Charlie Schneider, an assistant lighting chief for Hollywood film and TV shows, is fed up with what he describes as pitiful wages and working well past midnight. The job is so taxing, he said, that a fellow crew member who had worked a string of 14-hour days fell asleep while driving home from the set and flew off the road.
“His car was completely totaled. And it was just by a miracle that he’s still with us,” Schneider said.
Upset about their working conditions, Hollywood production crew members are on the verge of a historic strike that promises to shut down the film and television industry. If negotiations with the studio fail to deliver a contract by this weekend, they plan to walk off the job starting on Monday.
Their union, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, is asking for sufficient breaks for meals and full days off on weekends; better wages across all job types; pension and health coverage for retired members that is equal to their last three years on the job, and an end to streaming service productions being able to pay workers less.
In a statement, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, said, “There are five days left to reach a deal, and the studios will continue to negotiate in good faith in an effort to reach an agreement for a new contract that will keep the industry working.”
The strike would come at a sensitive time for the studios. They’re already reeling from the pandemic, which shut down production for months and decimated box office sales.
The production crew union and studios re-negotiate a basic agreement every three years, but in a public statement, IATSE says things are different this time, partly because of the pandemic and the rise of powerful streaming services like Netflix.
Ariel Goodman-Weston, president of the union representing Hollywood’s costume crew members, which is part of IATSE, says a better contract is a matter of respect for some of the hardest workers she knows. Costumer pay is among the lowest in the industry, she said, and many of her unit’s members work long days to earn as much as sound or camera crew members make in less time. Why? She believes it’s because of the union’s “diverse” membership and that their jobs are classified as “women’s work.”
“[Storytelling] is the foundation of humanity,” said Goodman-Weston, adding that studios should value stories enough to take care of the people who create them. Her colleagues each have “such an amazing skill set and history and culture that they come from and that they bring to the job,” she said.
Dana Fytelson, a member of the union for cinematographers, which is also part of IATSE, is thankful her colleagues are speaking up. It’s “unifying us,” she said. Most crew members are too nervous to voice concerns about working conditions, because they don’t want the producers to hold it against them.
A script coordinator, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing future work, added that low pay can restrict marginalized communities, people with children, and those who lack backup savings, from sustaining their careers. For example, when she recently asked for a 50-cent hourly raise for a job that put her on-call around the clock, she was denied. Additionally, the script coordinator complained of a lack of upward mobility. Now that streaming services are producing short 10-episode seasons, the writers’ room is practically sealed shut to newcomers.
In addition to higher wages and meal breaks, Schneider, the lighting specialist, voiced concern about safety on the set. Production crew workers must often lift heavy equipment, for example. And long work days can result in accidents, on or off the set. Schneider added that during the pandemic the studios devoted big money to COVID testing and PPE gear so filming could resume. But he asked, “Why not ensure the health and safety of all your employees on a day-to-day basis, unrelated to COVID?”
According to Fytelson, some crew members are unable to afford a strike, if it happens. Crew members can’t apply for unemployment if they walk off the job, and some will have to seek income elsewhere to pay rent. “On one hand,” she said, “It’s short-term pain, long-term progress. On the other hand, we live in Los Angeles.”
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