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The curtain is closed on Day 1 of talks between Hollywood’s below-the-line workers and the studios.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer When the Writers Guild of America went on strike last May, union leaders argued that artificial intelligence posed an existential threat to writers, painting a picture of a dystopian future in which TV shows might be crafted by one writer and a machine. Ten months later, the tone in Hollywood labor circles has shifted significantly. At a March 3 rally in Los Angeles, Matthew Loeb, international president of IATSE, argued that AI has the potential to make union members’ jobs easier.

Variety’s senior entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson earned a nomination from ICG in the Press Award category. In film, the team at Warner Bros.

From one “hot labor summer” to the next: Below-the-line workers will sit down with the Hollywood studios Monday to begin talks for new film and TV contracts.

IATSE and the Teamsters and Basic Crafts will then bargain their separate agreements, with the hope of having the deals ratified by the deadline. At the rally, Matthew Loeb, the international president of IATSE, struck a somewhat more moderate tone than O’Brien, repeatedly emphasizing, “There’s enough to go around.” He also addressed one of the key issues in the negotiations — artificial intelligence — saying it should not be used to replace workers, but also that it has the potential to lighten the load. “Those advantages need to take the pressure off our jobs, so we can enjoy our families and live these lives, and not have to work 80-hour weeks,” Loeb said.

In many ways, longtime International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees president Matthew Loeb is the personification of that Teddy Roosevelt adage of “speak softly, and carry a big stick” …well, maybe except for the speak softly part.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Matthew Loeb is heading into what is likely to be the most consequential negotiation of his 16-year tenure to date as international president of IATSE. The union’s contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are set to begin March 4. After last year’s protracted strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the industry is on edge about the possibility of another work stoppage.

IATSE President Matthew Loeb did not mince words today when asked if his local unions were willing to strike if this spring’s contract negotiations with the AMPTP did not go well.

Visual effects workers at Marvel Studios and seven of its subsidiaries have voted 32-0 to unionize with IATSE in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. The union called the unanimous vote an “historic first” for the industry’s VFX workforce.

IATSE said Friday that it has chartered a new guild with national jurisdiction: Production Workers Guild Local 111. It becomes IATSE’s first-ever local specifically created to represent freelance production department workers.

Visual effects crews at Marvel Studios today filed for a unionization election with the National Labor Relations Board, with a supermajority of Marvel’s more than 50-worker crew having signed authorization cards saying they want to be represented by IATSE.

IATSE has allocated another $2 million to support its members who have been negatively affected by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes, bringing the total committed to $4 million since June. The additional funding was approved unanimously by IATSE’s general executive board.

IATSE has reached a tentative deal with the Broadway League and Disney Theatrical on a new “Pink Contact,” a day after talks had broken down. The agreement now goes to union members for ratification.

Saying that artificial intelligence “threatens to fundamentally alter employers’ business models and disrupt IATSE members’ livelihoods,” the union Wednesday unveiled its “Core Principles” for the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in the entertainment industry.

IATSE’s general executive board has unanimously approved $2 million to be distributed to the union’s members who are in need of financial assistance due to the Writers Guild strike, which is in its 39th day.

The leaders of the Writers Guild, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and the Teamsters have issued a “joint statement of solidarity” with the Directors Guild in its final scheduled week of contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, saying that they “stand alongside our sisters, brothers, and kin in the DGA in their pursuit of a fair contract.” Their statement comes on the 30th day of the ongoing WGA strike and 21 days after the DGA began its contract talks with the AMPTP.

writers strike heads into its third week. “Labor has to stick together. Workers have to stick together. We’re in a time when people need to be taken care of and have security in their jobs,” IATSE president Matthew Loeb told Variety. Loeb was on hand with IATSE vice president Matthew Miller and dozens of members of IATSE’s Local 800 and Local 695, among other units.

Comparing the changes that artificial intelligence might bring to show business to the advent of talkies, IATSE has launched a commission to study its impact on the entertainment industry and the union’s 168,000 members. AI already has had a disruptive influence on the business and is one of the sticking points that led to the Writers Guild strike.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will meet again on Saturday, as they try to reach a deal before the writers’ contract expires at midnight on Monday. The negotiations are expected to go right up to the deadline. If no deal is reached, a strike could begin as early as Tuesday morning. The negotiators have been meeting regularly at the AMPTP office in Sherman Oaks. Though there have been no breakthroughs, there also has been no indication that talks are breaking down. Production has slowed in Los Angeles, according to data from FilmLA and anecdotal reports from labor leaders. As of Friday morning, FilmLA — which handles permits for location shoots — did not have any shoots scheduled for Tuesday or afterward for scripted shows.

