Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio In Talks To Join ‘X … 
Cannes: Latest Theft Affects China Film Group VP 
UPDATE: Yahoo Board OKs $1.1B Deal To Acquire Tumblr … 
‘Epic’ Toon Begins $14.5M Overseas Rollout 
Cannes: Sony Classics Wins Stateside Rights To Asghar … 
‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In … 
Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As … 
‘Saturday Night Live’ Season Finale Posts … 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $164.5M Global: Lower … 
Cannes: Backup Media, Memento Bring Heat To Fest Helmer Jim … 
Cannes: Sundance Selects Acquires Dardenne Brothers’ … 
Cannes: Wrekin Hill Acquires U.S. On Gabriele … 
Bill Hader’s ‘SNL’ Stefon Farewell: Video 
Cannes: The Weinstein Co. Books ‘Suite … 
BBC Confirms ‘Doctor Who’ Season 8 
Finally, Cannes Dealing! Radius-TWC Nabs Director’s … 
Hammond On Cannes: Wet Fest’s Official Competition … 
‘Vampire Academy’ Adds ‘Modern … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Shark Tank’ Finale Up, … 
Cannes: Worldview Options Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn … 
UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
Exactly two weeks after crew members on NBC’s Biggest Loser walked off the set, starting an IATSE-led strike against the producers of the veteran reality series, Reveille Prods., 3 Ball Prods. and 25/7 Prods, the union and the production companies announced they have reached a tentative agreement, putting an end to the strike that crippled production on Biggest Loser for the past 2 weeks. At stake were crew members’ health benefits as the Biggest Loser producers don’t offer any and, as a non-union show, working on it didn’t count toward the IA days crew members need to accumulate in order to get benefits through the union. The production companies, which have deals with DGA and AFTRA, had resisted going union with IATSE because of the steep price tag involved, between a half million dollars and $2 million, depending on who you talk to, noting that they paid the crew wages substantially higher than the the union minimum to make up for the lack of benefits. But sources close to the crew had countered that much smaller cable reality series work under IA deals, so Biggest Loser should be able to afford the switch. The strike drew growing support from outside and within the show. It was endorsed by the LA County AFL-CIO on Tuesday and then by the state’s California Federation of Labor on Thursday. The show’s talent, trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper and host Alison Sweeney, participated in an auction to raise money for the striking crew. Michaels and Harper also didn’t show up for filming on Monday as they didn’t want to cross the picket line despite having a “no strike” clause in their AFTRA contracts and and did cross it on Thursday after getting assurances that the producers and IATSE were negotiating a deal. Here is the two side’s official announcement.
Los Angeles – Both the IATSE and the producers of “The Biggest Loser” are pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached ending a week-long strike by the IA against the Reveille program
Production on the hit NBC show shut down temporarily Monday, Nov. 8, after members of the production crew voted to support the IA. Intensive talks took place during the week and over the weekend and the new agreement was ratified by the crew in a meeting this morning. As previously reported, AFTRA and DGA already have agreements with the production.
Crew and members of other IA locals have been picketing at the Calabasas location of the show since Tuesday, although production continued during the picketing.
Mike Miller, Vice President of the IA and Director of its Motion Picture and Television Division said, “This agreement is a positive step forward for the crew of ‘The Biggest Loser,’ especially in the area of health benefits. We are pleased to see them go back to work.” Lee Rierson, Managing Director and Head of Business and Operations for Reveille said, “We have reached a fair agreement with the IA while managing to avoid significant disruption to the production, and are happy to see our entire crew working together again.”
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
Loading ...
Sad. Another over reach by IA that will chase yet more production out of LA. Congrats assholes.
It’s the assholes that voted against nationalized healthcare that are chasing ALL production out of not just LA but the entire United States!
You think it sad that a show that’s minting money will at last have to provide its employees with health benefits? You’ve got a funny definition of sad.
Although I find it despicable, I can almost understand the greed of a producer who would rather drive the latest model Maserati than compensate his crew decently. That’s simple selfishness. But I don’t understand the sadness of apologists like you who think it somehow tragic that now crew members will have healthcare for themselves and their families.
Dude, you’re the one who’s the asshole.
