The Mary Sue: Twitter is having a productive day discussing and calling out the problems with how Hollywood’s writer and production assistants are grossly underpaid. This is not a new conversation, but it is being brought to light by writer/producer Liz Alper, who wrote a Twitter thread about her own experience as an assistant and the problems with the pay there, especially considering how expensive Los Angeles is.
6 comments:
Low paying assistant jobs in television have the same problem as low or non-paid internships do in theater. If the bar to enter is only available to privileged people, not only are we are preventing from being a part of the arts, but we are neglecting so many people’s stories. I think an important part of the conversation that this article does not acknowledge is that low paying entry level jobs are not just in the arts. Also, low and unpaid entry level jobs are more common in big cities, which is where a lot of theater and film occurs. While the conversation is important, it is societal and larger then the arts industry. While I do not know the financial aspect in film, television, or any other industry like I do in theater, I know that many smaller theaters would not survive if they paid everyone a livable wage, which is unfortunate. We as a culture need to increase the value of early career work.
This. Article. Is. So. Important. I believe that the power in the film and tv industries lie in the fact that they have so much potential for change and representation because they are able to be widely distributed. BUT, when the entry-level jobs are basically only available to financially-stable young people, it creates socioeconomic discrimination in an art form that is supposed to be all-inclusive. How can productions be made by people where few (if not none) of the creators have been in the shoes of the characters? That’s a BIG issue. Reading through the twitter thread posted by Liz Alper, she creates a very powerful argument by targeting the current problem, but also suggesting ways that the Hollywood bosses can get involved and help their assistants who are underpaid. The last quote in this article, Change, after all, has been a long time coming in this industry” is extremely haunting and sad, but it gives me hope that the flaws in the system are being so publicly addressed.
Low-paying assistants’ jobs seem to be a talking point this week. When low paying, entry level jobs are only available to those who are financially stable (or financially dependent on their parents), any industry might as well scream that they are only allowing applications from rich people. Especially in industries that cry diversity at every corner (such as film, theatre, and television), it is disappointing that socioeconomic diversity is not often thought of or spoken about. Industries do not have a way of showing that they’re including people from a “diverse” socioeconomic background the way that they tend to showcase racial or gender inequality. There’s no socially acceptable way to put a person on a sign that says “I’m poor” the way there is to put, say, a woman of colour on that same sign. It is, admittedly, easier to hide socioeconomic diversity; to shove it away in a corner and never speak of it. Most people living in poverty (or even just above - most technical “poverty line” numbers are bullshit anyway) don’t speak about it, especially if they can pass it off that they are not.
I may be a little biased, but I think theatre education in both primary and secondary school can be - and is - life-changing for some students. Not only as a means of deciding a career, but also as a social balance in a child’s formative years. Theatre really does help a person to empathise - be they designers or technicians or performers or directors or choreographers or…whatever, really. There is always something to connect with because theatre isn’t real life but, to an audience, it almost always must be (or it at least must become some version of real life, within a decent suspension of disbelief). Theatre education is so important not because it teaches young people how to be human (hopefully, they already know how to do that on some level), but how to be MORE human. Not only does theatre teach a burgeoning adult how to better interact with others on a social scale but, hopefully, on a moral one as well.
As many have pointed out before, this industry is notorious for underpaying its labor or calling it an "unpaid internship" that pays in experience. We need to start acknowledging just how privileged this business is on all sides of the stage and what we need to do to address that problem. Some of this goes all the way back to our middle and elementary schools. In lower income schools, arts are (as we all know) the first to go. Already, these students have had an entire world scraped off their plate while others may have some of the most sophisticated theatre programs in the country. This disparity only continues to grow when we talk about summerstock and other 'internships'. I actively did not take internships strictly because they didn't pay, partially because I just couldn't afford it. We are constantly pushing for equality in this industry but neglect that many of us here were fortunate enough to have the resources to get us to this point. I'm glad to see it being pointed out, but I also hope that we can continue to be introspective and change the industry for the better.
I really don't understand why this is allowed. I think that Hollywood does a bad job in paying their people who aren't just the stars making millions off of a movie that all they did was act like themselves or act like they always do, and then get enormous praise. There is so much that goes into making theatre, and sometimes it feels like the performers, and frontmen, are the only people who get any credit. Things as simple as having tech awards given out during the commercial break of the Tonys points out the unfair nature of the industry. I feel as though having unpaid internships is unfair because everyone makes a living. and the experience you get doing an internship is often underdeveloped or just getting coffee. It's like losing money to be around people who are doing what you actually want to be doing. All internships should be paid, and assistants should be treated as human beings!
Post a Comment