Working in Hollywood may appear glamorous, but the great majority of entry-level, assistant, and support staff employees are subjected to widespread bad working conditions that result in low pay and safety hazards. Low salaries, pay discrepancies between men and women, long hours, higher workloads due to Covid-19 safety standards without additional remuneration, and intimidation from management that limit possibilities for growth and success in the entertainment business are just a few of the issues.
Workers in these positions, from script coordinators to writers and production assistants, are typically paid little more than the minimum wage of $15 an hour in Los Angeles, according to Marisa Shipley, vice-president of IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) Local 871 and an art department coordinator in the industry.
The union is now in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to boost the industry’s wage level.
Shorter seasons for TV programmes have reduced possibilities for development and made it more difficult for employees to piece together employment throughout the year to make a livelihood, which has exacerbated the impact of low pay on workers.
“It’s keeping people in these jobs for a lot longer than they used to be, and it’s maintaining them at extremely low wages,” Shipley added. ‘It’s ridiculous that an industry of billion-dollar businesses is profiting during a worldwide epidemic based on our work and donations but not paying people living wages in Los Angeles.’
According to a survey commissioned by IATSE Local 871, members in jobs such as art department coordinators, art production coordinators, script supervisors, and writer’s assistants, which are mostly held by women, are paid between $16 and $17 per hour. Art department coordinators, for example, start at $16 an hour, whereas the next lowest-paying post in these departments pays $44 an hour, according to Shipley. In addition to poor compensation, there have been reports of large gender pay discrepancies in the entertainment business, ranging from famous performers to support workers.