Obviously you’re not in a union, don’t have a family, and don’t give a rats ass about what’s right and what’s wrong.
This is a network show. Network shows are basically required to be union. This should have happened years ago, and in fact the show never should have been non-union in the first place.
Another idiot heard from.
IATSE and it’s members win again.
…The biggest loser is… once again… Iatse. Jackasses
Reading comprehension must not be your forté. The crew got a contract and the strike was successful. IATSE — and, most importantly, the show’s crew members — are the winners here.
“Assholes.” “Jackasses.” Classy, guys.
I’m glad my Union brothers and sisters held out and got what they deserved. Congratulations, guys.
Whenever I read the phrase “union brothers and sisters” I always substitute the word “comrades” in my head.
So the production company paid the crew HIGHER wages than if they worked union? How thoughtless of those greedy corporate bastards.
Well now that the crew is going to get what they demanded in regards to healthcare, it seems only fair to cut their wages back to standard union rates to compensate for the increased costs.
Probably won’t happen though, they’d just start crying about how unfair it is to now work for union pay even though it isn’t a union show.
And god forbid that the two show hosts actually honor a “no strike” cause in their contracts either, we can’t do that in the name of social justice!
They happily cash the huge paychecks they receive from those same contracts they signed and I bet there would be lawyers involved instantly if those checks were ever late.
Funny how the rules only apply to one side, the politically-correct side.
All aboard the entitlement train folks, it just keeps a chug-chug-chuggin’ along… CHOO-CHOO!
Pathetic.
Kudos, Bluto.
You just said exactly what I was thinking. I can’t stand the entitlement mentality because it’s the opposite of the “I’m going to work hard for a living” mindset that is mocked so much nowadays. They got paid more– so they can’t buy their own health insurance? It’s called learning to live on a budget.
What a dumb comment. They were only paying $200-500 a week more than union scale, depending on your job. YOU CANNOT BUY HEALTHCARE WITH THAT.
And, HEALTHCARE IS TIED TO EMPLOYMENT you cannot BUY PRIVATE HEALTHCARE, it’s not like buying car insurance. If you do the policy with suuuuck, as it will cover NOTHING and be subject to high deductibles. Our Union IATSE plan is the way to go, it’s one of the best plans in the country. We deserve that as a benefit for our work.
What planet do you live on that you can’t buy healthcare for $200 – $500 per week? I have a great private policy that covers my family of four that’s safely within those parameters and closer to the $200 per week number.
HAHAHA!!! You are deluded. You do not have a HEALTHCARE policy you have purchased a SICK-CARE policy there is a huge difference. A Healthcare policy covers comprehensive treatment, medical prevention, we have healthcare clinics, dental, vision, mental health, acupuncture, the works.
For $200 a week you are paying for a policy that has at least a $5000 annual deductible that will not be there when you need it, at any time you can be booted out no matter the premiums you have paid, it’s filled with loophole clauses like PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. Where have you been during the healthcare debate? Clearly you do not read the news nor have you ever been to the doctor recently.
Most Americans get their Healthcare either from their Employer or THEIR UNION. You simply cannot buy private Healthcare worth a damn in this country you cannot do it, unless you want to spend at least $25,000 per year on it. Since you don’t get this, you are probably one of those moles that slim off the E.R. for free. That is not Healthcare.
The IATSE provides us with a real comprehensive plan, the best in the business the Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plan. It’s real Healthcare we use it, we pay little co-pays, no deductibles, and everything is covered for real.
You cannot buy Healthcare in America. You can buy SICK-CARE policy.
Most Americans get their Healthcare through their employer or THEIR UNION. Our IATSE union plan is the best in the business it covers everything with no deductibles, including preventative care, free health clinics, mental health, dental, vision, everything.
If you just purchase healthcare privately you will be subject to high deductibles of at least $5000 per year up to $25K. Also you can be kicked out at any time, they can drop you when you get sick, pre-existing conditions…. not when you are on an employer/union based plan.
Sorry but that’s the way it is in America…. be employed or have no Healthcare.
Most Americans get their Healthcare through their employer or union. You cannot buy private Healthcare that is decent because it is filled with loop-holes like high deductibles ($5-$15K per year) and also they can drop you when you get sick, and for pre-existing conditions.
