Location Managers Guild of America

 
As I write this article, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) Strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) is eight weeks old with no resolution in sight. The strike has had devastating consequences for the thousands of people who earn their living working in TV and film production.

According to Jack Kyser, the chief economist of The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp (LAEDC), the entertainment industry is the region’s third biggest economic generator (after international trade & tourism) and employs more than 254,000 people in the Los Angeles county area. The 52 scripted TV series that are produced in Los Angeles have all pretty much ground to a halt and feature films are beginning to be affected as well.  The LAEDC estimates to date that the strike has cost the regional economy $342.7 million in lost wages, and is taking a toll on businesses such as restaurants, hotels, dry cleaners, equipment rental houses, and other businesses that directly service the gigantic entertainment industry machine.

With the shuttering of scripted productions all over country, Location Managers & Scouts, grips, electricians, drivers, costumers, make-up & hair artists, script supervisors, prop makers, set decorators, Special F/X technicians, production coordinators, accountants, and scores of other production personnel have all been thrown out of work even though they are not on strike themselves.

On December 9, 2007 hundreds of “below the line” crew, accompanied by the press, took to the streets and marched down a closed Hollywood Blvd. Their  “Strike-a-Deal” rally urged the WGA and the AMPTP to go back to the table and hammer out a deal that would end the (at that time) five week old strike that has crippled the industry. The marchers chanted “Strike A Deal” and carried signs with slogans such as “I am Collateral Damage to the Labor Dispute”, and signs identifying the various shows represented including “House”, “Nip/Tuck,” “Brothers & Sisters”, “The Office”, “CSI Miami”, “CSI New York”, “Pushing Daisies”, “Woman’s Murder Club”, “Numbers”, “Ugly Betty”, ”ER”, and  ”Dirty Sexy Money” .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Henke, photo by L.S. Davis

 I spoke with LMGA member & Nip/Tuck Location Manager Dave Henke about his role in the rally.

Who were the main principals involved in organizing this rally?

The primary people were Chris Griffin, a producer on Nip/tuck, Eve Watterson, an associate producer on Nip/tuck and myself.

You have been the Location Manager on Nip/Tuck for several seasons now. Why did you get involved?

My Producer, Chris Griffin who was the person to come up with the idea asked what I thought about putting together a march and rally, and I said I thought it was a great Idea.

Why did you think this rally was important?

The press was keying in on the WGA and the AMPTP and what they wanted and really weren’t talking about the people that really had no say in the strike and how it was affecting their lives.  The purpose of this rally was to bring attention to and put a face to the thousands of crew members out of work due to the principals involved.

What were some of the challenges you had in helping organize the rally?

I had pulled many filming permits but had never dealt with the permitting process for a First Amendment march. It was actually handled by the LAPD special events division who was extremely helpful. I filled out the permit application on behalf of Chris Griffin and submitted it to LAPD, they responded immediately and told us the other departments we needed to contact. We spoke with Street Services to handle the blocking of the street, and I informed them I had a vendor to supply barricades. Jim Morris from JCL Barricade donated his time and equipment for the closures. We had to supply portable toilets which were donated by Bearcreek Studio rentals, and we had to arrange for the clean up of the street which was also donated by It’s a Wrap Cleaning Service. We had Chef Robert Catering donate 1000 bottles of water for the marchers and some money to cover costs for insurance. So it really wasn’t that much of a challenge; I had a lot of vendors that were more than willing to donate to get the point across. 


How do you feel now that the rally is over?

Thank you for your time, Dave Henke!    We hope they resolve this soon too!