5 ms·

Most productions started up in August 2020 with strict Covid protocols; personally I've had 1 week off since then. Crews have been doing full days, with masks.

by petee 5y ago

Most productions started up in August 2020 with strict Covid protocols; personally I've had 1 week off since then. Crews have been doing full days, with masks. Normal work under harder conditions. They finally offered 10hr turn around after we voted to strike; and its with strings. They cant even give an hour for sleep. Ive done the 14-17hr days, with 9hr turn around, and I live 1hr 20min from set, so thats 6hrs personal time a day to eat and sleep. As for lunch, many shows do have a 30 min lunch, but the flow works out that not everyone gets an equal lunch, some have responsibilities that require them back on set before the others. Production will not wait on one person to eat. Also 30 minutes in a 16 hour day isnt much anyway

slownews45 5y ago
Don't worry - for those of us not in industry or industry adjacent the industry seems totally crazy - ie, we get overtime occasionally, but hollywood seems built on it Seeing the money being thrown at SVOD by apple/netflix et al, where does it even go if not into below the line pockets? The production budgets for some of these things rival movies of the past.
- petee 5y ago
  Thats the other big issue - we helped streaming get it's feet by allowing lower pay, lower benefits, and longer hours, back in 2007-8 since streaming wasnt yet considered 'viable'. They agreed to revisit it in the future when it was viable. Now they won't even discuss it. Extra money goes right to the companies. Actors dont get the same residuals from streaming either, just look at Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit. Streaming contract language is based on number of subscribers, so before Disney+ launched, they made a bunch of movies under the zero-to-tiny subscribers model, essentially a low budget contract, to avoid paying normal rates, but these were full fledged films and shows.
  - rndgermandude 5y ago
    My soul weeps for poor (net worth: 165 million according to google) Scarlett Johnansson. She was only paid 20 million for that movie, but then scammed out of additional royalties by Disney. How is somebody supposed to get by on a mere 20 million per movie. Making that movie took away half a year of her life! I think it's not just the studios' greed that causes the normal Hollywood workers to get fucked, it's also A-list actors' greed.
    - swearwolf 5y ago
      When you just look at how much she made in isolation, of course it seems like she’ a spoiled brat for suing to get more. But Disney promised her one thing (an exclusively theatrical release) and delivered another (a dual theatrical/streaming simultaneous release), and then they tried to shame her for standing up for herself. I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. They deserved to get sued, and I’m glad they had to pay up.
      - rndgermandude 5y ago
        I can see her as a spoiled brat, especially after how she (or rather her people) framed this in the media. And at the same time I can see Disney as an evil corporation scamming people. >I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. Is this supposed to be about gender? Or what is this supposed to mean? Evans got less for the latest cape movie than Johansson got for Black Widow by the way ($15M vs $20M). She was in that same movie (Avengers: Endgame) and made the same as Evans. Disney is an evil corporation, they will try to fuck with everybody if they think they can get away with it. I am sure if Avengers: Endgame was released now and in the way Black Widow was, they'd have tried to scam Evans and Downey Jr (and Johansson too) the same way they tried to scam Johansson now. Hollywood invented Hollywood accounting to scam people (and the state) long ago. One example of who got scammed this way is Stan Lee, who sued and got awarded $10M for Spider-Man from Marvel. There sure is a lot of sexism in Hollywood, but this isn't it, as far as I can tell.
    - petee 5y ago
      Ignore the quantities - she asked for that pay and they willingly paid it. The issue was they had a deal for this movie, and they broke it, rich or not, they broke contract. And if they break it once, they'll do it again. Many actors rely on royalties and this same situation, but don't have her clout. The divide between screen and streaming is being abused by the studios, who make far more than the paltry sum for her face across the world and loss of privacy.
      - slownews45 5y ago
- tessierashpool 5y ago
  First, no, because big production budgets go to producers and other above the line people before the money gets anywhere near the crew. And this is true for Apple and Netflix just as it is for anyone else. But second, also no, because streaming services are the bulk of the problem. https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-brink-of-a-massive-work-stoppage-because-of-the-streaming-wars https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-bri... Production schedules are more volatile than they used to be, and streaming services don't have to pay as well as normal productions, owing to an outdated contract.
AdrianB1 5y ago
What is keeping people do this work? I understand medical workers to give all they can during these times, but not in the entertainment industry, it is not a critical sector. Nobody died because of delay of the latest blockbuster or soap opera.
- petee 5y ago
  We're not saving lives, but we know what we make often makes someone's day better, entertainment is important in a pandemic. Past that, the people in the industry are fantastic humans you get to know as family, and there is usually a team spirit of "lets over come this adversity". The pay used to be acceptable for the work required, but that has shifted significantly. The work is far different than anything in the real world and can be rewarding, even just to witness - I've helped burn buildings down, flood a bedroom, built canoes, treehouses and a guillotine, rig cameras on cars, and built scenery from 1600s onward, to name a few. Many see their contributions directly affect, and often visually, the end product, it can be pretty neat!
- spaetzleesser 5y ago
  I used to work in a building in an area where they did lots of movies. My impression was that it’s very interesting and diverse work. Sometimes they would build complete houses, next day they would enact a car crash scene. I often envied the people being outside doing something different every day and moving around a lot vs me sitting in the office staring at a screen the whole day.
diskzero 5y ago
Good luck to you brother! I wish everyone knew how hard the various trades work to make these shows happen. As you stated elsewhere, the work is a reward for making magic happen, but so is maintaining your quality of life.

