Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Behind Hollywood glamour, an Instagram account highlights darker side for workers
www.msn.com: Last month, Ben Gottlieb, a 27-year-old set lighting technician, wanted to show his support for his union's campaign to improve working conditions on film sets so he wrote an Instagram post calling for an end to 12- to 14-hour shifts.
Perhaps my least favorite thing about the theatre and entertainment industry is the culture surrounding personal health related to work. I have watched people glorify overworking AND those same people vilify peers who prioritize their health over work in the same breath. There is nothing about working yourself to the bone that should be celebrated. It is a demonstration of a flaw in the system, be it compensation, toxic culture, detrimental scheduling issues, or other things. The article talks about the union negotiating for mandatory rest periods to be provided to crew workers, and I think this is a great idea. Hopefully this will be an opportunity for crew members who are overworked to exercise some kind of autonomy from their work schedule and improve their health. Changes like this could also include things like provided meal breaks (spoken about in the article), higher wages to discourage overworking, and more relaxed work environments overall. Should higher levels of management choose to make worker health a priority, they could see a huge turnover in company loyalty, productivity, and many other things.
Every time I think I know how bad it can get as an entertainment crew member it just turns out to be so much worse than I imagined. The most I have ever experienced is 8 out of 10, maybe a stray 10 out of 12 here and there, but I can't even fathom 16 or 18 hour shifts; I don't even think I as a person am capable of staying awake for that long, and on a regular basis, no less. I have observed a lot more transparency and awareness about long work hours in the industry this past year or two, especially with working during COVID, so I hope this will be a wake-up call of sorts for the industry as a whole. No more glorifying overwork, no more unreasonable hours, better wages and benefits, et cetera. I don't want to have to work in an industry that views me as a machine or as dispensable, and hopefully I can do my part to make it better.
Reading these horror stories is infuriating. I cannot fathom the amount of disregard for crew safety, health, and well-being that is necessary from tv and film studios to let crew members work such horrid hours. The idea that a grief counselor was brought onto a set, but no one was even allowed to see them is ridiculous. I am shocked that they are allegedly negotiating for penalties for not having meal breaks. I know it’s against the law in Massachusetts to not give meal breaks so what is going on in the film and TV industry. I know a lot of people want to get back to work “post” pandemic, but I hope that people realize that the hours they were working are unsustainable. Studios need the crew way more than we need them. Plenty of people have left the industry to find work elsewhere, and it sucks to give up a career that you love, but it’s better than dying asleep at the wheel. If workers are not willing to stand up for themselves and draw lines in the sand that they will not cross, no one else will.
I agree with Samantha’s comment on glorifying overwork. I think whilst it is nice that people are dedicated to their work, it’s far more important to stay healthy physically and mentally. The long hours on set are very physically demanding and I don’t believe anyone can do it for a continuous period of time. I don’t think anyone should be. I would even question the production’s organisation and time-management if crews are required to work for so many hours per day. I believe there are countless incidents like the one in the article that have happened in the industry, falling asleep at the wheel is probably one of the most common incidents. It’s truly devastating to think about how those lives could’ve been saved with just fewer hours of work, more hours of rest and sleep, higher wages so that people can have the option to stay in nearby hotels if needed. Reasonable and fair turnaround time for crews should be considered more.
The culture of overwork, particularly the disregard of wellbeing of crew members is one that has to be eradicated. Just because they are less visible members of the crew does not mean they’re less valuable in any way. Especially given the halt in production due to COVID, as productions start back up and attempt to make up for lost time, the disregard and blatant exploitation of non-visible crew members is even more dangerous. However, COVID has also forced a hand in regards to workers rights and unions in the entertainment industry. Negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees stresses clauses to improve the conditions that crew work in--for instance, enough time to commute home and rest, consequences for employers that don’t allow for meal breaks, fair turnaround times for the crew as well, and more. This has been an issue for a long, long time, and post-COVID might just be the opportunity to push through more equitable standards.
One story from this article that particularly enraged me was the story in which a crew member who raised concerns about work hours because he was falling asleep on his way home was told to get a hotel at his own cost. I think this anecdote more than the others summarizes the dehumanization and obscene working conditions of technicians in the industry. There are many reasons for the normalization of these conditions on set, but one that comes to mind for me is the glamorization of overworking in educational and non-union theaters. Most people who work within the arts do so because they love it, which can often manifest in a toxic culture of exhaustion. This, of course, translates very poorly into professional gigs. Technicians with full-time jobs in the industry cannot sustainably work 18 hour days, but the harm of this norm has already been done.
It's frustrating to see how the IATSE Union is slow to update their policies in order to create safe working environments for their members. To me it doesn't make sense because it's not a sustainable practice. Hopefully the recent increase in media attention will push the union to aggressively advocate for its workings and obtain more reasonable working conditions. Workers are really at risk of burnout, whether it's the mental toll or the physical effects of overwork. It seems so backwards to me that producers are okay with fewer breaks, more work for less pay, as overwork produces lower quality job performance. Giving the meal breaks, benefits and rest periods seems to me more likely to result in higher quality work, happier employees and less job turnover. If the companies can afford to do this for their actors why can’t they afford to do it for their tech personnel? With the popularity of streaming and the resulting higher demands on workers, the union needs to ensure that there is a balance of work and personal time for its members.
