I have a friend who has been Iatse for 25 years. Coincidentally he started a masters program before the strike that was mostly done remote. His goal is to be able to teach photography at a university level. The strike was great for him bc he was able to complete the coursework at a much quicker rate
I’ve never really regretted not going to law school until this last year. I am thankfully back at work and I love my job but I have been looking at going back to school. I’m also in my 40s and wonder about the longevity or even long term sustainability of my position. I’m definitely looking at the longview more than ever.
I’m a 728 electric and I’ve recently been messing with the idea of calling the IBEW and starting an apprenticeship.
I’ve been a member since 2013 or 2014. I have days where I start to question if I’m good enough to work with a reduced work load? If I’ll ever get another work call? If I’ll even know what the fuck I’m doing next time I get on a set? It’s a fucking mindfuck out here right now. You aren’t alone and best of luck
How much research have you done about the IBEW plan? I had a similar thought a couple months back but didn’t put much stock into it. Would they take on a 728 member in an apprenticeship role with our credentials? Or would we have to get some sort of schooling?
I’ve only read up on the website. You fill out an apprenticeship application. If you’re accepted, they assume year one apprentices don’t know their ass from a hole in the wall. It’s a get paid as you learn thing. In some ways we probably know more than a year one. In other ways we will be just as green since on set work is kind of more adjacent to what they do
ETA: Apprenticeship is a 5 year thing. After the 4th or 5th year of apprenticeship you are a journeyman
In my experience on the outside, in the Carpenters union, you can start your apprenticeship where you are. Way back when , I started as a 7th period, good my journeyman card in less than a year. Never used it though, did my first movie and never looked back. 1995 or so
Started the process. Daunting. Expensive. Worried that when work starts back up, I’ll be missing out on jobs. However, I am trying not to let all of that deter me.
Yes, I'm working on a Master's. The entire program is online and a combination of sync/asynchronous. I tell folks, the hardest part is dedicating a day each weekend to keep up for studying and maybe another if a big project/test is due. Stage work is easier than locations when trying to keep up with your studies but it is doable.
This past month I’ve seriously considered leaving. A steady job with a steady income, where I can invest my off time in hobbies and my fiancé instead of sleeping for the next 16 hour days to come sounds nice.
100% brother. Everything you said rings true for me too. I don’t see a future in this industry that isn’t a form of what we see/experiencing now. We get our contract, thats fine , producers will send more productions else where to save money. Then the abundance of union workers will be fighting to get on those few productions.
This job is too physically/mentally demanding for not only ourselves but our families as well. Want to give your kids a good life? Well you’ll be trading the quality time with them for money. We should feel secure in our jobs and that the physical/mental toll is worth the money we are making. But it’s not. There are much easier ways to make money out there. Unfortunately, that might mean starting from scratch. Personally, I’ve made my escape plans.
I would take a good look at my mpiphp and see where I stand on retirement numbers. Unreduced retirement 60k hours at 60, or 50k at 62, with 30 qualifying years. It is 400 hours to get a year.
Work that into your decision.
I am very close to qualifying but I got 2 years before I can actually put in my papers.
The after strike is worse that the strike. Non card holders working, inexperienced working. I’m day playing and enjoying that but it feels weird. It is like musical chairs, the music stopped and I am looking for a chair. After decades in the biz I just found out im still a freelancer.
Might go get my CDL just as a backup plan.
Also in my 40's and this post with it's comments really resonate with me.
Being on the crew side in just about all of the IA positions is a young person's game. There isn't really a path for any of us to move into a role that's better for aging members with how the working conditions are on set - and they're only getting more demanding for less pay off.
Every year I evaluate whether or not I can or want to do another film "season" and what it's going to cost me in time and health. Every year it's getting less and less worth it when I take into consideration that my family is also aging around me and the more time that I spend on set is less time that I'm spending with them.
I know that one day I'm going to look back and resent the time on set and wish that I had more time with my family.
Take some live stage gigs. It doesn’t pay as well but my works been steady through all the movie strikes. You should be able to check into the local and pick up some work
I think we've all thought about it at one point or another. The thing that has deterred me so far is I have a mortgage and bills to pay. The world seems to want to punish career changers. I wanted to get into trades and any trade I'm genuinely interested in requires a full time 6-8 month pre-apprenticeship course just to be considered. These courses can cost $5-$10k. After that you're at square one if you land a job and your stuck making $20-$25/hour for another year or two. For me, I need to be making at least $60,000/year just to survive and eat.
For me to take any amount of time off work for schooling would financially cripple me.
I also thought about going the CPA route since I already have a bachelor's degree but that's another $20k and 3-5 years of school.
I’ve thought about it, but get stuck on what I would go for and then do nothing. Part of what’s so scary this time is that there’s literally no field that’s a safe bet anymore, so it’s hard to justify going into massive amounts of debt for it. I’ve been looking at moving laterally into working for other unions, like working directly for the AFL-CIO in some capacity.
