Is Big Tech Responsible for Potential Hollywood Strike?
By Movieguide® Staff
While big tech companies invest in their streaming content, Hollywood also faces a possible strike from its casts and crews that could crash the entire system.
Dot.LA reported:
The issue could even grind Hollywood production to a halt, as streaming’s rise and the pandemic flare tensions across the industry. What happens next hinges on how a crucial labor battle plays out in the coming days and weeks between behind-the-scenes workers and some of the most powerful corporations on the planet.
The union behind the workers who operate cameras, dress actors, build sets and clean toilets — the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) — will vote over the weekend on whether to authorize a strike amid protracted contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Some of the biggest names in tech, including Apple, Netflix and Amazon (which bought MGM), have a seat at the table alongside AMPTP’s major studios. That means their lawyers sit opposite of IATSE union members in negotiations over pay and working conditions.
IATSE President Matt Loeb also drew attention to the long work hours that often push 14 hours.
“We are united in demanding more humane working conditions across the industry, including reasonable rest during and between workdays and on the weekend, equitable pay on streaming productions, and a livable wage floor,” Loeb said.
Part of the IATSE’s desired amendments includes increased pay for streaming projects, which are not required to pay “full price” like traditional theatrical and television projects.
Reportedly, it was within Apple’s legal rights to trim the paychecks of behind-the-scenes workers.
“AMPTP says that they do not want to be forced to pay our pension plan fair residuals on streaming because it is an ‘experiment’ (their words). An unproven revenue stream. Which, lmao, maybe they didn’t watch the Emmys,” Ian Edwards, a digital imaging technician in IATSE Local 600, told dot.LA about the Emmys overwhelming focus on streaming content.
A 2nd assistant camera operator named Andy Kennedy-Derkay noted that streaming series often require more expertise and longer hours to shoot than traditional TV series.
“‘The Mandalorian’ as an experimental streaming property, can be much harder than working on ‘Two and a Half Men’ on stage, which pays proper residuals,” Kennedy-Derkay said. “It’s just ludicrous to think of things this way – as if we are shooting a web series, when we are making the most expensive television shows ever produced.”
Todd Holmes points out that the top streaming content—for example, Netflix Originals—offers little opportunity for any secondary market payout.
“One of the issues with streaming is there really isn’t that natural second market there,” Todd Holmes, assistant professor of entertainment media management at California State University, Northridge, told dot.LA. “So in terms of residuals, there’s really not a structure set in place right now for people that are members of IATSE to get any kind of money, because a lot of these things are Netflix originals. That’s a problem.
“The data is there. Netflix and everything, they keep their information very much under lock and key, but they have access to that information,” he added. “They know, certainly, the number of streams and they have a lot of consumer data, so there are ways to determine the residuals. It’s just so far the AMPTP, they haven’t wanted to include that in part of the equation.”
AMPTP noted that a strike would result in many jobless IATSE members.
“A strike will have a devastating impact on the industry and inevitably will result in thousands of IATSE members losing their income, failing to qualify for health insurance benefits, jeopardizing funding for the pension plan and disrupting production,” AMPTP told Deadline.
Despite AMPTP’s warnings, Kennedy-Derkay said that the strike would motivate change.
“Do I think it’ll work? Yeah I think it’ll work. And I think that in all likelihood when push comes to shove, if they decide to allow us to strike, they are going to get a wake-up call of what a powerful union can do and I think it will blow up in their face,” Kennedy-Derkay said.
“We’re used to going through hard times,” he added. “Crew members go through hard times every time they accept a job. The people who work for 70 hours a week for eight months, who don’t see their families, whose health and mental well being crumbles — they make incredible films and television and they show up every single day and give their 100% to craft the vision of the people they’re collaborating with. We know how to grind. We would much rather grind at a stage than at a picket line. But I have tremendous confidence that we will stand strong.”
“We aren’t asking for the world. We want fair wages and a safe and healthy working environment,” Salvador Perez, president of the Costume Designers Guild, told Variety. “The studios need us… We should be treated as a valuable asset — a partner, not a cog in the system.”
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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