With the entertainment sector facing contractions, entertainment crews who work behind the scenes to make the magic happen are looking for more and not ruling out a strike to get it.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Teamsters and the Hollywood Basic Crafts are working together in negotiations for contracts that expire this summer.
“We are not afraid to strike,” teamster President Sean O’Brien said at a recent union rally, according to Variety.
“If these greedy corporations — whether it’s Amazon, Netflix, Sony… Disney — if they choose not to reward our members, they are putting themselves on strike. We will put them on their back, on their knees, begging for mercy.”
“We have a message for the white-collar crime syndicates known as the studios,” he said, adding that negotiating with the Teamsters is “a full contact sport. Put your helmets on and buckle your chin straps.”
Hollywood just emerged from strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. But that has some union members in IATSE who believe they settled for too little in a 2021 agreement saying crew members should learn a lesson.
“I can tell you, for me personally and from what I’ve seen, we’ve fought this much, and we were standing in solidarity with the actors and writers, that when it’s coming to our time, I don’t think there’s going to be any [hesitation] to stand up,” crew member Diego Mariscal said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“The consensus of everyone I’ve talked to, and myself included, is that we would fully be down to actually come together and strike,” Mariscal said.
Joanna Tillman, a crew member based in New York, said the other strikes were a powerful lesson.
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“Now we have even more awareness of how powerful workers can be against these same employers,” she said.
Although money is always an issue, safety and the length of workdays will be major concerns.
“We do some of these insane hours for people watching these amazing pieces of entertainment, but they don’t see what the work really is. They don’t really get to see the dark side of the industry,” crew member Anthony Stracquadanio of New York said.
Not everyone is ready to walk out.
“Everyone’s so hungry [for work] that I think it would be irresponsible to shut everything down,” Georgia-based crew member Chad Oliver, who raided his savings to endure the last strike, said.
Contract talks come at a time when the entertainment industry is bearish on its future, according to a survey of 17 business executives, agents and bankers by Reuters. All sources were not identified by name
“The great contraction is upon us,” one veteran television executive said. “I think there will be a significant retrenchment in the quantity of content, and the amount spent on content.”
Reuters cited entertainment analyst TD Cowen estimating that TV ad revenue will drop 7 percent when the totals are in for 2023 and another 7 percent this year.
As revenue shrinks, the menu of options for viewers will follow. From 633 scripted series in 2022, the number is expected to land in the 300s in the coming years.
The movie box office take for this year is estimated to hit $8 billion, down 30 percent from 2019, Reuters reported.