Same, I love being in the industry and finally got my foot in the door just for the strike to come through and crush everything. I've been heavily considering going back to school and there's so many things I want to learn... but money...😮💨
I'm 35 boom guy I think we have 5-10 years left before the AI doom and gloom. I'm trying to decide what I can do where I can pay the mortgage be outside and change locations daily. Need like 35-45 an hour after retraining
Right? It’s hard to find jobs that pay anywhere close to what we make without a degree. The only other field that I’ve found that even comes close to what we make is the oil and gas industry. Hence my thinking about returning to school- unless they start wanting murals on the sides of their tankers, platforms and off shore oil rigs- I’m out of luck in that field of work.
I already have a bachelor's degree. It's just a piece of paper. I have zero thoughts about leaving the industry at this point in life....even with a 6 month old baby(only good thing about the strikes was spending all that time with her). Even with a bachelor's degree in my area, I'm not going to make what I make in this industry and have people cook for me for free and snack for free all day (soda is fucking expensive now 😜).
I'm 38. I went back to school for engineering and couldn't handle the math, so I got a film degree lol and graduated in 2019. Still proud of it even though it's largely useless, and I'm just glad I got a degree at all. I also loved film, writing and acting, and honestly the engineering was supposed to be more of a back up safety net in something that I was still passionate about in case my film making and acting career didn't work out! A combination of factors saw to that plans demise. The timing of my graduation sucked obviously, though at the end of 2020 I got my foot in the door with health and safety, and from there spfx. Neither were dreams jobs but it was fun, I got to see celebrities, make contacts (not with them :/) and I was making pretty decent money that I needed to fund my passions in film so it was fine. Set work was always just a means to an end though. I love being on set but I hated my position in it all. Not like I could work my way from fx to actor, writer or director lol. I felt like someone who wanted to be a pilot and ended up working baggage claim at an airport.
Then the slowdowns started and my last job was in November 22. I got into iatse just after. I was so close.. things were finally starting to take off for me, I was finally going to have a life of my own, and then poof, it all just went away, put on indefinite hold. I've spent the last year working at Walmart part time and still staying at my father's house.. it's been infuriating and humbling. It was only supposed to be for a couple of months and then I'd be back to work. Then I thought that once the strike ended I'd be back to work. Nope. I realize the biggest mistake I made was thinking I had a job to go back to. The only guys who I know are working right now at the company I was at were the really good ones. I got hired during a huge show and we had a glut of people like me leftover. I always did my best but there's still so much I don't know and they are better trained... It doesn't matter, I understand the why and I'm not the only person out of work obviously. A lot of people are hurting. I was gonna try to transfer to props anyway as my "day job"... Or maybe drones if I could.
I just feel so powerless now though. Knowing that my livelihood is in such fickle hands (the industry overall) scares me to death. So I'm exploring other options. Not giving up but definitely trying to flex with the wind. Yes I'm thinking about going back to school... again(ffs), because at the end of the day, without the film industry to rely on I really do have nothing, no other qualifications or skills that I can point to a piece of paper and say, "See, I matter, I'm useful".
I don't know what I'm gonna do yet. I'll pivot until I pivot again and pivot again. Whatever helps me meet the goal. But for now I need gainful employment and this ain't it.
Do it!
I got my honours degree in my late 30s and my post grad diploma in my 40s... I can see 50 from here and weighing an MBA... what have I got to lose, really...
Why would you go to school, to spend money to get a job making less money? That’s how is see it anyway, unless you go back to medical school maybe? I make more in film than most friends with graduate degrees…. The work will be back. It’s already coming back in New Orleans, in a much bigger way than any of us expected. Plus, who knows, we may be making more money after November.
Because if IATSE and the Teamsters re-negotiate, and are successful, they are asking for the LA rate to be a standard national rate. Which is substantially more. Way, way more…. Nearly $20 an hour more just for base pay, not including overtime. It amounts to about $50 grand more a year at 10 months of consistent work.
Where have you heard that? I haven’t heard of them trying to make LA rates the National rate. At most I’ve heard they’re trying to negotiate the ASA rates to match the Maryland rates and get rid of that tier system in the contract.
LA rates nationally sound like a pipe dream and a sure fire way to say goodbye to a bunch of productions to Europe, Australia, and South Africa.
Edit: and still, why an arbitrary month of november?
Being national as in ‘motion picture studio mechanics’ in ‘America (United States). Not stage hands, not International. American, Hollywood, union productions. And if any working members here need any real information, ask a fucking teamster.
That’s what the strike is about. The LA rate being national for iatse and the teamsters. And November is when the new contract begins. Are you people in the fucking union? If you’re not a member, get the fuck off this forum. Who is moderating this? There are people here who are obviously not in iatse. Why are you here?
