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The preceding quip was sandwiched between supermodels wearing slick suits and a deadly serious message about HIV in the Kenneth Cole New York flyer that recently fell out of my Sunday paper. By the inclusion in a major fashion spread, this quote is a testament to the level of popularity that reality television has finally reached. It’s pretty clear by now that a large percentage of America gets a chuckle out of watching average people doing their damnedest to embarrass themselves and/or others in front of a national audience. Even though television’s “hot new thing” is anything but new (“COPS” is almost old enough to play varsity sports at 15 years and MTV’s “The Real World” is 10.), the recent explosion in reality television of all stripes is readily apparent to nearly everyone. Interestingly, it really doesn’t matter whether people watch these programs or not. However, the reality of reality television isn’t so apparent. I recently spoke with a nonunion assistant editor who was finishing up a short reality series that aired on one of the major networks. For a six-day week (at 12 hours a day!), he was getting $1,200. That may sound like pretty good money to people outside of America’s largest cities, but this guy was making just shy of $14 an hour when you consider the overtime he should have received. Did I mention that they were paid on a 1099 – no taxes taken out, no workers compensation should he get hurt and no unemployment to fall back on when the gig ends? While top shows may be paying the editors well above scale, the vast majority of reality television shows pay less, especially for the assistant editors and other postproduction personnel like loggers or tape librarians. The low pay and the lack of benefits and protections are just absurd for shows that can and do make millions.
In other words, the reality of
reality television is that most of it is done as
cheaply as possible – no
union actors, no union writers and no union crew – and the extra profits
go to the How do we escape the reality of reality television? By organizing, of course (you did notice who wrote this article, right?). Only by getting crew members together to work toward the goal of unionizing are we going to make any headway against this kind of situation. By getting together – like the people who worked on “Big Brother” or “Performing As” or “Next Action Star,” all shows that have gone union within the past year, we can generate enough impact to get this work done. Members, who are working in reality television, could help us with these initial steps. The Guild simply cannot do it alone. So, if you’re working on a nonunion reality show, please fax or E-mail your crew list to us so we can start explaining to people the importance of a working union. If you’ve got friends, who are not members, but who are working on reality shows, please tell them that we will do everything possible to assist them with getting into the Guild if they can help us organize their show. Remember, drugs are not the answer (at least to getting
a decent union gig). To reach Tris Carpenter, you may send a fax to
323.876.0861 * * * As part of the Guild’s continuing effort to make these shows union, I’d like to welcome Faith J. Santilla as the newest member of our Los Angeles staff. She has been organizing since 1997 and has faced several difficult anti-union campaigns in her career. Her interest in organizing started when she became involved in HERE, Local 11’s New Otani Hotel boycott in Los Angeles, which led her to create her own Los Angeles-based nonprofit workers center. Since then, Faith has worked as an organizer with HERE in New York and as a Field Representative with SEIU in Los Angeles. She’s been hired to assist us in organizing reality television, as well as post facilities and trailer houses in the Los Angeles area. |
