This summer I worked my very first 22-hour shift, “on set,” no less. While I absolutely love being on set, it can often be physically exhausting. As a production assistant, I was lifting & moving things, quick to be on my feet for most of the hours I was working. After a 22-hour shift, my body was weary. However, I was still an hour’s drive from home, more than that in 6 a.m. Los Angeles rush hour traffic. Wearily, I got in my car and began driving. I have never been so exhausted in my life, or so close to falling asleep while driving. Moments passed and I started crying. My body needed rest so desperately, but I was trapped in traffic for at least several more hours.
That night, I was lucky enough to make it home safely, but assistant camera operator Brent Hershman wasn’t so lucky. After a 19-hour day in 1997, he dozed off and died in a car crash. His death inspired Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler to shoot the documentary “Who Needs Sleep?” (2006) where he interviewed film crew workers about how long they worked. Many crew members were averaging 15-16 hour workdays, with turnaround times that were far too short for a person to get adequate sleep, let alone have a personal life. For the past few weeks, many of my friends in the film industry have told their own stories of nearly falling asleep while driving home or almost crashing with a day’s worth of footage in their car. The countless workers behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows and movies are exhausted, and for good reason.
On set, every minute of filming can cost as much as $1200 dollars, from paying every employee to renting very expensive camera equipment. This can make it a stressful place where people are encouraged to work harder and cut meal times in order to be more efficient. Like any industry, the working class is often taken advantage of in order to produce content more cheaply. This is why the unions have strict labor laws, like requiring production to feed crew workers every 8 hours or pay a fine, as well as requiring a minimum 10-hour turnaround time between shoots or, again, paying a fine.
Unfortunately, now that things are finally starting up again after the pandemic slowed production to a halt, streamers have been working their sets double-time in order to produce your favorite shows in time. Productions have been simply paying the fines instead of feeding and resting their workers fairly because it’s more cost-efficient. After months of this behavior and numerous near-death experiences for film crew members, the IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and the union that supports everyone from cinematographers to set dressers, has finally taken steps to go on strike. On the morning of September 26, the International Guild of Cinematographers voted to go on strike when the IATSE approved the date.
This means that in a few days, a union strike could ground all TV production to a halt.
How does this affect you? Well, instead of complaining that the newest season of “The Witcher” isn’t coming out as soon as you’d hoped, consider canceling your streaming subscriptions temporarily in support of underpaid & overworked set workers nationwide. The IATSE phrased it well in the following tweet: “Hollywood isn’t glamorous galas, glittery fame, or wealthy corporate elites. Hollywood is the thousands of behind-the-scenes workers whose labor creates the entertainment we love.”
Even though film crew members love their jobs, it can be exhausting, and they can often forget to take care of themselves. Camera teams, grips, and script supervisors can spend up to 12 hours straight on their feet in tough weather conditions and sometimes on overnight shifts without a moment to breathe. In order for them to continue making good content that we all appreciate and love, let’s all be a little patient and allow them the rest, meal times, and sustainable pay we all deserve.
Resource
Masters, K. (host). (2021, September 26). “IATSE behind the camera workers make movies and
TV shows happen. They may soon authorize a strike.” (No. 25) [Audio podcast episode]
In The Business. KCRW.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.