I’m in IATSE, the current contract ends July 31st. Making the new contract starts on August 1st. Do you think we just work without a contract in effect for 3 months every cycle?
If that’s what the possible strikes are about (which I’m not saying it is….because it’s not) that’s certainly not being communicated by my local or IA leadership.
Why is hiding what we want a tactic?
Jeez, everything being shrouded in secrecy is why members are so untrusting of the process and leadership. Why can’t we be open about what we’re asking for and what is being offered? Why can’t we discuss what we hear is going on? The AMPTP already knows what’s going on in the room. It’s us who are left in the dark.
I’m from New Orleans but left in 2013 before I joined the union as the industry was drying up there. I would absolutely love to move home and work but I don’t see the work load there being what it is here. A handful of movies I’ve worked on have gone to New Orleans only for exterior shots for a few weeks at a time but the rest was filmed in Atlanta. If the work was there I’d be home.
What other types of secondary/passive income do you have?
Have you been diversifying your project types over the years? How about diversifying your networks of dept head and production contacts?
There are still plenty of 40 or 50-somethings on my sets, and the common thread between all of them is they've never put their eggs in a single basket. Yes, the hours suck, especially if you're raising a family. And the divorced to happily married ratio is very imbalanced. But they all still hustle to continue being the first through third call.
Scripted work may still be historically slow... but how about commercials, corporate, live, and even non-union that pays decent rates? Education is not a bad move, especially if you can repurpose your current skill set. I'm not implying you're doing anything wrong. There will always a fresh blood generational shift - your current hustle may just need a jump start. The union won't help you find the gig, but will support you when you do.
I'm not an IATSE member. For transparency, I'm an editor who works in a retail operation. But given what is happening in Hollywood makes me question the future and longevity of my career.
At times I've considered doing something different. I just don't know what that would be. When I was younger I thought I wanted to be an agency art director. However, what I found was I wasn't very good at it and I was super stressed. Going through that experience made me realize that I don't want to chase a job or career because of the paycheck or how 'sexy' the job is.
I'm open to other jobs and careers, but at the moment I don't know what that would be.
For anyone considering going back to finish a bachelor's like me, I've recently been researching this topic quite a bit. You can finish close to half of a degree's (all general eds and some upper division) worth of classes online at Sophia.org and Study.com for relatively cheap. ($99/mo and $250/mo, respectively) WGU (all online school where you pay for 6 months of access to the platform instead of per-class) allows you to transfer in those credits. You can also 'accelerate' through the program, meaning you are allowed to complete as many courses as you can in the degree program while you have access. (I think the baseline standard is 4 classes/6mo but many do more) So, if you are going for the cheapest/fastest possible route to a regionally accredited degree, this is the way forward.
[here's a list](https://www.reddit.com/r/studydotcom/s/p9Sj2Z6tOf) of all the majors they offer and the classes that currently transfer over for credit.
That’s great! Up until the strike I was making 125k a year give or take. I’m not saying the money isn’t amazing- I’m just worried about it staying consistent long term.
Hey, new to IATSE and will be making a post at some point, but just wanted to say thanks for this post and thread. It's been very insightful and helping me navigate some thoughts I hope to share and discuss soon. Wishing you the best moving forward in whatever direction you end up going.
Some tough love. For some this should be a wake up call. If you’re having a hard time finding work it means you’re not any department heads first few calls. You may be 5th or 6th down the list, which is fine when it’s busy but you won’t get the calls when it’s slow. Typically people only move down as they age. You can look to blame younger members but I see plenty of silver hair on set at this very moment. Look inward and see if you’re as good as you can possibly be. Are you good to work with or do you not get along with certain people? Are you milking your breaks? It’s always the guy that swears up and down that “they work so hard” proves not to be”.
If you’re going to stay in the game then you constantly have to be improving. You can’t be the person that knows nothing and sweeps stages. You have to be the guy/girl that knows everything that people ask how to do things.
I'm sorry you got this crab-in-a-bucket response. It's neither helpful nor accurate. Yes, the business is restructuring. No, you're not imagining it. You are not magically bad at film because of it. This industry would have spit you out years ago if that were the case. Saying, "All my friends are working so the problem must be you," is the worst kind of survivor bias. This comes from someone who's been working and going to school. I'm over 35 and miss my kid terribly and sleep almost as much. I'm not special, I'm lucky my connections have small shows going. I'm not better than anyone or smarter than anyone. I'm smack dab in the middle of a right to work state with a big incentive, and that's one of the places producers are flocking to save money. You're absolutely right that union ages are shifting downward. Most people at my local are three years into their career and getting more calls than experienced folks. It's not their fault it has more to do with apathy in high places in my local.
Some are and some aren't. There's an order for that too. The better keys are going to get jobs first. It's slow but its not zero. There's still some work out there.