by petee 5y ago

slownews45 5y ago

Don't worry - for those of us not in industry or industry adjacent the industry seems totally crazy - ie, we get overtime occasionally, but hollywood seems built on it Seeing the money being thrown at SVOD by apple/netflix et al, where does it even go if not into below the line pockets? The production budgets for some of these things rival movies of the past.

petee 5y ago
Thats the other big issue - we helped streaming get it's feet by allowing lower pay, lower benefits, and longer hours, back in 2007-8 since streaming wasnt yet considered 'viable'. They agreed to revisit it in the future when it was viable. Now they won't even discuss it. Extra money goes right to the companies. Actors dont get the same residuals from streaming either, just look at Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit. Streaming contract language is based on number of subscribers, so before Disney+ launched, they made a bunch of movies under the zero-to-tiny subscribers model, essentially a low budget contract, to avoid paying normal rates, but these were full fledged films and shows.
- rndgermandude 5y ago
  My soul weeps for poor (net worth: 165 million according to google) Scarlett Johnansson. She was only paid 20 million for that movie, but then scammed out of additional royalties by Disney. How is somebody supposed to get by on a mere 20 million per movie. Making that movie took away half a year of her life! I think it's not just the studios' greed that causes the normal Hollywood workers to get fucked, it's also A-list actors' greed.
  - swearwolf 5y ago
    When you just look at how much she made in isolation, of course it seems like she’ a spoiled brat for suing to get more. But Disney promised her one thing (an exclusively theatrical release) and delivered another (a dual theatrical/streaming simultaneous release), and then they tried to shame her for standing up for herself. I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. They deserved to get sued, and I’m glad they had to pay up.
    - rndgermandude 5y ago
      I can see her as a spoiled brat, especially after how she (or rather her people) framed this in the media. And at the same time I can see Disney as an evil corporation scamming people. >I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. Is this supposed to be about gender? Or what is this supposed to mean? Evans got less for the latest cape movie than Johansson got for Black Widow by the way ($15M vs $20M). She was in that same movie (Avengers: Endgame) and made the same as Evans. Disney is an evil corporation, they will try to fuck with everybody if they think they can get away with it. I am sure if Avengers: Endgame was released now and in the way Black Widow was, they'd have tried to scam Evans and Downey Jr (and Johansson too) the same way they tried to scam Johansson now. Hollywood invented Hollywood accounting to scam people (and the state) long ago. One example of who got scammed this way is Stan Lee, who sued and got awarded $10M for Spider-Man from Marvel. There sure is a lot of sexism in Hollywood, but this isn't it, as far as I can tell.
  - petee 5y ago
    Ignore the quantities - she asked for that pay and they willingly paid it. The issue was they had a deal for this movie, and they broke it, rich or not, they broke contract. And if they break it once, they'll do it again. Many actors rely on royalties and this same situation, but don't have her clout. The divide between screen and streaming is being abused by the studios, who make far more than the paltry sum for her face across the world and loss of privacy.
    - slownews45 5y ago
tessierashpool 5y ago
First, no, because big production budgets go to producers and other above the line people before the money gets anywhere near the crew. And this is true for Apple and Netflix just as it is for anyone else. But second, also no, because streaming services are the bulk of the problem. https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-brink-of-a-massive-work-stoppage-because-of-the-streaming-wars https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-bri... Production schedules are more volatile than they used to be, and streaming services don't have to pay as well as normal productions, owing to an outdated contract.

AdrianB1 5y ago

What is keeping people do this work? I understand medical workers to give all they can during these times, but not in the entertainment industry, it is not a critical sector. Nobody died because of delay of the latest blockbuster or soap opera.

petee 5y ago
We're not saving lives, but we know what we make often makes someone's day better, entertainment is important in a pandemic. Past that, the people in the industry are fantastic humans you get to know as family, and there is usually a team spirit of "lets over come this adversity". The pay used to be acceptable for the work required, but that has shifted significantly. The work is far different than anything in the real world and can be rewarding, even just to witness - I've helped burn buildings down, flood a bedroom, built canoes, treehouses and a guillotine, rig cameras on cars, and built scenery from 1600s onward, to name a few. Many see their contributions directly affect, and often visually, the end product, it can be pretty neat!
spaetzleesser 5y ago
I used to work in a building in an area where they did lots of movies. My impression was that it’s very interesting and diverse work. Sometimes they would build complete houses, next day they would enact a car crash scene. I often envied the people being outside doing something different every day and moving around a lot vs me sitting in the office staring at a screen the whole day.

diskzero 5y ago

Good luck to you brother! I wish everyone knew how hard the various trades work to make these shows happen. As you stated elsewhere, the work is a reward for making magic happen, but so is maintaining your quality of life.