Four projects – plus more in the pipeline – were organized in May through the Motion Picture Department. These successes were due to members who actively communicated with their locals and stood strong and united when needed.
During a Los Angeles studio lot visit, a crew alerted their Business Agent and an IA Rep to a large 3 day non-union promo shooting on an adjacent stage. After meeting with the crew, the IA called for a strike and within a few minutes, all the promos for an upcoming collection of CW shows will be covered from date of hire!
On top of that group of promos, three movies were organized in one week, two in Los Angeles and one in Puerto Rico.
Low budget features “Havenhurst” and “The Bounce Back” were both signed after the crews called in the job to their Locals. Only one show required a short lunchtime strike by the crew, and the other company signed a term Agreement without any work stoppage once they realized the difficulty they’d face if they attempted to shoot their upcoming projects non-union. Both contracts are fully retroactive to date of hire.
In Puerto Rico, “Stranded In Paradise,” an original movie for the Hallmark Channel, was covered after the crew went on strike for representation. All wages, benefits, and working conditions are retroactive to date of hire and the company producing the project is also now a term signatory, which means all their future projects are required to be done under contract.
Congrats to the crews working on all these shoots. More than 100 people will now get benefits and the protections of working under a union contract, and potentially hundreds more down the line as the Signatory companies continue to make union movies.