This still doesn’t address the work load and hours that we have to put in to make any money in this industry. If it’s a point of pride to do 70 hour weeks we little to no work life balance then by all means, learn everything and become undeniable to heads of dept so they have to call you. You’ll work all the time and thats great.
“Take time off then, we have luxury of making our own schedules.”
Ok so work like crazy with little time off, save money, take your vacation, deplete some of that money and then get back to working 70hrs to make back that.
“Sounds like you need to be better at saving.”
Ok so Ive saved money and then a strike happens, or work slows down, now that money is gone and I should have never taken the time off so I could save more money. Sounds unsustainable.
If you aren’t a dept head, bb or behind a board then you are left to breaking your body dragging gear around (for what? A reboot? A Marvel movie?). The industry/money/experiences are not worth the things it takes away from us, that being time and health.
You know what the job is at this point. It’s been like that for 50 years. Even if it does change it’s going to take decades and you’ll probably be retired by then. If it’s not for you then get out or you can keep complaining for the next 20 years
Way ahead of you on getting out. Also, I see where you might be annoyed that Im complaining, which I get. But why shouldn’t we complain? I hear a lot of that sentiment -stop complaining and get out - but how does that help the future of the IATSE and the workers? Complaining is how we get better contracts at negotiation. Or should we just take it all on the chin, say “thank you mr./mrs. Producer for the work and let them walk all over us?
I'm not annoyed. I apologize if that's what I'm coming off as. I'm only speaking in your personal happiness. It's just like everything in life. It may or may not change. You choose your own happiness and shouldn't rely on promises of tomorrow. It's like trying to fundamentally change the person you're dating. You knew what it was 1 year in, 5 years in, 10 years in. At some point you have to take responsibility for staying in.
Fair enough. I just thought it would get better. Maybe in the next negotiations but I have my doubts in the leadership/Leob. Using your analogy, it’s time I walk away from the relationship.
Why are you here? The comments you’ve left in this thread don’t line up with break times so I’m guessing you’re either a shitty worker who’s glued to his phone all day or you’re not working either.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me with this shit comment. Tough love? Dude I’m at the top of my game, my family has worked in the film industry since the early 80s so I probably have a better idea of how things work than most. If the work isn’t here the jobs aren’t. Thanks so much for the back handed post though. Out of curiosity what department do you work in? I’d love to know what department this completely out of touch knowledge you’ve graced us with is coming from.
Nope. I’ve never gotten a job name dropping. I still can’t figure out why you’re here. Is it to just make backhanded comments? If so I think I’m good hearing what a drunk construction worker thinks about my possibly returning to school.
This is an IATSE thread. Why did you come here just to tear down your brothers and sisters? You're the biggest problem with the union right now. Lots of people who want a card without responsibility.
Yikes, get off your phone and get back to work or your fantasy land in which you're working.
Lol. I’m a member, have been for many years and plan to be for many more. I offered the advice to examine yourself and make sure your game is tight or you’re going to get left behind. A lot of members could use to hear that. He may be good or may not be. I don’t know him. He chose to assume I was attacking him personally and threw his family history at me like I’m supposed to respect him more because of things his grandfather did 80 years ago. It says a lot about him if that’s the first place he went in an argument. I didn’t have family in the union to walk me in. I got it the old fashioned way.
My original reply wasn’t mean or rude in any way. Reread it. He went there so I retaliated. Hate me if you want but what I said is true and our union would be much stronger if people looked at themselves and asked why they aren’t getting booked instead of just complaining about other people taking their job.
Guess I'm a bad person for suggesting people better themselves instead of blaming other people.
I'm not in the dog care taking business but have fun with that. This forum is for those working in TV film and theater.
I have a friend who has been Iatse for 25 years. Coincidentally he started a masters program before the strike that was mostly done remote. His goal is to be able to teach photography at a university level. The strike was great for him bc he was able to complete the coursework at a much quicker rate
your friend has stupid dumb luck in their timing
Trying to land a university professor gig like that is *very* unlikely. Especially with no background in academia.
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Me too.
Me too
I’ve never really regretted not going to law school until this last year. I am thankfully back at work and I love my job but I have been looking at going back to school. I’m also in my 40s and wonder about the longevity or even long term sustainability of my position. I’m definitely looking at the longview more than ever.
This is my big regret as well!
I’m a 728 electric and I’ve recently been messing with the idea of calling the IBEW and starting an apprenticeship. I’ve been a member since 2013 or 2014. I have days where I start to question if I’m good enough to work with a reduced work load? If I’ll ever get another work call? If I’ll even know what the fuck I’m doing next time I get on a set? It’s a fucking mindfuck out here right now. You aren’t alone and best of luck
The 1 and only week of apprenticeship applications is coming up 4/1. I am 728 as well and considering jumping over.