Our Union Healthcare is a real HEALTHCARE plan that covers everything with no extra costs other than basic co-pays ($10). And it covers preventative care, mental health, free health clinics, the works.
That’s the way it is in the USA, be employed, in a union, or get no healthcare!
UNION HEALTHCARE,
First of all, my plan is not $200 per week, but it’s certainly nowhere even near $500 per week. You’re a freakin’ idiot. I can and do go to any doctor I like with a very low deductible. I got in on a group buying plan through another organization. If you had half a brain, you’d know this is possible. Perhaps you’re better off being a member of a union so you don’t have to do your own research and think for yourself. You can concentrate on things like lift kits which denim jacket compliments your mullet.
“Entitlements”? WTF planet are you from? These people are professionals, you retard, and are in unions which actually get them things like health care and retirement benefits.
I guess you work at a Taco Bell and are fine with your seven bucks an hour. Knock yourself out.
But when you do get a real job, and a real career, you’re probably gonna think having a few “entitlements” are justifiable considering the large percentage of your life you’re giving over to your employer.
Asshole.
The anti-union comments on here seem really misguided. The show had already been covered under DGA, so why not IA?
Also – this isn’t some basic cable, $50,000/per show struggling in it’s first season.
Biggest Loser can afford it. Good for IA. Deals can be made.
Non-union television will not be pushed out of los angeles.
Reality TV is not like film – it is lower budget by nature – with a much smaller profit margin than film. Because of this it has much less flexibility and due to it’s localized nature (esp this show, being focused on Americans) must happen in the states.
In addition, in order to stay profitable, reality tv producers work on multiple series at once in order to sustain a fat paycheck. This is easiest if all of your shows are local or travel and come back to your homebase.
Strikes by non-union employees on these types of shows do one very important thing – legitimize the work of writers and editors who pour significant amounts of their lives into these shows. It would also provide essential benefits to these employees.
The film and scripted TV world is different and the unions have overstepped their bounds. But this is a different fight.
The show has been on the air for TEN YEARS. The directors ARE union. The producers ARE union.
The crew works overtime, doesn’t get paid. The crew has to leave BL and work other shows to get hours for their health care.
Why do you people think the crew is so horrible??
Uh, because they’re a bunch of Fox News fanatical koolaid drinkers who think “Unions is BAAD”
People with brains know better.
The producers are not “union”. Story Producers need representation as well!
There was a need for entertainment industry unions at one time. And now any more the unions are just bullies with a mob mentality and tactics. A lot of production work continues to take their business to right to work states as a result which has and continues to hurt many of us below-the-line. An employer has every right to not employ non-union labor and to not be arm twisted and bullied by union leadership who are only interested in fattening their union coffers. For those of you who still think that the unions are only concerned about their members’ interest —- well, there are some people who also think that Elvis is alive and working at the 7-11.
The unions as a whole are loosing their grip on labor as evidenced by a sharp reduction in union membership in recent years. Therefore union leadership is running scared and using mob tactics against employers.
This sounds like a comment of somebody WHO HAS NO CLUE what working in Hollywood means.
“There was a need for entertainment industry unions at one time??” Really???
THAT TIME IS NOW.
In Hollywood we are all Freelance Employees, we work from show to show, project to project. As skilled crew members from production (camera, sound, wardrobe) to post-production (editors and story producers) we NEVER get paid any Healthcare by these shows. Because we are part of a temp work pool.
Biggest Loser had been on the air for many seasons and was paying no benefits. The only way we get those benefits is THROUGH OUR UNION LOCALS, which are all managed under IATSE.
Again you have little idea what you are talking about. But who cares about your misguidance, the point is Biggest Loser work that we do will now be CREDITED TOWARD OR HEALTHCARE! Congratulations!
Wow, I’m amazed at how many complete morons read this site and decide to make complete idiots of themselves by posting.
The only way entertainment workers get health care is through the unions, you idiot.
Unfortunately, the Tea-Party crowd has discovered Deadline and brought their celebrated ignorance with them.
Good post, but unfortunately it will fall upon many deaf union ears in Hollywood. Anyone who paid attention during economics class in school understands that unions and capitalism just don’t mix, and as history has shown, in a democracy its capitalism that ultimately wins.