EXCLUSIVE: In the event of a strike by the Writers Guild, IATSE members working on struck shows have the “legal right” to honor the guild’s picket lines, though they might be replaced temporarily by non-union workers, according to IATSE president Matthew Loeb.

IATSE’s General Executive Board voted unanimously today to endorse the re-election of President Joe Biden. The vote came shortly after Biden announced that he would be running for a second term.

The California IATSE Council, saying it is “appalled” by the racist comments made during a secretly recorded conversation last year among three members of the Los Angeles City Council and a local labor leader, called for all those involved to resign.

IATSE president Matthew Loeb is urging his members to get out and vote in the upcoming midterm elections and to contribute to the union’s political action committee, which overwhelmingly supports Democratic candidates for federal office.

Film and TV music supervisors, fed up with deteriorating working conditions and stagnant wages, want to unionize with IATSE, which is calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers to voluntarily recognize them after a large majority signed authorization cards to join the union.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterFive months ago, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees was bitterly divided over a new contract, which was ratified by a historically narrow margin.Half of the membership defied their leaders and voted “no,” as opponents blamed International President Matthew Loeb for settling for too little and for not capitalizing on the threat of an industrywide strike.But while some of that anger remains, there is little evidence that the issue has carried over into local leadership elections this spring. Even where local unions have thrown out their leaders, turnout has been low, and the issues seem to turn more on personalities than on the contract.One of the hotbeds of resistance to the deal was IATSE Local 80, the union that represents 3,800 grips, crafts service workers and set medics.

Deadline has confirmed that Brian Kurland, a four-time Oscar-nominated sound mixer who sits on the Cinema Audio Society’s board, has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over its plan to pre-tape several categories, including Best Sound.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorThe International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the largest union representing behind-the-scenes workers in North America, has joined the growing number of critics expressing their disapproval of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ decision to pre-record eight craft categories at the Oscars.The eight categories to be aired retroactively as part of the awards broadcast on March 27 include film editing, make-up and hairstyling, production design, animated short and sound.The statement released by IATSE President Matthew Loeb said, “By the nature of our jobs, behind the scenes, workers get little recognition as is, despite being the backbone of every production. The Academy Awards has been virtually the only venue where the very best on and off the big screen, above and below the line gather to honor each other’s incredible contributions through their crafts, inspiring millions who tune into the TV Broadcast in the process.

IASTE president Matthew Loeb pushed back today against the plan to pre-tape several categories in an attempt to tighten up Sunday’s Oscarcast, saying, “We believe a deviation for some crafts and categories but not others is detrimental.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees approved its Basic Agreement on Monday, ending the most protracted and contentious bargaining process in the recent history of the TV and film production union.But the ratification — which passed even though a bare majority of members voted against it — leaves a lot of hard feelings toward the union’s leadership.Many have directed their anger at Matthew Loeb, IATSE’s international president.

IATSE members have ratified their new film and TV contracts, averting a showdown with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after contentious negotiations that began six months ago.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorIATSE International chief Matthew Loeb is urging members to vote to approve the master film and TV contract that was reached last month after down-to-the-wire negotiations and a strike authorization vote.In a lengthy message to members sent Thursday, the day before voting begins, Loeb asserted that the hard-fought deal includes “meaningful improvements on all of our priorities.” He noted the difficult road to reaching an agreement on economic issues as well as

IATSE president Matthew Loeb, in what could be his final message to his members before they vote this weekend on a tentative agreement for a new film and contract, is urging them to vote “Yes” on ratification.

IATSE leaders are urging their members to “stay united” and vote “yes” to ratify the tentative agreement for a new film and TV contract. In the latest message to their members, IATSE president Matthew Loeb and the leaders of Hollywood’s 13 locals covered by the agreement acknowledged that there is opposition to the proposed new deal but said it was “the best agreement possible.” The ratification vote is expected to be held next month.

rare break from the parent union over the terms of the previous three-year contract with the studios and recommended its members vote against the deal.

In a statement, IATSE President Matthew Loeb said that the Area Standards Agreement contains all of the provisions gained by the union in the Hollywood Basic Agreement and Videotape Agreement deals reached earlier this month. A deal on Area Standards was expected after the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached a deal on the Hollywood agreement less than 36 hours before the 13 West Coast IATSE locals were set to go on strike.

IATSE announced that film and TV production would not shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Oct.