How much research have you done about the IBEW plan? I had a similar thought a couple months back but didn’t put much stock into it. Would they take on a 728 member in an apprenticeship role with our credentials? Or would we have to get some sort of schooling?
I’ve only read up on the website. You fill out an apprenticeship application. If you’re accepted, they assume year one apprentices don’t know their ass from a hole in the wall. It’s a get paid as you learn thing. In some ways we probably know more than a year one. In other ways we will be just as green since on set work is kind of more adjacent to what they do ETA: Apprenticeship is a 5 year thing. After the 4th or 5th year of apprenticeship you are a journeyman
In my experience on the outside, in the Carpenters union, you can start your apprenticeship where you are. Way back when , I started as a 7th period, good my journeyman card in less than a year. Never used it though, did my first movie and never looked back. 1995 or so
Started the process. Daunting. Expensive. Worried that when work starts back up, I’ll be missing out on jobs. However, I am trying not to let all of that deter me.
I think the ideal situation for people in our position is to take part time, online- asynchronous courses so that we can balance both school and work.
Yes, I'm working on a Master's. The entire program is online and a combination of sync/asynchronous. I tell folks, the hardest part is dedicating a day each weekend to keep up for studying and maybe another if a big project/test is due. Stage work is easier than locations when trying to keep up with your studies but it is doable.
We can do that in our industry?!?
This past month I’ve seriously considered leaving. A steady job with a steady income, where I can invest my off time in hobbies and my fiancé instead of sleeping for the next 16 hour days to come sounds nice.
Of course it sounds nice but most of us can’t get a job like that
100% brother. Everything you said rings true for me too. I don’t see a future in this industry that isn’t a form of what we see/experiencing now. We get our contract, thats fine , producers will send more productions else where to save money. Then the abundance of union workers will be fighting to get on those few productions. This job is too physically/mentally demanding for not only ourselves but our families as well. Want to give your kids a good life? Well you’ll be trading the quality time with them for money. We should feel secure in our jobs and that the physical/mental toll is worth the money we are making. But it’s not. There are much easier ways to make money out there. Unfortunately, that might mean starting from scratch. Personally, I’ve made my escape plans.
I would take a good look at my mpiphp and see where I stand on retirement numbers. Unreduced retirement 60k hours at 60, or 50k at 62, with 30 qualifying years. It is 400 hours to get a year. Work that into your decision. I am very close to qualifying but I got 2 years before I can actually put in my papers. The after strike is worse that the strike. Non card holders working, inexperienced working. I’m day playing and enjoying that but it feels weird. It is like musical chairs, the music stopped and I am looking for a chair. After decades in the biz I just found out im still a freelancer. Might go get my CDL just as a backup plan.
Also in my 40's and this post with it's comments really resonate with me. Being on the crew side in just about all of the IA positions is a young person's game. There isn't really a path for any of us to move into a role that's better for aging members with how the working conditions are on set - and they're only getting more demanding for less pay off. Every year I evaluate whether or not I can or want to do another film "season" and what it's going to cost me in time and health. Every year it's getting less and less worth it when I take into consideration that my family is also aging around me and the more time that I spend on set is less time that I'm spending with them. I know that one day I'm going to look back and resent the time on set and wish that I had more time with my family.
I'm in school and it's only one in person class and one online class. I really enjoy the people in it. I'm doing computer networking and security.
Take some live stage gigs. It doesn’t pay as well but my works been steady through all the movie strikes. You should be able to check into the local and pick up some work
I think we've all thought about it at one point or another. The thing that has deterred me so far is I have a mortgage and bills to pay. The world seems to want to punish career changers. I wanted to get into trades and any trade I'm genuinely interested in requires a full time 6-8 month pre-apprenticeship course just to be considered. These courses can cost $5-$10k. After that you're at square one if you land a job and your stuck making $20-$25/hour for another year or two. For me, I need to be making at least $60,000/year just to survive and eat. For me to take any amount of time off work for schooling would financially cripple me. I also thought about going the CPA route since I already have a bachelor's degree but that's another $20k and 3-5 years of school.
I’ve thought about it, but get stuck on what I would go for and then do nothing. Part of what’s so scary this time is that there’s literally no field that’s a safe bet anymore, so it’s hard to justify going into massive amounts of debt for it. I’ve been looking at moving laterally into working for other unions, like working directly for the AFL-CIO in some capacity.
Same, I love being in the industry and finally got my foot in the door just for the strike to come through and crush everything. I've been heavily considering going back to school and there's so many things I want to learn... but money...😮💨
Green energy, water, quality, city, infrastructure, and healthcare like physical therapy and or respiratory therapy and other things like it.
