Looming Crew Strike nationwide

You hate to see it

I 100% support them. It's obviously a little different here in Texas where most of us aren't union but I can't even count how many times I've been on a shoot that not only went over the 12 hours but had us stuck there striking the set for another 3-4 hours only to be denied overtime with a "we'll hire you for another gig down the road to make up for it" line where they of course pull the same shite. Then anyone who challenges it magically never gets hired again. If I didn't have other sources of income and wasn't good friends w/so many people I work with I'd have quit doing commercial production a long time ago. Of course now that I have a baby I probably will have to b/c it's nuts how you can be set to work from 5am to 5pm yet still be stuck there until midnight b/c some dickhead creative wants to rewrite the commercial midway through. Those frickers are always last to set and first to leave too.

It is hard to argue with their main point, when they originally negotiated rates they gave streaming service a discount because, at the time, it was just starting out.

I'd say streaming services aren't little start ups any more. The original contract is up, they'd be fools to not get their fair pay from an established media source now.

Of course, this being big business, I could totally see the media dragging this out for months... costing themselves billions to save a few million.

Oh well, good thing their bosses support the unions, so they should be elated this is happening.

Good friend of mine works in NYC in the film industry, she was approved for a week and half off in the middle of shooting a TV show to attend HER wedding and honeymoon. Early in production her immediate superior took another job they brought in a new supervisor who denied her the time off.... she basically had to quit the show bc of concerns of not being hired for a future show. My point is that its not always the directors but actual union employee supervisors who don't look after the production crews under them.

Rates are at all time highs, not lows. Entry level positions might be close to minimum wage, but again it’s the entry level PAs.

I agree that hours can be brutal, but it’s not all this sob story being painted. It’s also part of what you get into when taking the job. Do you see oil and gas baws crying about 3 on, 1 offs? They know what they’re signing up for.

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Make what the market will bear.

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again. rates are literally at an all time high for heads of departments.

the living wage thing is a bit overblown i must say .. part of my job is building budgets and the lowest paid member of the construction dept makes $25 an hour and carpenters close to $30.

A good painter will make over $40 ... a set designer makes $50 + easy.

But in a sense you know what you signed up for if you work in TV. Films don't usually work such brutal hours. And personally .. my role is not one that is on set much thankfully.

Working below the line is just a miserable experience.

I went to film school and spent time on studio sets (with Oscar-winning filmmakers with positive reputations) as well as indie films. I've also made a few features and shorts and am friends with many involved with filmmaking at all levels. Commonalities spring from their shared experiences. I made a decision early on to not pursue the crew life. In general, far too many people treat others in nasty, backstabbing fashion. The hours are absolutely brutal, drugs and affairs run rampant, and broken families seem more the norm than the exception. Some of it is due to the nature of film production. Unless someone has a serious passion for film and a plan b, I would never recommend it for the layperson.