IATSE Strike Wouldn’t Hit HBO, Showtime, BET & Starz Shows: “You Won’t Be A Scab”, Union Tells Members

1. Who is IATSE?IATSE represents below-the-line workers such as costume and set designers, makeup artists, script coordinators, camera operators and many more of the on-set workers that are not the actors, directors or writers (each those have their own separate labor unions).

The Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, will hold two membership town hall meetings on Thursday to discuss strike preparations and what will be expected of members if a strike begins on Monday. The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT.

health and safety at work,” said Rebecca Rhine, national executive director of the Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600. “The health and safety issues, the unsafe hours, the not breaking for meals, those were the exception for many years in the industry, which is a tough industry.

IATSE leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of the ongoing negotiations with the AMPTP for a new film and TV contract.

IATSE and the AMPTP have concluded their fourth day of do-or-die bargaining and will resume negotiations for a new film and TV contract on Saturday. But if a deal is to be reached, and a strike averted, it will have to be made soon. “It’s a matter of days, not weeks,” IATSE president Matthew Loeb said tonight. Last weekend, the union’s members voted resoundingly (over 98%) in favor of granting him strike authorization if a deal can’t be reached.

Gabrielle Union has quite a story to tell!

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefIt will be a downright fiasco if the leadership of Hollywood’s studios, networks and streamers doesn’t do everything in its collective bargaining power to prevent the labor union representing camera operators, editors, production designers, grips and other workers from going out on strike.Such a self-inflicted action — after what was a devastating year for the entire industry as it involuntarily navigated its way through an unforeseen pandemic — would be, well …

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorAfter the historic vote to authorize the first IATSE strike ever, members of several below-the-line guilds said they were impressed with the nearly-unanimous response from their fellow craftspeople in the entertainment industry.

It was announced this morning that IATSE members had voted by an overwhelming margin — 98% — to authorize their leadership to call a nationwide strike against film and TV productions. Reaction online was swift and nearly unanimously in support of the vote.

With IATSE members set to begin voting Friday for a strike authorization, the union’s leaders say they have a message for Hollywood’s media conglomerates: “You’re gonna change the way you do business.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“BMF” has been renewed for Season 2 at Starz.The series debuted just four days ago on Sept. 26.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA year after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the entertainment industry worldwide, the studios are churning out content at a breakneck pace.

Get the United transfer latest, team news, match updates and analysis delivered straight to your inbox every day for free

The Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, is “wholeheartedly” urging its members to authorize a strike against film and TV production companies all across the country. The leadership of all three IATSE locals with national jurisdiction – the Art Directors Guild, the International Cinematographers Guild and the Editors Guild – have now gone on record recommending that their members authorize a strike in voting that begins on Friday.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterIn 2006, Haskell Wexler made a documentary about brutally long hours on film sets entitled “Who Needs Sleep?” The issue had become a flashpoint years earlier, when Brent Hershman died in a car crash after working a 19-hour day on the set of “Pleasantville.”Wexler wanted to know why nothing had been done. In the film, he adopted a “Roger & Me” pose — only his villain wasn’t some big corporation.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorOn Sunday, the national executive board of the International Cinematographers Guild unanimously agreed to support the IATSE nationwide strike vote, and encouraged its members to vote “Yes” in a new video.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorA number of Hollywood celebrities have taken to social media this week to show solidarity with the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees ahead of a strike vote.Talks between IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have broken down as the workers who support productions seek improvements on meal and rest periods, longer turnarounds between production days, and improved rates on streaming projects.

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.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe major entertainment unions issued a joint statement of solidarity with the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees on Friday, as the craft union looks towards a strike authorization vote next week.The statement was signed by the heads of SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, East, and the Teamsters.“On behalf of our hundreds of thousands of members working across film and television, we stand in solidarity