International Cinematographers Guild Unanimously Backs IATSE Strike Vote

While there are encouraging signs that an IATSE strike could be avoided with a last-minute deal made before the midnight on Sunday deadline, preparation for a potential work stoppage continues in all areas involving IATSE members, including writers rooms.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetworks and streaming services are bracing for headaches and disappointed viewers as Monday’s deadline for IATSE and the major studios to reach a deal and avoid a strike draws ever closer.According to insiders across multiple networks who spoke with Variety, the feeling is that a deal will be reached that satisfies both sides before the deadline hits at 12:01 a.m. PT Monday or shortly thereafter.

TheWrap-Up,” hosts Sharon Waxman and Lawrence Yee talk about the looming IATSE strike deadline that may bring Hollywood productions to a standstill.TheWrap’s film reporter Jeremy Fuster joins the discussion to talk about which productions would be affected by a strike, and which would be exempt.Then, a discussion about the internal fallout Netflix has faced over Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix special, “The Closer.” CEO Ted Sarandos has defended the special, but trans employees and their allies

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is threatening to go on strike on Monday morning if it cannot reach a new contract.

EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood is on the precipice tonight as talks between IATSE and the AMPTP continue in the hopes to avert a strike early next week that could bring most of the industry to a standstill. “Assume there will be a strike and hope there isn’t,” Local 800 members were told this afternoon in the first of two planned virtual townhalls.

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.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentCatalan director Clara Roquet’s teenage female friendship drama “Libertad” and Ferit Karahan’s social drama “Brother’s Keeper,” about Kurdish kids living in fear at a Turkish boarding school, won the best film awards respectively in the international and national competitions at Turkey’s 58th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival which wrapped Saturday.“Libertad,” a first feature that centers on a bond that forms during a summer in Spain’s Costa Brava

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 …

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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.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe members of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees has voted to approve a strike authorization, giving the union president the power to shut down film and TV production across the country.The vote passed with 98 percent support, and 90 percent turnout.The vote comes after talks stalled between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios.

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.

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.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterAs a strike authorization vote looms, some IATSE members have decided to cancel their streaming subscriptions in hopes of sending a message that would hit the studios in the pocketbook.Workers in the below-the-line entertainment unions are gearing up to vote to authorize a strike this weekend, amid anger over long production hours without adequate break periods.

Leaders of IATSE’s largest local – the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 – are urging their members to authorize a strike against film and television productions across the country. The local’s national executive board voted unanimously on Sunday to support a nationwide strike authorization vote and to recommend that members vote “Yes” on it.