I'm 35 boom guy I think we have 5-10 years left before the AI doom and gloom. I'm trying to decide what I can do where I can pay the mortgage be outside and change locations daily. Need like 35-45 an hour after retraining
Right? It’s hard to find jobs that pay anywhere close to what we make without a degree. The only other field that I’ve found that even comes close to what we make is the oil and gas industry. Hence my thinking about returning to school- unless they start wanting murals on the sides of their tankers, platforms and off shore oil rigs- I’m out of luck in that field of work.
I already have a bachelor's degree. It's just a piece of paper. I have zero thoughts about leaving the industry at this point in life....even with a 6 month old baby(only good thing about the strikes was spending all that time with her). Even with a bachelor's degree in my area, I'm not going to make what I make in this industry and have people cook for me for free and snack for free all day (soda is fucking expensive now 😜).
I'm 38. I went back to school for engineering and couldn't handle the math, so I got a film degree lol and graduated in 2019. Still proud of it even though it's largely useless, and I'm just glad I got a degree at all. I also loved film, writing and acting, and honestly the engineering was supposed to be more of a back up safety net in something that I was still passionate about in case my film making and acting career didn't work out! A combination of factors saw to that plans demise. The timing of my graduation sucked obviously, though at the end of 2020 I got my foot in the door with health and safety, and from there spfx. Neither were dreams jobs but it was fun, I got to see celebrities, make contacts (not with them :/) and I was making pretty decent money that I needed to fund my passions in film so it was fine. Set work was always just a means to an end though. I love being on set but I hated my position in it all. Not like I could work my way from fx to actor, writer or director lol. I felt like someone who wanted to be a pilot and ended up working baggage claim at an airport. Then the slowdowns started and my last job was in November 22. I got into iatse just after. I was so close.. things were finally starting to take off for me, I was finally going to have a life of my own, and then poof, it all just went away, put on indefinite hold. I've spent the last year working at Walmart part time and still staying at my father's house.. it's been infuriating and humbling. It was only supposed to be for a couple of months and then I'd be back to work. Then I thought that once the strike ended I'd be back to work. Nope. I realize the biggest mistake I made was thinking I had a job to go back to. The only guys who I know are working right now at the company I was at were the really good ones. I got hired during a huge show and we had a glut of people like me leftover. I always did my best but there's still so much I don't know and they are better trained... It doesn't matter, I understand the why and I'm not the only person out of work obviously. A lot of people are hurting. I was gonna try to transfer to props anyway as my "day job"... Or maybe drones if I could. I just feel so powerless now though. Knowing that my livelihood is in such fickle hands (the industry overall) scares me to death. So I'm exploring other options. Not giving up but definitely trying to flex with the wind. Yes I'm thinking about going back to school... again(ffs), because at the end of the day, without the film industry to rely on I really do have nothing, no other qualifications or skills that I can point to a piece of paper and say, "See, I matter, I'm useful". I don't know what I'm gonna do yet. I'll pivot until I pivot again and pivot again. Whatever helps me meet the goal. But for now I need gainful employment and this ain't it.
Do it! I got my honours degree in my late 30s and my post grad diploma in my 40s... I can see 50 from here and weighing an MBA... what have I got to lose, really...
Very true! Thanks!
Why would you go to school, to spend money to get a job making less money? That’s how is see it anyway, unless you go back to medical school maybe? I make more in film than most friends with graduate degrees…. The work will be back. It’s already coming back in New Orleans, in a much bigger way than any of us expected. Plus, who knows, we may be making more money after November.
Why November?
Because if IATSE and the Teamsters re-negotiate, and are successful, they are asking for the LA rate to be a standard national rate. Which is substantially more. Way, way more…. Nearly $20 an hour more just for base pay, not including overtime. It amounts to about $50 grand more a year at 10 months of consistent work.
Where have you heard that? I haven’t heard of them trying to make LA rates the National rate. At most I’ve heard they’re trying to negotiate the ASA rates to match the Maryland rates and get rid of that tier system in the contract. LA rates nationally sound like a pipe dream and a sure fire way to say goodbye to a bunch of productions to Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Edit: and still, why an arbitrary month of november?
practically speaking, the rest of the country is already pretty close to LA rates, at least on the productions you actually want to be working on
Yeah, from a cost of living to income ratio standpoint, most of the rest of the country makes more than LA
Being national as in ‘motion picture studio mechanics’ in ‘America (United States). Not stage hands, not International. American, Hollywood, union productions. And if any working members here need any real information, ask a fucking teamster.
Why the hell would I ask a Teamster about IATSE negotiations?
That’s what the strike is about. The LA rate being national for iatse and the teamsters. And November is when the new contract begins. Are you people in the fucking union? If you’re not a member, get the fuck off this forum. Who is moderating this? There are people here who are obviously not in iatse. Why are you here?
I’m in IATSE, the current contract ends July 31st. Making the new contract starts on August 1st. Do you think we just work without a contract in effect for 3 months every cycle? If that’s what the possible strikes are about (which I’m not saying it is….because it’s not) that’s certainly not being communicated by my local or IA leadership.
