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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Strike Continues, Pressure on Businesses Mounts

At the Hollywood Post Alliance awards earlier this month, HPA President Leon Silverman led the crowd in what he called “strike training.” Putting on a paper hat from In and Out Burger, Silverman had the crowd of several hundred post-production professionals and other guests repeat after him, “Would you like fries with that?” Then getting serious, Silverman expressed hope that the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers would work something out “so that everyone in the industry gets their fair share.” Flipping burgers at a fast food joint may not be in the immediate future of a color timer or composite artist but the three-week old strike creates nervousness in the ancillary businesses and communities relying on television production. Feature film shoots remain untouched by the strike for now but the same cannot be said for television. Shows gone dark due to the walkout include “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The Office.” Late night talk shows, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” taped at NBC studios in Burbank, went into immediate re-runs. Some business owners supplying television production said their schedules are gradually dwindling and that by early December shows they supply for will end. “We are part of the fallout of that,” said Lance Sorensen, president of crane and lift supplier 24/7 Studio Equipment in North Hollywood. “My feeling is I wish they would get back to work. They also should have been negotiating seriously about this stuff months ago, not a couple of weeks before the contract expires.” The 12,000-member Guild went on strike Nov. 5 after failing to reach a new contract with the AMPTP. While both sides took certain proposals off the table, the major sticking point remains how to pay writers whose work is distributed online and to mobile devices. Unique to the strike is that although it is the writers on the picket lines, the lack of television and film production trickles down to the thousands of people working for equipment rental houses, costume shops, catering services, effects companies and other suppliers to the production companies and studios. Cinema Vehicle Services in North Hollywood anticipates working on television shows until at least the first week in December. “After that we are going to have to initiate some layoffs and cutbacks and set up a program that saves us,” said owner Ray Claridge. Panavision Inc. made cutbacks in discretionary spending such as advertising, promotion, travel, and entertainment when camera rentals dropped off after television production stopped. Television makes up one-third of rental revenues with feature films, commercials and music videos making up most of the remaining two-thirds. The Woodland Hills-based camera company had contingency plans in place but was caught off guard by how soon picketing appeared after the contract expired, said President and CEO Bob Beitcher. Along with the cuts in discretionary spending, phase one of Panavision’s strategy is having employees at all its facilities take the last two weeks of December as vacation time, Beitcher said. “If the strike extends we will certainly look at other staff adjustments and things like that,” Beitcher said. Spreading the Pain The last writers strike in 1988 cost the Los Angeles area economy $500 million. A last minute deal averted a walkout in 2001 that was predicted to cost between $2 billion and $6 billion. FilmLA Inc, the not-for-profit agency that coordinates on-location permitting in Los Angeles and other municipalities, expects a hit of up to 25 percent in revenues once television production stops next month. The hit to the City of Santa Clarita adds upwards of $2 million from the filming taking place within its boundaries as production companies make use of area businesses. Half the production is for television shows. “There are thousands of people living out here working in the entertainment industry that are very nervous right now,” said Jason Crawford, economic development director for the City of Santa Clarita. “Some are worried about being laid off and others how it will effect them in the long run.” While commercial and feature film shoots continue, television series shot in the city, including “The Unit” and “NCIS,” have stopped production, Crawford said. As the nature of television shows changed and required more on-location shoots, the Antelope Valley saw more production of war-related shows like “The Unit” and forensic shows like “Cold Case.” Two days of filming for “My Name is Earl” in mid-November were the last planned for the area in the immediate future, said Pauline East, executive director of the Antelope Valley Film Office. While commercial and still shoots remain the big generator of permits in that area, it was frustrating to lose the television work just after it began to take off. “I am just one small piece of puzzle that is frustrated,” East said. In the weeks leading up to the strike, Sorensen and his team at 24/7 talked about preparations the company could make. But when those discussions took place they led to the same conclusion how do you prepare for something you have never been through before? Sorensen decided if the strike lasts longer than 30 days, 24/7 would seek out other sources of rental revenue, specifically industrial accounts. Electricians, sign, flag and banner installers, even maintenance workers for private jets at nearby Bob Hope Airport may have need for the lifts and cranes the company rents. “We cannot sit idly by,” Sorensen said. At Cinema Vehicle Services, Claridge said an upswing in feature film production remains a possibility to help his business. “You always have to plan for the worst scenario,” Claridge said.

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