make often makes someone's day better, entertainment is important in a pandemic. Past that, the people in the industry are fantastic humans you get to know as family, and there is usually a team spirit of "lets over come this adversity". The pay used to be acceptable for the work required, but that has shifted significantly.

The work is far different than anything in the real world and can be rewarding, even just to witness - I've helped burn buildings down, flood a bedroom, built canoes, treehouses and a guillotine, rig cameras on cars, and built scenery from 1600s onward, to name a few. Many see their contributions directly affect, and often visually, the end product, it can be pretty neat!

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