The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) plans to vote on a strike against film and television production companies in the largest union walk out since World War II, but what does this mean for Santa Clarita?

The impending strike authorization vote by the IATSE on Friday could devastate the Santa Clarita film industry and thus streaming services for the foreseeable future, but Hollywood’s “60,000 behind-the-scenes workers covered by these contracts” have reached a breaking point.

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“Overall in Santa Clarita, there are over 40 sound stages and over 10 movie ranches,” said Evan Thomason with the Santa Clarita Film Office. “But not all production would be affected.” 

As the first city to create a special zoning designation, the Movie Ranch Overlay Zone, Santa Clarita is a prime location for filming due to the 30 mile zone that authorizes reduced-cost filming permits.

The IATSE, the union behind entertainment, representing electricians, special effects, script supervisors, set medics, location managers, cinematographers, makeup artists, hairstylists and animation artists, protect a portion of the nearly 6,000 entertainment workers across Santa Clarita, according to Thomason. 

If the IATSE strike vote passes, all workers in the union across the United States are expected to abandon their current workplaces until their demands are met. 

“It is incomprehensible that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an ensemble that includes media mega-corporations collectively worth trillions of dollars, claims it cannot provide behind-the-scenes crews with basic human necessities like adequate sleep, meal breaks, and living wages,” read a statement from the IATSE. “Worse, management does not appear to even recognize our core issues as problems that exist in the first place.”

The IATSE has reportedly been attempting to secure a new three-year agreement to improve working conditions for thousands of behind-the-scenes production workers including camera operators and costume designers — all the people that the film industry cannot function without.

The AMPTP, however, announced Monday that their alliance should not be anticipating any counteroffers, but workers retain their stance that these issues must be addressed.

As a result of the AMPTP’s dismissive responses, workers are willing to strike for longer turnarounds between production days, improved pay and adequate rest periods, according to the statement from the IATSE. 

The “most grievous” problems described by workers range from the “excessively unsafe and harmful working hours” to “unlivable wages for lowest-paid crafts” and “consistent failure to provide reasonable rest during meal breaks, between workdays and on weekends.”

Additionally, workers on certain streaming projects have reported being paid less than they would on productions with budgets that rival or exceed those of traditional blockbusters, according to IATSE officials. 

Under current contracts, streaming services with less than 20 million subscribers are authorized to pay lower rates than typical movies and television productions. Smaller services, like Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus are able to pay lower scales under these provisions, according to IATSE officials.

“These issues are real for the workers in our industry and change is long overdue,” read the statement from IATSE. “However, the explosion of streaming combined with the pandemic has elevated and aggravated working conditions, bringing 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers covered by these contracts to a breaking point. We risked our health and safety all year, working through the pandemic to ensure that our business emerged intact. Now, we cannot and will not accept a deal that leaves us with an unsustainable outcome.”

The impending strike authorization vote by the IATSE is expected to enact a long-overdue change in the film and television industry, but what does this mean for consumers?

The looming strike is not projected to affect cable right away due to an active television agreement with HBO, Showtime and Starz, however this all may change in December 2022. 

If the IATSE votes yes on the reported strike, up to 60,000 IATSE members could end up walking off their sets, which could lead to a nationwide shutdown of television and film productions, according to officials.

Local 600, the International Cinematographers Guild that represents nearly 10,000 camera operators across the United States would enforce that no one hold a camera on set if the protest commences, according to Local 600 officials.

IATSE members have already begun cancelling their streaming subscriptions in an effort to send a message to these “new media giants” and advise the public to do the same, according to protestors. 

The strike authorization vote is expected to begin on Friday and the results should be announced on Oct. 4. 

If the vote passes, it is uncertain how long workers may strike, but they are expected to abandon their current positions until the IATSE’s demands are met.

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