I ask the union supporters on here to name 1 industry that has been helped by a union? Have you given up….don’t think too hard because the answer is ZERO! Follow-up question, how many industries have been hurt or destroyed by unions? Ok, you can stop trying to think, because the answer is EVERYONE IN WHICH THEY ARE INVOLVED! Pull your head out of your health insured asshole and do some reading….and try to think, and not just listen to what your union or someone else tells you. Steel, mining, automotive, shipping, education, postal employees, healthcare, etc.
Unions are important and relevant in developing countries and economies, and not in mature and regulated democracies. Think of how many more people would be employed in Hollywood if it weren’t for the labor unions?
I love it when union members complain about ‘management greed’ and how much $$ a show makes and how they think the union fights for them. What morons…management will always find a way to lower its’ cost and shift jobs elsewhere to save money.
So yes, IATSE may have won this little battle in the short term, but over time, its actions like these that will continue to drive jobs to other cities and countries with lower labor costs. So now who really is greedy???
You moron, the MIDDLE CLASS was created by Unions.
No more Unions, no more middle class. Which is what is happening right now.
You obviously don’t even work in the entertainment industry.
Congratulations to all the crew and all the supporters for STANDING UP! We Won! We now can earn what we deserve, which is more than a paycheck. Healthcare, overtime, pension….
This is the start of a good trend. We need MORE UNION shows!
The TV and film industry is one of the most abusive work places you can find. The Unions provide a small amount of protection for crews who’s hard work makes millions for producers, studios and networks. As this article points out, while the Union provides benefits, it also puts caps on salaries of crew members who might otherwise be able to negotiate a higher salary on their own.
Sorry but you have this backwards. The union sets a minimum base pay scale (“Union Scale”) and requires a benefit package. However crew members can be and certainly are PAID MORE than Union scale. The production company wants to attract the best so sometimes they pay more. There are No Union Caps on salary, that’s not true.
And we do not look at the “Benefit Package” the union provides as something that should somehow be deducted from salary. We demand Healthcare be paid us as a basic right. Salary on top of that is at a union minimum but any crew member can negotiate for more and often we do get much more.
My point is that the studios and the networks look at the Union rates and use that to keep rates down. Yes, you can get above scale, but only to a certain point. They use the minimums to set blanket rules across all of their shows. I love my Union health care BUT I would be able to negotiate a much higher salary without the Union setting a minimum rate. That’s all. Once you get to a certain level of expertise it can work against you.
I’d sure like to read the terms of the “tentative agreement”.
Congrats to my union brothers and sisters. Glad to see you getting the benefits you deserve.
For the person who claimed that the profit margins are lower on reality shows, please, get a clue.
The grosses are lower, the profits are huge. Especially on shows like this who had been getting away with not paying benefits that the crew was entitled to.
They pay their “talent” less, they pay the contestants less, they try and pay their crews less and they sell commercial time at the same or higher rates than the scripted programs do, please explain how their profit margins are less again? The only thing that they don’t have is residual income cause even the idiots who watch crap like “Biggest Loser” and “Dancing with the alleged stars” don’t want to watch the same episodes over and over again.
you’re mixing up who’s really making the money. A production company (I’m an owner of one of them) may make the show at whatever budget the network is willing to pay but they (the prod. co.) do not participate in any way with what they network sells the commercial time for. And often (at least in our case), we don’t own the show or the foreign (the network takes all that) so we make our big fat fucking 10% fee EXACTLY one time. And that’s it.
our crews make far over union minimums and I really wouldn’t care if we went union but only if we knew it from the outset because I would have to adjust the pay rates downward by at least the P&W to get the budget approved. Cause I can tell you that the network isn’t going to pay us one cent more because the show got flipped. they’ll just take the show away from us or cancel it if they can’t make the budget work. and depending on our lock (which, by the way, is never guaranteed), we might just lose the whole show.
the real enemy here, people, is the fact that there are six big media companies and they own everything and WE ARE ALL beholden to them. I can’t make a show unless they order it and every one of my contracts specifically forbids us to go union or have any residual payments due as a result of producing the show (beyond music cues or other clips pulled). they also have final budget approval and trust me, it’s them that push and push us to the edge as far as how much work has to be accomplished in whatever time frame possible. We don’t make more money by punishing our workers or not hiring enough of them. If there are underages, the network claims them and that’s that.
our wages (the owners) are not 20 or 30X what are lowest paid employees get — why don’t you try about 7X? wow. I’m on the fast track to that house in Malibu, huh? NOT.
