labor
AMC Theatres’ Workers at Universal City Location Attempt to Unionize
The latest coming attraction for Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood? A union election at the National Labor Relations Board. On Feb. 20, the crew union IATSE petitioned the NLRB for an election to determine if 44 staffers at the Universal City location will decide to join their ranks. The union is attempting to represent […]
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Writers Guild East Names Sam Wheeler as Executive Director
The Writers Guild of America East has named Sam Wheeler executive director after its previous staff leader announced his departure last fall. Wheeler, currently the national executive director of the American Guild of Musical Artists, will start at the writers’ union on April 1. The union’s council announced the hire on Monday, saying that Wheeler’s […]
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How Biden’s Labor Chief Is Thinking About AI’s Threat to Hollywood Workers
Attendees at the Screen Actors Guild Awards this year will not only be brushing shoulders with the stars of Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer and other awards hopefuls — but also a sitting member of President Biden’s cabinet. In a sign of the times in Hollywood, acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su will […]
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Adjunct Professors Vote to Unionize at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts
Adjuncts at the University of Southern California’s prominent School of Cinematic Arts have officially voted to unionize in a National Labor Relations Board ballot count on Friday. Two hundred and six workers voted to join the United Auto Workers union in the count, while 13 workers voted against unionizing. Out of around 281 eligible voters, […]
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Musicians, Studios Reach Tentative Deal On Contract With Streaming Residuals, AI Gains
The American Federation of Musicians has reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as of Friday. The agreement, which concerns basic theatrical motion picture and basic television motion picture contracts, comes with “historic breakthroughs” on streaming residuals and protections against AI, according to AFM. The agreement is unanimously recommended […]
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Tyler Perry Puts $800M Studio Expansion on Hold After Seeing OpenAI’s Sora: “Jobs Are Going to Be Lost”
Over the past four years, Tyler Perry had been planning an $800 million expansion of his studio in Atlanta, which would have added 12 soundstages to the 330-acre property. Now, however, those ambitions are on hold — thanks to the rapid developments he’s seeing in the realm of artificial intelligence, including OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora, […]
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Is Hollywood Sleepwalking Toward Strike Three?
As the creator and administrator of a popular crewmember-focused social media hub, Diego Mariscal had a bird’s-eye view into the turbulent experience of his peers during Hollywood’s 2023 strikes. Typically, his account, Crew Stories, supplies its more than 128,000 followers across Instagram and Facebook with wry insider jokes about the below-the-line experience and lighthearted, behind-the-scenes […]
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AI’s New Job? All-Purpose Hollywood Crewmember
Picture this: In a future not too far away, HBO is mulling whether to greenlight a new Game of Thrones spinoff but is on the fence about the project. So instead of dumping tens of millions of dollars to shoot a pilot it might wind up passing on, it uses a generative artificial intelligence system […]
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During the Strikes, Actors Got Financial Grants. Now It’s Tax Season and Some Are Scrambling
In 2023, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation became a lifeline for many actors, distributing emergency financial aid to those who were struggling to make ends’ meet amid their union’s 118-day strike. A host of the union’s starriest members — George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey, among others — donated millions to the […]
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IATSE, Low Budget Film Producers Form Working Group to Combat Harassment and Abuse on Set
Last month, Anita Hill’s Hollywood Commission released the sobering findings from its most recent survey into workplace abuse: Most of the 5,000-plus respondents said that they were now better informed on how to identify misconduct, but they had little faith in employers’ and the industry’s ability to address the behavior. At the time, Hill told […]
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Kate Hudson Still Receives 10-Cent Residual Checks for ‘Home Alone 2’
Residuals aren’t what they used to be, apparently even if you’re A-list talent. That’s what Kate Hudson revealed on her Sibling Revelry podcast on Monday while speaking about the minuscule checks she receives from her brief appearance as a child in the hit sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Hudson asked her guest, […]
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DreamWorks Animation, Flying Bark Productions Workers Take Steps Toward Unionizing
The Animation Guild is organizing production workers at DreamWorks Animation and at Flying Bark Productions. The guild (IATSE Local 839) sent a letter to DreamWorks Animation on Feb. 7 and filed for recognition with the National Labor Relations Board on Feb. 9 to represent 162 production workers at the studio. “It is an honor to […]
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