More from Katie Kilkenny
‘World of Warcraft’ Development Team Unionizes In Notable Step for Game Worker Organizing Efforts
In a major step forward for the still-nascent video game unionizing movement, hundreds of development team members at massively multiplayer online role-playing game giant World of Warcraft have unionized. A majority of workers voted to join a union aligned with the Communications Workers of America in a contest that took place between June 24 and […]
- By
Would You Do It Again? A Year After Strikes, Hollywood Reckons With the Aftermath
“What are we doing, moving around furniture on the Titanic?,” SAG-AFTRA leader and former star of The Nanny Fran Drescher asked a packed conference room of reporters on July 13, 2023. Her union of 160,000 performers had just announced it was going on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It was joining the Writers Guild of […]
- By
IATSE Members Vote to Ratify Major Contract Deals
Crew members belonging to Hollywood’s major below-the-line union have voted to ratify two new three-year contracts. According to the union, 85.9 percent of voting members supported the Basic Agreement in the ratification vote tally. The Basic Agreement covers around 50,000 members who are represented by 13 West Coast Locals, including the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE […]
- By
Reality TV Filming Plummets in Los Angeles in Major Production Slowdown
Filming for reality television in the Los Angeles area experienced another significant drop in the second quarter of 2024 after a rough start to the year, belying expectations that unscripted production would accelerate amid industry contraction and belt-tightening coming out the strikes. That’s according to the latest production report from local film office FilmLA, which […]
- By
Teamsters Warn That They Remain “Far Apart” From Studios in Hollywood Basic Crafts Negotiations
A Teamsters Local is warning that it and the Hollywood Basic Crafts labor coalition remain “far apart” from major studios and streamers on key issues in ongoing contract negotiations. The remark came as part of a Teamsters Local 399 update on Friday night on the negotiations, which began on June 10 and are covering issues […]
- By
Writers Guild West Censures Showrunner Over Facebook Post Using Lynching Image
The Writers Guild of America West issued a censure of showrunner Tim Doyle on Thursday after a committee of its members found that one of his Facebook posts was “conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the Guild and unfair dealing.” The union’s board of directors revealed in a statement sent to members that it had […]
- By
CBS Pays $3M-Plus in Settlement With Writers Guild West Over Labor Dispute
The Writers Guild of America West has negotiated a settlement with CBS over work that occurred after writers rooms were shut down on several shows that has awarded $3.05 million to 24 writers, union leaders informed members on Wednesday. According to a member message, the settlement resulted from an arbitration claim that the union filed […]
- By
As Hollywood Cuts Back, IATSE Members Size Up Pros and Cons of Their Tentative Deal With Studios
The last time West Coast IATSE crewmembers — including cinematographers, editors, costume designers and gaffers, among many other craftspeople — voted on a Basic Agreement contract deal, they narrowly rejected it in the popular vote. Amid an outcry over working conditions in 2021, 50.4 percent of voting members of IATSE’s West Coast Locals voted down […]
- By
Hollywood Crafts Unions to Studios: Don’t Hold Up Our Deal Due to Your “Poor Business Decisions”
At the end of their latest week of bargaining with Hollywood studios and streamers, the unions that make up the Hollywood Basic Crafts coalition struck a defiant tone. In a statement Wednesday, the labor groups said that major entertainment firms at the bargaining table during these talks “can and should respect” the workers that the […]
- By
Irish “Heiress” Who Conned Reality TV Producer Extradited to Northern Ireland
Marianne Smyth, the American whose elaborate con of a reality television producer was the subject of a 2020 Hollywood Reporter story, has been extradited to Northern Ireland to face trial over a separate alleged scam she ran there. Smyth was extradited on Tuesday, according to statements from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Police […]
- By
Inside the IATSE Basic Agreement Deal: New Streaming Residuals, More Safety Officers and AI Guardrails
Crew union IATSE is revealing more specifics of the tentative West Coast contract deal that it struck with Hollywood studios and streamers on Tuesday. In a summary of the three-year provisional agreement released over the weekend, the union detailed the wage increases, AI guardrails, safety provisions and health and pension funding mechanisms that it negotiated […]
- By
Writers and Actors Scramble to Keep Their Health Insurance in a Post-Strike Hollywood
In April, actor Miki Yamashita says she received a health diagnosis that requires surgery to remove non-cancerous tumors. That’s when the performer, who has appeared on Cobra Kai and voiced a character on The Lion Guard, began the race to attempt to qualify for her union’s health insurance plan by June 30. If she earned […]
- By