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Wednesday, September 11, 2024
IATSE Says '40 Acres' Producers Owe 'Significant' Money to Crew
www.indiewire.com: IATSE has called out the producers of “40 Acres,” a drama that premiered this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival, saying that almost a year after the film wrapped principal photography crew and vendors have yet to be paid.
The lack of respect for the work done by the people involved with "40 Acres" is frustrating and disappointing to hear about, especially so soon after the SAG-AFTRA strikes. When people go to work, they go knowing that they should get paid for that work. Their not being paid is a sign that there is some shady stuff going on with the company. The promotion of the movie at the film festival makes me think that the company went over budget and was hoping that by delaying the worker's pay and instead sending the movie to the festival would boost profits enough to pay them back. The other thing that's frustrating is that from the article, it doesn't seem like anything is being done to make the company pay its workers. This is simply unacceptable.
This is incredibly disappointing. The idea that a film screened at a major film festival was produced using, essentially, free labor, especially when that film was given a pass to film during the writers strike, which was fighting against, among other things, the issue of unfair pay, is despicable. While it is common for people not to be payed until a job is completed, I feel like there need to be protections that make sure that all outstanding balances are taken care of before a film can be released at a festival or in theatres. The comment made about the films success at TIFF helping resolve the issue only adds insult to injury, as it implies that the profit they will earn at the festival, already heavily inflated because the film was made partially for free, will determine if the staff gets payed.
2 comments:
The lack of respect for the work done by the people involved with "40 Acres" is frustrating and disappointing to hear about, especially so soon after the SAG-AFTRA strikes. When people go to work, they go knowing that they should get paid for that work. Their not being paid is a sign that there is some shady stuff going on with the company. The promotion of the movie at the film festival makes me think that the company went over budget and was hoping that by delaying the worker's pay and instead sending the movie to the festival would boost profits enough to pay them back. The other thing that's frustrating is that from the article, it doesn't seem like anything is being done to make the company pay its workers. This is simply unacceptable.
This is incredibly disappointing. The idea that a film screened at a major film festival was produced using, essentially, free labor, especially when that film was given a pass to film during the writers strike, which was fighting against, among other things, the issue of unfair pay, is despicable. While it is common for people not to be payed until a job is completed, I feel like there need to be protections that make sure that all outstanding balances are taken care of before a film can be released at a festival or in theatres. The comment made about the films success at TIFF helping resolve the issue only adds insult to injury, as it implies that the profit they will earn at the festival, already heavily inflated because the film was made partially for free, will determine if the staff gets payed.
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