I have no problem with the concept of unions or of them providing health care and all the rest. my personal experience with the leaders of IATSE, however, was less than pleasant as they walked in and acted as if I was paying people $5 a day to work 18 hours and acted like we ran a slave labor camp. that was hardly the case.
the ironic thing about the Republicans (I’m not one of them, either) is that they hate the unions across the board and if they ever really wanted to drive a stake through the heart of them, working with Obama to solve this nation’s woefully inadequate health care system’s problems would have been the easiest step to take. most of what the unions offer today (now that workplace safety and many labor laws are now in effect and you can get whistle blown pretty easily) is the pension and the health plan. everyone knows that pensions are quickly becoming a thing of the past as they’re underfunded and will quietly go bankrupt so we’re left with health insurance. if we had a national health insurance plan — basically Medicare for all (whoops, we already have one) — then the unions offering up health insurance based on their arcane counting system becomes moot.
just sayin’.
This is very well said. You are right, if we had a real HEALTHCARE policy in this country that was NOT tied to employment, then true unions would be obsolete. Or why don’t they simply create a “Healthcare Union” for any American worker to join, that way when I freelance at any company for any length of time something is put into a plan for Healthcare.
For those of you who remarked that I have no clue concerning the entertainment industry and its workings, I have been a below-the-line production professional for some 25 years with both union and non-union shows. Right to health care and fringes some of you say? Rights you say? You have no right to anything in this regard. Buck-up kids. Be self sufficient and provide for yourselves instead of relying on big daddy mob attitude unions to do it for you. Get used to being self sufficient as the unions are on their way out.
By the way, some of your, shall I say, colorful words uncovers your immaturity.
Hey IATSE assholes… guess what… productions are going to continue heading to places like Bulgharia, Columbia, Mexico, anywhere but here. As a producer, I’ve beat 4 union strikes and I’ll continue to beat them, because people have a right to work, and if employees are paid fairly then employers can’t be forced to go Union. That’s called Freedom you Communist pricks
here here! I executive produce two reality series, and if Iatse tried to flip us, guess what, I’d simply hire permanent replacements. You know why, it’s reality TV; smaller budgets, shorter schedules, and quite honestly, there are thousands of people willing to work non-union. Also your so-called “skilled positions” don’t take much skill. Most of you don’t know what a hard days labor is. You bitch about working conditions and unfair wages, but go work at McDonald’s, wait tables, work on a Farm, in construction, cleaning streets… then you can bitch about working conditions or unfair wages. You’re all pampered babies.
It’s because of pricks like you that Unions were necessary in the first place. Fascist douchebag.
Wow clearly you are an angry ugly person who has never been to the Doctor. You will be probably dead in 2 years from lung cancer so you do not value life and I can see why you have no care or concept about paying your workers Healthcare because that does not mean anything to you.
Go away, you are a bad producer whom will be obsolete soon.
yes, but do you have any EMMYS?
It’s funny. Ever notice how all these knee-jerk union-haters are never actually in a union? In other words they have no idea how much better it is to work on a union show. They’re mistakenly having tantrums about “entitlement mentality” and complaining about “unions driving production to right to work states”, even though here is tangible proof of a union victory. The show has not moved to Romania, and frankly no one is entitled to any more or less than they can negotiate, collectively or otherwise.
What is wrong with these people? Are they stupid? Are they ideologues? Why so much thoughtless hostility? I honestly do not get it.
The point is if you are grown up enough to produce your tv show or movie here in Los Angeles, still the global capital of the entertainment industry, you are grown up enough to sign a union contract. If you are a producer and you want to spend months of your life living on location in rural Louisiana or wherever, because you don’t want to provide health insurance, as far as I’m concerned you can go right ahead.
Yeah, sometimes the union could be better, more effective, more strategic, etc. But it’s way, way, WAY better than working non-union.
