Posts tagged NBCUniversal
Failed negotiations resulted in union members walking out on the job at news outlets in 2024
January 2, 2025 // During election week, Times staffers dressed in red marched and chanted outside the paper’s Midtown Manhattan office with "Scabby," the giant, inflatable rat that is symbolic of New York City labor disputes, perched outside 620 Eighth Avenue. "We are not a joke, we are not playing," a Guild leader told the crowd on Nov. 4. A New York Times Company spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that the newspaper was "disappointed" in the timing of the strike.
‘SNL’ VFX Workers Unionize With IATSE
October 31, 2024 // The “SNL” VFX team isn’t the only one on the hallowed NBC show that IATSE has recently unionized. In October 2022, IATSE successfully organized the show’s editors, who reached a deal on their first labor contract after threatening to go on the first show-specific strike in “SNL” history in March 2023. Like the editors’ process, NBCUniversal management agreed to recognize the VFX workers’ union after the group presented their signed authorization cards, which reflected the unanimous decision to unionize.
Hollywood actors strike: SAG-AFTRA says studios’ latest offer ‘isn’t enough’
November 8, 2023 //
George Clooney and Other A-Listers Reportedly Diving Into SAG-AFTRA Strike Talks
October 19, 2023 // On October 11, the AMPTP announced that it suspended conversations with the actors union, saying that “the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction.” The studio pointed to SAG-AFTRA revenue share, which seeks to create a new pool of money for actors whose work appears on streaming services. The proposal, which the AMPTP found unreasonable, would charge streaming services a fixed amount per subscriber. That amount, the studios say, would result in the studios hemorrhaging over $800 million a year, which would create an “untenable economic burden.”
Longtime Union Leader Steps Fully Into Hollywood’s Spotlight
October 2, 2023 // The dual strikes have been devastating financially, with more than 100,000 behind-the-scenes workers like location scouts, makeup artists and lighting technicians out of work. The California economy has lost an estimated $5 billion. Major studios like Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have seen their stock prices drop. Analysts have estimated that the global box office will lose as much as $1.6 billion in ticket sales because of movies whose releases were pushed back to next year. Mr. Crabtree-Ireland joined SAG-AFTRA in 2000, a Georgetown graduate with a law degree from the University of California, Davis, who spent the first two years of his career in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He rose quickly at the union, first to general counsel, then adding chief operating officer to his title. In 2021, he was named national executive director and chief negotiator, a job that pays $989,700 annually.
Deal! WGA, AMPTP Reach Historic Contract Agreement to End 146-Day Writers Strike: ‘This Deal Is Exceptional’
September 25, 2023 // The end of the WGA strike will hasten the end of SAG-AFTRA’s walkout. It will also start the process of returning the creative community to its typical cycles of production, distribution, marketing and promotion cycle for content. Production of TV and film has been in state of turmoil since the start of the year when production slowed down in the face of the May 1 deadline set by the WGA’s contract expiration. It was no secret as early as last year that the 2023 round of guild contract negotiations would be challenging, given the level of structural change across TV and film.
As Obscure as an Extra, She Has a Lead Role in Hollywood’s Labor Fight
August 30, 2023 // Wanted or not, the spotlight has found her. Many union members blame her for the negotiating logjam that has brought almost all movie and television production in Hollywood to a halt. Partly because of her woman-of-mystery persona and partly because she’s an easy target, Ms. Lombardini has become an avatar for the grievances of tens of thousands of striking workers. “Carol can go kick rocks,” Caroline Renard, a striking writer, said this month on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. With her public personality absent, actors and writers have invented one. In May, someone started a parody account on X that has portrayed Ms. Lombardini as a crass tyrant declaring, “I’m a goddess of chaos!” (Yes, she has seen it, an associate said. No, she is not amused.) Another group of screenwriters have mocked Ms. Lombardini online as a fuddy-duddy who hangs out at chain restaurants, the taunt being that no Hollywood person would be caught dead in one. (Her office is near a Cheesecake Factory in suburban Los Angeles.)
Universal hit with $250 fine for trimming trees striking writers and actors used for shade
July 26, 2023 // “In this case, StreetsLA determined the trees were not significantly damaged and will likely recover in 6-12 months,” Mejia continued. “Through our investigation, we’ve learned that StreetsLA can’t proactively protect our 700,000+ City trees and investigate abuse. The City has only 12 inspectors.” WGA and SAG–AFTRA workers were outraged when they returned to the picket line to find that the trees had been trimmed during their ongoing strike. An online post of the bare trees quickly went viral. A spokesperson for NBCUniversal admitted to The Post in a statement that the pruning “has created unintended challenges for demonstrators,” but added, “that was not our intention.” “In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season,” the studio said.
Hollywood studios racing to avoid actors’ strike at midnight
July 12, 2023 //
Writers’ strike week 3: Stars rally at 30 Rock, WGA says strike will cost studios more money than settling
May 24, 2023 // The Writers Guild strike passed the three-week mark on Tuesday, as a large rally dubbed #RallyAtTheRock took place outside NBCUniversal headquarters and featured stars like Mark Ruffalo, Busy Phillips, John Leguizamo and Kal Penn. Even more celebrities, including SNL cast member Sarah Sherman and comedian Jordan Klepper, filled the picket lines and were joined by the Teamsters union, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Broadway performers and many more.