From xxxxxx <[email protected]>
Subject The People Who Make Your Favorite Movies and Shows Are Fed Up
Date October 15, 2021 12:05 AM
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[If you watch television, or films, you should think about who is
making them and under what conditions. Eighteen-hour workdays, no
lunch breaks. Car accidents caused by sleep deprivation. A crew member
who returned to set the day after a miscarriage.]
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THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE YOUR FAVORITE MOVIES AND SHOWS ARE FED UP  
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Shirley Li
October 8, 2021
The Atlantic
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_ If you watch television, or films, you should think about who is
making them and under what conditions. Eighteen-hour workdays, no
lunch breaks. Car accidents caused by sleep deprivation. A crew member
who returned to set the day after a miscarriage. _

Mike Miller, vice president of the International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees, speaks to members at a rally on September
21, 2021., photo credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times // The
Atlantic

 

For months, members of a union representing more than 150,000
behind-the-scenes workers in the entertainment industry have shared
hundreds of these stories on social media
[[link removed]]—anonymous testimonies about
the grueling conditions on TV and film sets. This week that union,
known as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
(IATSE), achieved a historic milestone: In a near-unanimous vote, it
authorized a strike—one that could halt all Hollywood productions
for the foreseeable future.

Low pay and overwork is nothing new in the industry, Kate Fortmueller
[[link removed]], an assistant
professor of entertainment and media studies at the University of
Georgia, told me this week. Fortmueller’s research focuses on
Hollywood’s labor practices and, to her, the IATSE vote is the
“culmination of years” of efforts by crew members to improve
conditions. Conversations about harmful filmmaking culture have flared
up in the past, most notably in 1997, when the death of a cameraman in
a car crash after a 19-hour workday inspired
[[link removed]] a
lawsuit and a petition for a 14-hour work limit. But such discussions
eventually fizzled. Visibility for workers such as camera operators,
costume designers, and production assistants simply couldn’t hold
Hollywood’s—or the public’s—attention.

This year could mark a turning point, however. The pandemic changed
the entertainment industry, restricting productions, encouraging
negotiations over safety precautions, and forcing expensive (and
visible) compromises. “Nobody foresaw a Marvel movie going straight
to streaming,” Fortmueller said, referring to _Black Widow_’s
release on Disney+
[[link removed]],
which prompted the film’s star, Scarlett Johansson, to sue its
studio, Disney, over lost profits (they later settled
[[link removed]]).
“Everything has to recalibrate … Everyone’s figuring out their
relative power here.” For now, the union is still negotiating a new
contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers,
which represents major production companies. (In a statement
[[link removed]],
the AMPTP said it “remains committed to reaching an agreement that
will keep the industry working.”) I spoke with Fortmueller about
this labor fight’s historical parallels, Hollywood’s ruthless work
culture, and how a strike would affect viewers at home. Our
conversation below has been edited.

SHIRLEY LI: WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE UNION’S HISTORIC VOTE?

KATE FORTMUELLER: I mean, the 90 percent response rate
is _stunning_. During the last major Hollywood crew strike, in 1945,
the unions representing set decorators clashed over which one would
negotiate for them. Their infighting resulted in violence
[[link removed]],
but this week’s strike-authorization vote clearly shows tremendous
solidarity within IATSE. If you look at the history of Hollywood
strikes, many of the early ones were over compensation and working
conditions on set, but since the ’60s, all of the strikes have been
over residuals. This is a return to the early ’20s and ’30s, when
workers were fighting for safe conditions. It’s interesting, in
2021, that we are returning to those same conversations.

LI: THE “SAFE CONDITIONS” WORKERS ARE FIGHTING FOR NOW, INCLUDING
LUNCH BREAKS AND TIME OFF, ARE THINGS PEOPLE IN OTHER INDUSTRIES TAKE
FOR GRANTED AND, AS YOU’VE NOTED, HAVE BEEN RAISED AS ISSUES FOR
YEARS TO NO AVAIL. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS BEHIND THIS CURRENT SHIFT IN
FOCUS?

FORTMUELLER: Pre-pandemic, a lot of people were predicting that the
Writers Guild of America [which represents Hollywood’s writers] was
going to strike in spring of 2020. People were predicting that there
would be a potentially contentious negotiation because all of these
studios were launching streaming services in 2020, and so obviously
they were going to have to hash out these [revenue] rates. And then
the pandemic hit.