7 comments:
Perhaps my least favorite thing about the theatre and entertainment industry is the culture surrounding personal health related to work. I have watched people glorify overworking AND those same people vilify peers who prioritize their health over work in the same breath. There is nothing about working yourself to the bone that should be celebrated. It is a demonstration of a flaw in the system, be it compensation, toxic culture, detrimental scheduling issues, or other things. The article talks about the union negotiating for mandatory rest periods to be provided to crew workers, and I think this is a great idea. Hopefully this will be an opportunity for crew members who are overworked to exercise some kind of autonomy from their work schedule and improve their health. Changes like this could also include things like provided meal breaks (spoken about in the article), higher wages to discourage overworking, and more relaxed work environments overall. Should higher levels of management choose to make worker health a priority, they could see a huge turnover in company loyalty, productivity, and many other things.
Every time I think I know how bad it can get as an entertainment crew member it just turns out to be so much worse than I imagined. The most I have ever experienced is 8 out of 10, maybe a stray 10 out of 12 here and there, but I can't even fathom 16 or 18 hour shifts; I don't even think I as a person am capable of staying awake for that long, and on a regular basis, no less. I have observed a lot more transparency and awareness about long work hours in the industry this past year or two, especially with working during COVID, so I hope this will be a wake-up call of sorts for the industry as a whole. No more glorifying overwork, no more unreasonable hours, better wages and benefits, et cetera. I don't want to have to work in an industry that views me as a machine or as dispensable, and hopefully I can do my part to make it better.
Reading these horror stories is infuriating. I cannot fathom the amount of disregard for crew safety, health, and well-being that is necessary from tv and film studios to let crew members work such horrid hours. The idea that a grief counselor was brought onto a set, but no one was even allowed to see them is ridiculous. I am shocked that they are allegedly negotiating for penalties for not having meal breaks. I know it’s against the law in Massachusetts to not give meal breaks so what is going on in the film and TV industry. I know a lot of people want to get back to work “post” pandemic, but I hope that people realize that the hours they were working are unsustainable. Studios need the crew way more than we need them. Plenty of people have left the industry to find work elsewhere, and it sucks to give up a career that you love, but it’s better than dying asleep at the wheel. If workers are not willing to stand up for themselves and draw lines in the sand that they will not cross, no one else will.
I agree with Samantha’s comment on glorifying overwork. I think whilst it is nice that people are dedicated to their work, it’s far more important to stay healthy physically and mentally. The long hours on set are very physically demanding and I don’t believe anyone can do it for a continuous period of time. I don’t think anyone should be. I would even question the production’s organisation and time-management if crews are required to work for so many hours per day. I believe there are countless incidents like the one in the article that have happened in the industry, falling asleep at the wheel is probably one of the most common incidents. It’s truly devastating to think about how those lives could’ve been saved with just fewer hours of work, more hours of rest and sleep, higher wages so that people can have the option to stay in nearby hotels if needed. Reasonable and fair turnaround time for crews should be considered more.
The culture of overwork, particularly the disregard of wellbeing of crew members is one that has to be eradicated. Just because they are less visible members of the crew does not mean they’re less valuable in any way. Especially given the halt in production due to COVID, as productions start back up and attempt to make up for lost time, the disregard and blatant exploitation of non-visible crew members is even more dangerous. However, COVID has also forced a hand in regards to workers rights and unions in the entertainment industry. Negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees stresses clauses to improve the conditions that crew work in--for instance, enough time to commute home and rest, consequences for employers that don’t allow for meal breaks, fair turnaround times for the crew as well, and more. This has been an issue for a long, long time, and post-COVID might just be the opportunity to push through more equitable standards.
One story from this article that particularly enraged me was the story in which a crew member who raised concerns about work hours because he was falling asleep on his way home was told to get a hotel at his own cost. I think this anecdote more than the others summarizes the dehumanization and obscene working conditions of technicians in the industry. There are many reasons for the normalization of these conditions on set, but one that comes to mind for me is the glamorization of overworking in educational and non-union theaters. Most people who work within the arts do so because they love it, which can often manifest in a toxic culture of exhaustion. This, of course, translates very poorly into professional gigs. Technicians with full-time jobs in the industry cannot sustainably work 18 hour days, but the harm of this norm has already been done.
It's frustrating to see how the IATSE Union is slow to update their policies in order to create safe working environments for their members. To me it doesn't make sense because it's not a sustainable practice. Hopefully the recent increase in media attention will push the union to aggressively advocate for its workings and obtain more reasonable working conditions. Workers are really at risk of burnout, whether it's the mental toll or the physical effects of overwork. It seems so backwards to me that producers are okay with fewer breaks, more work for less pay, as overwork produces lower quality job performance. Giving the meal breaks, benefits and rest periods seems to me more likely to result in higher quality work, happier employees and less job turnover. If the companies can afford to do this for their actors why can’t they afford to do it for their tech personnel? With the popularity of streaming and the resulting higher demands on workers, the union needs to ensure that there is a balance of work and personal time for its members.
Post a Comment