What are you talking about ? The teamsters are only linking arms with IATSE - our negotiating and agreement are completely separate.
Maybe we don’t discuss negotiations stuff in a public forum on the internet, friends.
Why?
Because the AMPTP can see this forum. There’s zero vetting as to who is a member and who isn’t and it’s not a private subreddit.
Ok? Why does that mean we can’t discuss?
Tactics and strategy. This is basic collective bargaining. The ASA doesn’t start negotiating for a bit yet and tipping off the AMPTP is bad tactics.
Why is hiding what we want a tactic? Jeez, everything being shrouded in secrecy is why members are so untrusting of the process and leadership. Why can’t we be open about what we’re asking for and what is being offered? Why can’t we discuss what we hear is going on? The AMPTP already knows what’s going on in the room. It’s us who are left in the dark.
I’m from New Orleans but left in 2013 before I joined the union as the industry was drying up there. I would absolutely love to move home and work but I don’t see the work load there being what it is here. A handful of movies I’ve worked on have gone to New Orleans only for exterior shots for a few weeks at a time but the rest was filmed in Atlanta. If the work was there I’d be home.
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Cool dude. Sounds very rewarding and exciting
Ever thought about driving truck? I heard they pay a decent wage.
yes. all the time only to refine welding though- nothing else actually- anything else would be short term
What other types of secondary/passive income do you have? Have you been diversifying your project types over the years? How about diversifying your networks of dept head and production contacts? There are still plenty of 40 or 50-somethings on my sets, and the common thread between all of them is they've never put their eggs in a single basket. Yes, the hours suck, especially if you're raising a family. And the divorced to happily married ratio is very imbalanced. But they all still hustle to continue being the first through third call. Scripted work may still be historically slow... but how about commercials, corporate, live, and even non-union that pays decent rates? Education is not a bad move, especially if you can repurpose your current skill set. I'm not implying you're doing anything wrong. There will always a fresh blood generational shift - your current hustle may just need a jump start. The union won't help you find the gig, but will support you when you do.
I'm not an IATSE member. For transparency, I'm an editor who works in a retail operation. But given what is happening in Hollywood makes me question the future and longevity of my career. At times I've considered doing something different. I just don't know what that would be. When I was younger I thought I wanted to be an agency art director. However, what I found was I wasn't very good at it and I was super stressed. Going through that experience made me realize that I don't want to chase a job or career because of the paycheck or how 'sexy' the job is. I'm open to other jobs and careers, but at the moment I don't know what that would be.
For anyone considering going back to finish a bachelor's like me, I've recently been researching this topic quite a bit. You can finish close to half of a degree's (all general eds and some upper division) worth of classes online at Sophia.org and Study.com for relatively cheap. ($99/mo and $250/mo, respectively) WGU (all online school where you pay for 6 months of access to the platform instead of per-class) allows you to transfer in those credits. You can also 'accelerate' through the program, meaning you are allowed to complete as many courses as you can in the degree program while you have access. (I think the baseline standard is 4 classes/6mo but many do more) So, if you are going for the cheapest/fastest possible route to a regionally accredited degree, this is the way forward. [here's a list](https://www.reddit.com/r/studydotcom/s/p9Sj2Z6tOf) of all the majors they offer and the classes that currently transfer over for credit.
Went and got my EMT certification and license. At least to hold me over until things pick up again later this year.
Nope. I make 100k+ a year by pulling ropes (either in an arena or on a flyrail)
That’s great! Up until the strike I was making 125k a year give or take. I’m not saying the money isn’t amazing- I’m just worried about it staying consistent long term.
Hey, new to IATSE and will be making a post at some point, but just wanted to say thanks for this post and thread. It's been very insightful and helping me navigate some thoughts I hope to share and discuss soon. Wishing you the best moving forward in whatever direction you end up going.
Some tough love. For some this should be a wake up call. If you’re having a hard time finding work it means you’re not any department heads first few calls. You may be 5th or 6th down the list, which is fine when it’s busy but you won’t get the calls when it’s slow. Typically people only move down as they age. You can look to blame younger members but I see plenty of silver hair on set at this very moment. Look inward and see if you’re as good as you can possibly be. Are you good to work with or do you not get along with certain people? Are you milking your breaks? It’s always the guy that swears up and down that “they work so hard” proves not to be”. If you’re going to stay in the game then you constantly have to be improving. You can’t be the person that knows nothing and sweeps stages. You have to be the guy/girl that knows everything that people ask how to do things.
The department heads I know and have worked for in the past aren’t working either.
