Why Working in Film is Harming People: Insights from One Costumer
With the latest, fatal news of a death on film set, I don’t know what to say. What possible is there when a life is stolen needlessly. She’s gone. And she should be here. No one should die on a film set. My condolences go out to Halyna Hutchins loved ones, the director who is recovering, and the team making the New Mexico show RUST.
Safety on set has been a hot topic as of late as negotiations between some American IATSE member locals and AMPTP continue. To work in film, aside from independent projects, professionals need to be a part of your specific craft’s union. That’s true for actors to camera to directors to carpenters to makeup artists. And, of course, that includes professionals like me: costumers.
While a strike has been adverted for now, members are unsure of the value of the supposed deal reached. Many will (and should in my opinion) vote no to this deal. Here’s some background on the situation found on Vulture:
“IATSE stands for International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Founded in 1893, it’s one of the longest-running labor organizations in the world, and it covers over 150,000 workers across basically every facet of the performing arts: television, concerts, trade shows, Broadway, and more. Most people who work behind the scenes in entertainment, from ushers to animators, are represented by IATSE, in the same way screenwriters are represented by the WGA. As of this week, the union has approved a work stoppage if the ongoing negotiations between IATSE and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, comprising bigwigs like Disney, Paramount, and Universal) over a contract renewal break down — and reports over the last few months of negotiations have suggested this is possible. It goes without saying that if this workforce (estimated to be around 60,000 people) suspends its labor, much of the United States’ contribution to the global content apparatus will cease to function, sending Tinseltown into uncharted territory as the backlog of unreleased film and television slowly dries up.”
… “We are fighting for core union principles: A living wage for the lowest paid among us, health and safety for those members who suffer abuse working unsafe hours or days without breaks, and the fulfillment of an unkept promise to share streaming success,” (IATSE President Matthew) Loeb wrote in late August. “If the employers refuse to engage in substantive negotiations, refuse to change the culture by managing the workflow, and refuse to put human interests before corporate profits, the failure to reach an agreement will be their choice.”
While this labour negotiation is centred among our American neighbours, there are similar sentiments here in Canada and likely worldwide. While the work safety and value of film professionals may not be “as bad” here, they certainly aren’t “good.” The pandemic has only further complicated the work load. A quick look at the social media groundswell of anonymous crew members sharing their personal film work stories via ia_stories on social media, one gets gobsmacked with the reality that this workplace culture is a larger, systemic problem. Without outing any of my colleagues, reposts, likes, and personal comments have been shared by the film community right here in Calgary.
To get an idea of just the hours demanded, a typical film week for a costumer that works on set may look like this.
Monday. Crew Call is 0800. Costumers have a pre-call time of 0600 so that all talent is dressed, ready on set for 0800. Film locations have a minimum one-way self-drive commute of 30 minutes but an hour is not uncommon. Filming is typically 10 to 12 hours per day. Once the cameras have stopped filming the days scenes (again, likely 10 to 12 hours), each department needs to clean up or wrap out their department’s day before driving home. For costumers that means we have to get talent out of their costume and those costumes out of fitting rooms and back on our truck for laundry and processing. Typically, this is 30 minutes to an hour. Monday’s work for a costumer is from 0500 to 2200 when you factor in both time on set and the commute to and from home base.
Tuesday. Crew Call is 0800 again. Same goes. Costumes could be away from home from 0500 to 2200 round trip.
Wednesday. Crew Call is 1000. Costumers likely can expect to be on set from at least 0900 to 2300. But midnight or later would not be out of the question.
Thursday. NOON Crew Call. Yep, that means costumers will be home well after midnight. This film day could be a mix of day and night scene filming. It may include using a studio.
Friday. Crew Call is 1800. Night filming. Cast and crew drive home at the end of their 5th day as the sun comes up Saturday morning. After they get some rest, they have to turn their sleep schedule around to be ready for an early start again on Monday. I tell my loved ones that they can only count me in for plans between Saturday at 1800 to Sunday at 1800 when I’m on a project. Aside from sacrificing sleep and hygiene, that’s all that I have left to give.
Film weeks are typically structured this way – building from early starts at the beginning of the week to a late start come Friday - to maximize hours filmed to get the absolute most amount of day and night scenes all in one week. Plus, if you film overnight on Friday into Saturday within the union contracted allotments, productions can restart Monday morning and avoid or minimize financial penalties for infringing into a worker’s “turnaround” rest time.
The ultimate goal is to pack as much as one can into a week so that a project can be done in less actual days, weeks, and months by cramming in every hour per. Production houses and talent find a 16-week project way more attractive that spreading that same work out to 20 weeks, for example. Logic being that they can pack one more project in a year if they squeeze out a few weeks each from the crew of two others. Please hear me when I say that this benefits the production and talent primarily as they work significantly less hours on set and have seemingly unlimited production-paid access to drivers, assistants, professionals, preferred hotels, and off-set catering. Awesome for them, truly, but the bulk of the crew does not get access to the same production paid resources.
Here are some quick takes on the work culture for professional crew that I’ve personally observed in Calgary…
While there is overtime and penalty payments, I believe it creates a nasty desire to work longer for bigger paycheques. As a trade-off crew must accept the abuse as a “badge of honour”, “sink or swim” bravado, or industry table stakes.
There are no paid sick pay or family leave or mental health or personal days. If you don’t show up, you don’t get paid.
Yes, there is catering on set. It’s meant to keep you there so you don’t leave on breaks.
Commute time is only paid if out of a certain pre-set kilometre radius. It’s farther out that you may think.
Rarely productions will offer paid hotel stays or rides to crew. Personally, I’ve been offered 6 days in the thirteen shows I’ve worked over the past five years.
And yes, there’s a long line of folks chomping at the bit to join the industry willing to fill your spot because the work is very rewarding. You get to play a key part of making entertainment. The allure is real. But it’s a workplace culture that is all consuming and at times. The way we work is killing people.
It’s not hard to see that working 70 to 80 hours plus commuting tired in 5 calendar days for months on end takes a heavy toll. On both the professional and the professional’s loved ones. I have never worked a show without some weekend work days, too. Never.
While film is not the only industry to do this intense schedule, it’s an industry that doesn’t have to. The scenes required to tell the story could be spread over a few more days and weeks instead of jamming days until they burst. Film is not emergency medical workers with actual lives on the line. As it turns out, the only lives at stake on a film set are the exhausted cast and crew trying to rush and squeeze to make entertainment.
This is why many industry folks choose to work in the office – somewhat reduced hours and reduced commutes; some choose to scale down their availability or share a position with someone else - of course for reduced pay; or choose to exit the industry all together. Time will tell how long it will take for true change to happen. The sad part is many more folks will get hurt or die unnecessarily until they do.
Professionals like me and my colleagues unfortunately have to take the stand, put themselves out there and risk the chance of getting blacklisted to demand better for ourselves and our professional peers. It’s a huge personal risk of our careers but I believe it’s what needs to be done for the greater good.
Again, if you can, spend 10 minutes reading the first-hand stories to get a real sense of the impacts of what is going on, your understanding just may help to save a life.
