Life in Hollywood, below-the-line

Life in Hollywood, below-the-line
Work gloves at the end of the 2006/2007 television season (photo by Richard Blair)

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Not Again...




                              (Photo courtesy of Deadline Hollywood)

The ongoing Writers vs. Producers standoff appears to be going right down to the wire. On one side of that line is some give-and-take by both sides, then everybody goes back to work -- but on the other side awaits catastrophe. With the WGA/Producers talks suspended until April 25th, there will be just one week left to reach an agreement necessary to avoid the disaster of a strike. 

One school of thought considers this delay to be a good sign, indicating that serious proposals to bridge the gap are being hammered out by both sides in preparation for the resumption of negotiations. I sure hope so, but such brinksmanship can backfire if one side or the other balks for whatever reason -- and in that unhappy event, there will be very little time to regroup before they drive off the cliff together, taking the entire industry with them on a plunge into the dark abyss of a strike.

The last WGA strike lasted a hundred hard days, putting a big hurt on all of Hollywood and the industry beyond. There was considerable collateral damage -- we all paid a heavy price -- but those who were living paycheck-to-paycheck, unable to sock away a financial cushion, suffered the most. That was ten years ago, but the memory is still fresh, and nobody wants to feel that pain again. There's been some bitter grousing from below-the-line about what selfish, greedy assholes those writers are in bringing the entire industry to the brink of the unthinkable -- but there are two sides to every story, and from what I've read, the WGA has good reason to stick to their guns. Broadcast, cable, and the streaming networks networks have been raking in huge profits the past few years, while the writers -- thanks (among other things) to structural changes brought about by the ongoing digital revolution -- steadily lost ground. On its current glide path, the WGA health plan will go belly-up in four years unless the ground rules are changed. 

All those below-the-liners who are bitching about the writers need to stop for a minute to ponder how they would feel if their health plan was just four short years from bankruptcy. My guess is they'd be grabbing torches and pitchforks and voting to strike -- and they'd be right.

The upshot is this: if the producers aren't willing to share some of the wealth, there's going to be trouble for everyone.

Still, the merit of the WGA's argument won't make the juicers, grips, camera crews, script girls, set-dec and prop people, sound department, post-production workers, or any of the actors feel better should push come to shove with a strike in May. This won't be good for the non-union people in Hollywood either, because a lot of those suddenly out-of-work union crews will do whatever it takes to keep paychecks coming in, and if that means taking non-union jobs, so be it. I did my share of long hour, low pay, no benefits non-union work during the last strike, and although that sucked, I had no choice.* Shit rolls downhill, which means the entire Industry food chain will feel the immense pain of a strike.

As the old proverb goes: "When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled."

I hope it doesn't come to that. Yes, I'm out the game now, no longer dependent on work for my income, but a lot of my friends are still in the thick of it, and a strike will hit those people very hard -- and I really don't want to see that happen. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that come Tuesday, the WGA plays hardball, but within reason. Shore up the health plan and extract better compensation for writers who are now working seasons half the length they used to be -- and are paid accordingly -- but don't insist on winning every single battle with the Producers.  

Take some and give some, then get back to work with the rest of Hollywood. Please.

In other news...

It's come to my attention that the "Follow by E-mail" feature of this blog hasn't been functioning for several weeks now. It used to work, but now it doesn't, so those who signed up to have each new post delivered to their in-box probably think I've bailed on the blog. 

Nope -- I've been posting, but as usual, technology (especially free technology) can't be relied upon to deliver the goods, which (although this is entirely beside the point) is one more argument against computer-controlled autonomous cars, "smart" refrigerators, and the useless, absurdly over-hyped techno-bling bullshit that is the "internet of things."

Ahem...

I have no idea what's wrong or how to fix it. In my experience, sending an e-mail report of a problem to Blogger.com is every bit as effective as shouting "stop!" at the incoming tide on the beach. So if you want to read those and any new posts in the future, you'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way and click on over here to BS&T. 

Trouble is, those who have been depending on that "Follow by E-mail" feature won't receive this post, and thus never know that it's no longer working. So that's that, I guess -- those readers are probably gone for good. All of which just goes to show (as if we needed reminding), that if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. 

You just can't rely on some stupid robot to get the job done...


* Jobs like this...
 
 

5 comments:

Phillip Jackson said...

I've heard countless stories from crew that they either moved to LA or just joined their respective local right as the '08 strike happened. I always thought, 'glad that wasn't me.' So I find it a bit ironic that after I joined 728 last year this is now on the table. Going to be an interesting ride.

Anonymous said...

I agree mike.. although i have been out of industry for 3 or 4 years now, after over 37 years in the industry, i certainly experienced my share of strikes. They are devestating to all the below the line people. Not just Thousands of people but hundreds of small businesses are hurt as well. Hollywood really cannot afford a shut down. They never come back to where they were before the strike for the behind the scenes people.. i hope for the sake of everyone the strike is averted.. k

Michael Taylor said...

Phil --

That sucks. First you pay $6 grand+ for the card (and $255 quarterly dues), and now stand on the cusp of a work stoppage. The Gods of Hollywood are nothing if not cruel. Wishing you -- and everyone working in the biz -- good luck and no strike...

K --

You're right -- everybody gets hurt in a strike. I just hope the WGA can win their health care battle with the producers and settle for a modest increase in compensation, then shake hands and get on with it. If they insist on shooting for the moon in beating the Producers on every single bullet point, they'll blow it for everyone...

Austin said...

As another person who recently started working professionally in the biz, I too am anxious. Were union commercials affected by the strike in 07-08?

I always just search your blog in google every sunday/monday, so the blog has not gone unread in spite of the technological difficulties... thanks for continuing posting and hope retirement is treating you alright...

Michael Taylor said...

Austin --

I think union commercials kept filming, but I was so far out of the commercial loop by then that -- once the last of the union studio gigs petered out -- all I could find were low budget, non-union commercial jobs. It was ugly. But union commercials got hammered when the actors went on their own strike for a long stretch a while back. One commercial gaffer I know (who owned lots of rental gear) went from $200K/year to $40K because of that strike -- it was brutal.

Retirement is... different. Not bad, mind you, but very different from the last 40 years. It'll be a while before this feels normal.

Thanks for tuning in...