IATSE Gearing Up For Possible Strike Against Film & TV Industry

Saying that “a strike would effectively shut down California state film and television production,” IATSE has told California lawmakers that “it is both outrageous and immoral that the studios oppose basic worker rights, an opposition that may lead to a highly successful industry’s shutdown.”

Leaders of the Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700, are urging their members to vote “overwhelmingly” to authorize a strike against the film and TV industry. The guild’s board, meeting on Tuesday, voted unanimously to recommend that members back the strike authorization after negotiations with the AMPTP for a new Basic Agreement broke down. The guild is one of three IATSE locals with national jurisdiction, and with more than 8,600 members, is its second largest local.

EXCLUSIVE: IATSE is now gearing up for a second strike against the film and TV industry. With the union and its 13 West Coast studio locals already threatening to strike over terms for a new Hollywood Basic Agreement, IATSE is now seeking a second strike authorization vote for a separate contract covering film and TV work in much of the rest of the country. That contract is called the “Area Standards Agreement” and covers 23 locals outside of Los Angeles.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorAs contract negotiations stall between the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, crew members have taken to social media to share their support for a possible strike action and for the terms that IATSE is demanding in the next deal.Health plan funding, pension plans, rest breaks, longer turnaround times between production hours and concessions to shorten the workday are among the agenda

EXCLUSIVE: The documentary community, a loose assemblage of independent creatives under the best of circumstances, has labored under the absence of in-person gatherings during the pandemic. For well over a year, most all-documentary festivals have been forced to go virtual, hardly a respite for filmmakers inured to hermitry.

Daniel Craig, one brief moment in the latest trailer for No Time To Die feels especially apposite: when MI6 boss M, played by Ralph Fiennes, wearily spits out the line “Come on Bond, where the hell are you?”Always one to make a dramatic entrance, this time our favourite super-spy has kept us waiting for the best part of 18 months.

NEW YORK -- “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn is a familiar name on bestseller lists, but her personal reading tastes run to books most haven't heard about.“I start every conversation about books with 'What's the weirdest things you've read this year? What's the book that you read and later thought, what the hell was that? What an interesting, quirkly little book,'" she told The Associated Press during a recent Zoom interview.Flynn will now be using her judgment in a more official role.

San Sebastian International Film Festival kicked off this Friday, September 18th, featuring some of the biggest stars of Spanish cinema.

IATSE is continuing to prepare its members for a possible strike or a lockout if it can’t make a deal with management’s AMPTP for a new film and TV contract. The union’s current contract was set to expire on July 31, but was extended through Sept. 10, the union says, “in an effort to exhaust every opportunity to make a deal.”

IATSE leaders said Thursday that they are waiting for management’s Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to respond to the union’s latest set of contract proposals as they continue to “mobilize” for a possible strike.

Take that! Amy Duggar posted a warning to social media trolls on Wednesday, September 14.

Naman Ramachandran Aditya Chopra, chair and MD of leading Indian studio Yash Raj Films (YRF), has launched the Saathi Card to provide health insurance, school fee allowance and food rations among other benefits to the industry’s daily wage earners and their families.The card is launched under the aegis of The Yash Chopra Foundation, named after the late Yash Chopra, one of Bollywood’s all-time great filmmakers.

Naman Ramachandran Aditya Chopra, chair and MD of leading Indian studio Yash Raj Films (YRF), has launched the Saathi Card to provide health insurance, school fee allowance and food rations among other benefits to the industry’s daily wage earners and their families.The card is launched under the aegis of The Yash Chopra Foundation, named after the late Yash Chopra, one of Bollywood’s all-time great filmmakers.

Editor’s note: One in a series of remembrances on the 20 years since 9/11.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are cruising into the Venice Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: Former MGM/UA Television President Steve Stark has assembled the senior creative team for his recently launched Toluca Pictures production company. MGM/UA’s SVP of scripted television Stacey Levin has reunited with Stark, joining Toluca Pictures as President. Additionally, Spotify’s Elena Blekhter has come on board as Vice President.

TAICCA Taiwanese cinema has much to celebrate.Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the island produced an impressive 71 films last year, making it the third most productive country globally. This year, the island has gone even further, bringing immersive projects to the virtual reality programs of prestigious film festivals around the globe.At present, it is difficult to imagine that the Taiwanese film industry was struggling a mere 40 years ago.