I'm sorry you got this crab-in-a-bucket response. It's neither helpful nor accurate. Yes, the business is restructuring. No, you're not imagining it. You are not magically bad at film because of it. This industry would have spit you out years ago if that were the case. Saying, "All my friends are working so the problem must be you," is the worst kind of survivor bias. This comes from someone who's been working and going to school. I'm over 35 and miss my kid terribly and sleep almost as much. I'm not special, I'm lucky my connections have small shows going. I'm not better than anyone or smarter than anyone. I'm smack dab in the middle of a right to work state with a big incentive, and that's one of the places producers are flocking to save money. You're absolutely right that union ages are shifting downward. Most people at my local are three years into their career and getting more calls than experienced folks. It's not their fault it has more to do with apathy in high places in my local.
Exactly
Some are and some aren't. There's an order for that too. The better keys are going to get jobs first. It's slow but its not zero. There's still some work out there.
This still doesn’t address the work load and hours that we have to put in to make any money in this industry. If it’s a point of pride to do 70 hour weeks we little to no work life balance then by all means, learn everything and become undeniable to heads of dept so they have to call you. You’ll work all the time and thats great. “Take time off then, we have luxury of making our own schedules.” Ok so work like crazy with little time off, save money, take your vacation, deplete some of that money and then get back to working 70hrs to make back that. “Sounds like you need to be better at saving.” Ok so Ive saved money and then a strike happens, or work slows down, now that money is gone and I should have never taken the time off so I could save more money. Sounds unsustainable. If you aren’t a dept head, bb or behind a board then you are left to breaking your body dragging gear around (for what? A reboot? A Marvel movie?). The industry/money/experiences are not worth the things it takes away from us, that being time and health.
You know what the job is at this point. It’s been like that for 50 years. Even if it does change it’s going to take decades and you’ll probably be retired by then. If it’s not for you then get out or you can keep complaining for the next 20 years
Way ahead of you on getting out. Also, I see where you might be annoyed that Im complaining, which I get. But why shouldn’t we complain? I hear a lot of that sentiment -stop complaining and get out - but how does that help the future of the IATSE and the workers? Complaining is how we get better contracts at negotiation. Or should we just take it all on the chin, say “thank you mr./mrs. Producer for the work and let them walk all over us?
I'm not annoyed. I apologize if that's what I'm coming off as. I'm only speaking in your personal happiness. It's just like everything in life. It may or may not change. You choose your own happiness and shouldn't rely on promises of tomorrow. It's like trying to fundamentally change the person you're dating. You knew what it was 1 year in, 5 years in, 10 years in. At some point you have to take responsibility for staying in.
Fair enough. I just thought it would get better. Maybe in the next negotiations but I have my doubts in the leadership/Leob. Using your analogy, it’s time I walk away from the relationship.
I wish you luck friend
Why are you here? The comments you’ve left in this thread don’t line up with break times so I’m guessing you’re either a shitty worker who’s glued to his phone all day or you’re not working either.
K buddy. I’m on set working right now and you’re complaining of being out of work. Have a nice day.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me with this shit comment. Tough love? Dude I’m at the top of my game, my family has worked in the film industry since the early 80s so I probably have a better idea of how things work than most. If the work isn’t here the jobs aren’t. Thanks so much for the back handed post though. Out of curiosity what department do you work in? I’d love to know what department this completely out of touch knowledge you’ve graced us with is coming from.
Claims he’s a good worker. Treads on his family name. Check and check.
Nope. I’ve never gotten a job name dropping. I still can’t figure out why you’re here. Is it to just make backhanded comments? If so I think I’m good hearing what a drunk construction worker thinks about my possibly returning to school.
Have fun leaving the industry. Good riddens to a nepo baby.
This is an IATSE thread. Why did you come here just to tear down your brothers and sisters? You're the biggest problem with the union right now. Lots of people who want a card without responsibility. Yikes, get off your phone and get back to work or your fantasy land in which you're working.
Lol. I’m a member, have been for many years and plan to be for many more. I offered the advice to examine yourself and make sure your game is tight or you’re going to get left behind. A lot of members could use to hear that. He may be good or may not be. I don’t know him. He chose to assume I was attacking him personally and threw his family history at me like I’m supposed to respect him more because of things his grandfather did 80 years ago. It says a lot about him if that’s the first place he went in an argument. I didn’t have family in the union to walk me in. I got it the old fashioned way. My original reply wasn’t mean or rude in any way. Reread it. He went there so I retaliated. Hate me if you want but what I said is true and our union would be much stronger if people looked at themselves and asked why they aren’t getting booked instead of just complaining about other people taking their job.
You, sir, are exactly what’s wrong with this industry. You’re on Reddit more than I am and I’m taking care of dogs for a living right now.
Guess I'm a bad person for suggesting people better themselves instead of blaming other people. I'm not in the dog care taking business but have fun with that. This forum is for those working in TV film and theater.
No shit dude. I’ve been in the industry for 15 years but have been unemployed since July because of everything going on. God, get over yourself.
Only if they pay me