And you whiners out there seem to be missing another basic point: in unity there is strength. The goal should be to unionize all the non-union production out there, regardless of where its shot, not the other way around.
So, to all you actual working non-union crew people, if you do get a chance to join IATSE, it’s highly recommended. The old bumper sticker “Live Better/Work Union” is absolutely true…
hey Phil, you wouldn’t happen to be the same Phil who’s a local IATSE rep would you? Of course unions are better…. FOR YOU AND THE UNION MANAGEMENT. What about all the jobs you costs those members who actually want to, and agree to, work non-union? Union wages go to paying the management so they can justify their salaries, and keep getting elected… There is no strength in IATSE anymore… it’s a joke. Most producers I know who have been faced with an IATSE strike have either hired permanent replacements and beat the strike (hence costing the IATSE members their jobs) or moved to a non-union location (hence costing the IATSE members their jobs)… Selfish pricks. IATSE doesn’t care about it’s members, it only cares about it’s dues. How many JOBS does IATSE GET it’s members? NONE. TOTAL BS!
Now if only the writers were made union. Oh wait, the WGA doesn’t give a crap about them. So now the people that work infinitely longer hours than the crew and generally get paid less than the crew can continue to work without health insurance while crafting the content of every episode. The story arcs that viewers tune in for. Fantastic.
AGREED!! Does Iatse rep he story people? forget wga, they don’t seem to care about us.
A brave move for the crew and IATSE standing up against the giant and fighting for what is right and fair. You are all true Americans looking out for the generations to come.
Hey union retard. If you want to be paid like a producer, become a producer. If you want to remain a blue collar laborer, then deal with it. Also, get an education jerkoff, Unions were started a very long time ago, to fight low wages and poor workplace treatment… Unions are obsolete now, it’s almost a century later… I’m a non union below the line worker and I am pretty certain that no non-union film set I’ve ever worked on is anything like a company owned coal mine and town, or a detroit factory in the 20′s. Get a clue, this isn’t On the Waterfront… It’s Capatalist America… And with the expansion of the global economy and the breaking down of international barriers unions are becoming more and more worthless… The reason iatse is up in arms is because they are becoming obsolete, because they have no control, and the union management is going to be out of their cushy union paid jobs. And learn what the word Fascist means genius… You’re giving us blue collar boys a bad name!
How about if I WANT HEALTHCARE? And I want my employer to pay for it cause he’s the one using and abusing my body everyday when i work for him. The only way I can get Healthcare is THROUGH MY UNION. Otherwise employers don’t pay Healthcare to “temporary production crew.”
3Ball never paid anyone HEALTHCARE before. Now, after the Strike THEY DO. This is a HUGE WIN for us.
well said by the iatse propaganda machine… There was nothing brave about this, and within 20 years time, iatse will be non existent. Right to work a-holes! Iatse is the main culprit behind runaway production. Does that make IATSE “real americans”? Sending jobs and tax dollars overseas because of your outrageous mob tactics and policies. What a joke. I’ll rest easy knowing that regardless of your hack union, you are now, and always will be, an employee, hence expendable and replaceable.
There seems to be a lot of confusion about RUNAWAY PRODUCTION. Ill clear it up since Im a DP that lives in LA and travels out of state and country A LOT. I work features, tv and commercials. THEY ARE ALL UNION. The IA is a national union and even in foreign countries we work union. Canada, Puerto Rico(Fast and Furious was just there and all union), etc… The reason production leaves LA is that there are better TAX INCENTIVES or the exchange rate is better. Its that simple. When we go out of town we want union talent, because we dont have time or money to learn that the non-unoin crews dont have the experience we expect and we have to scrap a scene or reshoot it. You dont spend millions of dollars a day to have an issue, you spend it to get results and you get results from people that do that as a career and have provided this level of production value over and over. Right to work states are filled with unskilled crew that one day maybe a camera assistant and the next art department. Never perfecting any one skill. Many of you union haters just repeat talking points without actually realizing that this union is a craft union of highly trained specialists with most members having college degrees and others like me advanced post graduate degrees.
These union haters should list all the money making non union shows so that I can list all the money making UNION shows. Then you can see why the studios want to shoot union because the ROI on union shows is and always has been the sure bet.