Since then, everyone has had a lot of time to sit and think about the
things that we do for our jobs. In Hollywood, productions weren’t
happening, so people who work on set were at home a lot more. Because
this work is freelance, you have to hustle for your next job and maybe
not take breaks between jobs. It’s feast or famine. So I think not
being able to work left people time to reflect a bit on work
conditions.

LI: WHAT ARE SOME OF THOSE CONDITIONS FOR BELOW-THE-LINE CREW
MEMBERS? WHAT ARE THE HIDDEN COSTS TO THE SHOWS AND FILMS PEOPLE
WATCH?

FORTMUELLER: There are people who have died from car accidents, so in
the worst-case scenarios, the hidden cost might be somebody’s life.
These unpredictable hours are bad for marriages, bad for long-term
partnerships, for being present in your child’s life. There are
serious health ramifications associated with sleep deprivation. I have
former students [who now work in the industry] who have told me about
foot issues they developed from standing all day on set, and they’re
not even 25. So these are young people who are experiencing physical
issues as a result of these long and intense days. It’s really a
question of, _Is it worth it?_

LI: FROM WHAT’S BEEN REPORTED ABOUT THE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS SO
FAR, IT SEEMS BOTH CREW MEMBERS IN THE UNION AND PRODUCTION COMPANIES
WANT TO REACH AN AGREEMENT—NO ONE WANTS TO STOP THE INDUSTRY FROM
WORKING. SO WHAT’S THE HOLDUP?

FORTMUELLER: There’s always money [to afford union-set fees meant
to protect workers]. If you go long on a day, or over a certain amount
of hours for filming, there’s a fee associated with it, so studios
build that into the budget
[[link removed]].
They don’t care. They’ll pay the fine. There’s a degree to which
[the AMPTP is] not totally antagonistic—they recognize especially
the top-line talent that’s a part of these unions, and there’s
more cooperation than it sometimes sounds like. But really, it’s at
a breaking point in terms of the work conditions on set. The union
won’t budge, and I personally think that they should absolutely be
fighting for this.

LI: HOW MIGHT BETTER WORK CONDITIONS AFFECT HOLLYWOOD ON THE WHOLE?

FORTMUELLER: Diversifying onscreen content gets a lot of attention,
and we need to change the composition of who green-lights projects.
But how do we shift Hollywood? Costume and makeup aside, many of the
unions that are striking are commonly white-male-dominated industries.
Who is excluded from doing an 18-hour day? These conditions privilege
certain types of relationships and divisions of labor.

I think for all these issues that people care about—accessibility in
Hollywood and diversity in storytelling—you need a production
culture that can support a wider array of people participating in that
work. And so a strike potentially can help change some of these deeply
unhealthy work cultures that currently exist.

Read: What the ‘Hollywood Jim Crow’ looks like today
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LI: THE LAST TIME THE GENERAL PUBLIC SAW IMAGES OF HOLLYWOOD WORKERS
PICKETING WAS THE 2007–08 WRITERS’ STRIKE. SO WHAT DO YOU SEE AS
THE POTENTIAL RESULT OF A CREW STRIKE NOW? WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE EXPECT?

FORTMUELLER: During the writers’ strike, crews didn’t have any
more episodes to shoot, so there were shortened seasons. [This time]
you, the viewer, might lose your week-to-week television [but] we’re
also in a very different climate right now. If production totally
pauses, and you have your Netflix subscription, there’s still a lot
for you to watch. And distribution has been so crazy the past year and
a half—there’s more TV and films on delay, so it’s not like
you’re lacking in options.

LI: IN THAT CASE, TO ZOOM OUT A BIT, WHY DOES IT MATTER WHAT’S
HAPPENING IN HOLLYWOOD AT ALL?

FORTMUELLER: Hollywood has always had this contract, freelance
culture and a very competitive workforce. If you’re thinking about
the future of work, Hollywood is a model for the practices that
currently exist [anywhere]. It’s part of a culture
that _does _need to change.

A large part of why we’re returning to these conversations about
work conditions is the influence of tech in Hollywood. The tech
industry is known for its horrible
[[link removed]] working
[[link removed]] conditions
[[link removed]].
These companies are now getting involved in Hollywood, which is a
unionized industry … I mean, if you watch television, if you watch
films, you should think about who is making them and under what
conditions. If you care about how your iPhones are made, and I think a
lot of people _do_, you shouldn’t see this any differently.

_[SHIRLEY LI [[link removed]] is a
staff writer at The Atlantic​, where she covers culture.]_

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