One more time.
If those of you who use immature language in a feeble and idiotic attempt at civil discourse can do no better, go back home and grow up. No wonder you need big daddy unions to take care of you because it seems obvious you cannot take care of yourselves.
The time for unions is done. Get over it. I am a member of three entertainment industry unions. None of them have ever done anything for me in over 20 years. All they do is take your dues to support their full time union admin jobs and give money to crooked politicians.
Wake up, people.
A bunch of corporate ideologue candy pants mama’s boys stomping their feet and screaming how the Unions are dead in the comments section of an article reporting on a Union victory.
Friggin’ hilarious!
Got Irony?
We can go ahead and vilify the unions but in fact they simply represent PEOPLE. It is not the IA’s job to try and intimidate or scare people or force there way into a production. Instead they offer members a platform with which they negotiate for decent wages and fringes. There are many unscrupulous (some might call them greedy) producers and companies out there willing to exploit a younger, non-union workforce. But the collective bargaining agreements maintains an orderly system. DGA has one. WGA has one, SAG and IATSE each have one.
Should we trash the directors and the actors because they have a better deal? The only complaints you will hear are when health insurance costs rise 30% and the cost of living goes up and honest men and women are asked to accept less than the going rate.
TV, especially Reality TV have enjoyed the non-union exception for too long. It’s time to level the playing field.
AMEN to that! Well said.
Hey DPonsomeoneelses set. You’re dead wrong. I’m a producer and ex studio exec. People don’t leave LA because of better tax incentives… Sure sometimes that helps make the decision easier… But the reason for Runaway production is becuase of the astronomically high cost of shooting in LA, attributable in large part to IATSE’s ridiculous fees. I’m not going to sit here and tell you how to point and click your camera (what an amazing skill set you have), so don’t sit there and act like you know what it takes to set up and run a production. Oh, and congratulations on your advanced degree in cinematography… Aren’t they giving those away at ECPI and DeVry now?
Wrong,
So the fact that Michigan, Georgia, New Mexico etc.. are offering tax incentives isnt the reason people shoot there? Funny production has gone up astronomically in those areas since the incentives. Guess its just a dumb coincidence… I guess I should have listened at devry. Funny how the 150 crew members on each of my jobs in those states were all union too, and the studios payed those imaginary iatse fees on those shows too…. Im gonna call devry and see if they have an answer for that one too. Guess Fox, Disney and WB arent real studios like the one you work at but they did send me all these places and we did have union crews.
Just because someone “produces” a T-Wee show doesn’t make them a producer. I think your squeaky wheel needs oiling. And fast.
Fact: iatse members are employees
Fact: they are a dime a dozen
Fact: most iatse members are willing to work non-union if paid and treated fairly
Fact: Iastse only wants to unionize shows so the management of iatse gets more money (talk about hypocrisy, the union that you nlue collar workers support so adamantly cares even less about you than the “corporate machines”)
Fact: your dues go to paying inflated salaries for Management of iatse and to lining politicians pockets.
Fact: iatse has never hired a single below the line professional, the evil producers do… Way to bite the hand that feeds you.
Fact: iatse membership and revenues are dwindling, production is taking off to other countries to avoid your low class management and mob tactics
Fact: when you’re unemployed, does iatse hire you? No, producers do.
Fact: there is no union for PA’s or assistants, for people who labor and bust their ass for years to become producers.
Fact: I’ve produced over a dozen union and non-union films. The non-union crews always consisted of iatse members, until iatse forced them to strike against their will, and cost them their jobs… Also, the non-union crew was just as capable as the union crew.
Fact: unions are obsolete and have no power… Especially iatse which is the blue collar union. You’ll never be able to organize all the btl workers who want to get into this business. Unlike sag and dga and wga members, iatse members are fully replaceable.
Fact: I’ll continue to shoot non union for another 50 years, as will hundreds of producers and executives. Iatse will never be able to stop that, and all they will do is stop their members from procuring gainful employment…
Wake up and smell the coffee, iatse is out for themselves, they don’t care at all about their members. The union is dead
This is hardly a win for iatse. Iatse will celebrate and claim a victory if someone scratches their ass