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Katie Reis has been a Hollywood lighting technician for 27 years, rigging equipment for movies like \u201cIndependence Day\u201d and TV shows like \u201cQuantum Leap.\u201d But she hasn\u2019t had a paycheck since May, when the first of two strikes \u2014 screenwriters, then actors \u2014 forced cameras to stop rolling.<\/p>\n
Ms. Reis, 60, has since been turned down for jobs at Target and Whole Foods. She is now looking into seasonal work at the mall.<\/p>\n
Her son Alex, a high school senior, recently had to go without new shoes for the start of classes. \u201cIf I go into Alex\u2019s college fund, I have probably four, five months left,\u201d she said. \u201cBut then I have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recently settled screenwriters\u2019 strike<\/a> and the continuing actors\u2019 strike<\/a> have upended the lives of hundreds of thousands of crew members \u2014 the entertainment industry\u2019s equivalent of blue-collar workers \u2014 and many are growing desperate for work. Caught in the crossfire for more than five months, they have drawn down savings accounts that in some cases were already diminished because of the pandemic. Some have been unable to afford groceries. A few have lost their homes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, for example, which represents 170,000 crew members in North America, estimated that its West Coast members alone lost $1.4 billion in wages between May and Sept. 16, the most recent date for which data was available. The extreme loss of hours worked, in turn, hurts funding for pension and health care plans.<\/p>\n Even if entertainment companies and the actors\u2019 union come to an agreement soon \u2014 which became less likely after the collapse of negotiations<\/a> this week \u2014 production is not expected to return to normal until January at the earliest, in part because of the time it takes to reassemble creative teams, a process complicated by the coming holidays. Preproduction (before anyone gathers on a set) for new shows can take up to 12 weeks, with movies taking roughly 16 weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to manage my panic because it\u2019s not going to be over when the strikes are over,\u201d said Dallin James, a hairstylist who counts on red carpet premieres and other studio-related work for about 75 percent of his income.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Writers Guild of America, which represents 11,500 screenwriters, reached a tentative agreement with studios on Sept. 24 and soon called off its 148-day strike. Writers have celebrated<\/a> their new contract as the equivalent of winning a Super Bowl, describing the pay raises and improved working conditions they secured as \u201cexceptional.\u201d The Writers Guild said on Monday that its members had ratified the contract with 99 percent voting in favor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The actors\u2019 union, SAG-AFTRA, appeared to be closing in on a deal of its own after being on strike since July 14, clearing the way for Hollywood\u2019s assembly lines to grind back into motion. But talks between the guild and the studios broke down after a session on Wednesday, creating more uncertainty. The actors have asked for wage increases, including an 11 percent raise in the first year of a new contract; a revenue-sharing agreement for streaming shows and films; and guarantees that studios will not use artificial intelligence tools to create digital replicas of their likenesses without payment or approval.<\/p>\n Cue whipsawing emotions for entertainment workers who didn\u2019t have a say in the strikes and who won\u2019t be receiving a pay increase when they return to work.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand why they had to go on strike,\u201d Mr. James said. \u201cOn the other hand, what about us? We haven\u2019t really been considered in all of this. It feels like we\u2019re collateral damage.\u201d<\/p>\n The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains with unions on behalf of the major entertainment companies, did not respond to a request for comment for this article.<\/p>\n More than two million Americans work in jobs directly or indirectly related to making TV shows and films, according to the Motion Picture Association, a trade organization. They include writers, actors and other \u201cabove the line\u201d creative personnel, along with studio executives. But a vast majority contribute in more humble ways. They are set dressers, camera operators, carpenters, location scouts, painters, costume designers, visual effects artists, stunt doubles, janitors, payroll clerks, assistants and chauffeurs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A big-budget superhero movie can easily employ 3,000 people, with the cast numbering fewer than 100, including credited extras.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s desperate \u2014 our crews are really suffering,\u201d said the actress Annette Bening, who is the chair of the Entertainment Community Fund, a nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance and other services to workers in the industry. \u201cThese are people who are hardworking, who have a lot of pride. They are not used to being in a position of having to ask for help. But that\u2019s where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n With her husband, Warren Beatty, Ms. Bening has been among the celebrity donors to the fund, which has distributed more than $8.5 million to roughly 4,000 film and television workers since screenwriters went on strike. (That breaks down to $560,000 a week, compared with about $75,000 a week before the strikes.) The organization also hosts online workshops to help Hollywood workers navigate eviction notices, among other topics.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to have a long tail,\u201d Ms. Bening said. \u201cWe still expect a significant increase of inquiries in the coming months, even once work resumes.\u201d (Ms. Bening, a four-time Oscar nominee who stars in the coming Netflix film \u201cNyad,\u201d about the marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, has walked picket lines with other actors in recent months. She said the actors\u2019 strike was \u201cimperative\u201d given the deterioration of working conditions and compensation levels in the streaming era.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Other Hollywood nonprofits have also been distributing money and holding food drives, including the Motion Picture & Television Fund and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation<\/a>, a charity that provides financial assistance to workaday performers. The foundation, which is associated with the actors\u2019 union but is run independently, has been processing more than 30 times its usual number of applications for emergency aid, or more than 400 a week.<\/p>\n Starting on Sept. 1, Los Angeles-area workers enrolled in the Motion Picture Industry Pension Plan were allowed to withdraw up to $20,000 each for financial hardship. By Sept. 8, workers had pulled roughly $45 million, according to a document compiled by plan administrators that was viewed by The New York Times. A spokesman for the plan said no updated information was available.<\/p>\n Robin Urdang, a music supervisor in Los Angeles whose credits include \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\u201d and the film \u201cCall Me by Your Name,\u201d has no pension plan to fall back on. To pay for living expenses, Ms. Urdang has been dipping into money she had been saving for a down payment on a house.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s depressing,\u201d she said, adding that she typically works on four to seven projects at once. Ms. Urdang is still working a bit, including on a series for Amazon that was past the filming phase of production when actors went on strike. But she spends much of her day crocheting sweaters and reading books.<\/p>\n Even so, Ms. Urdang said she sympathized with the writers and actors. Streaming has also changed her fortunes considerably. She used to do a lot of work on broadcast television, where an episode would go from script to on air in two weeks. (Most music supervisors, who select and license songs, are paid half their fee at the start of production and the other half when episodes are completed.) Now she does the same amount of work, but the payment schedule on an eight-episode streaming show is spread out over a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSo I understand where they\u2019re coming from,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The studio shutdown has been felt most severely in California and New York. The strikes have cost the California economy more than $5 billion, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom. But the strikes have also darkened soundstages across the country<\/a>, as well as in Canada and England. Georgia, for instance, has three million square feet of soundstage space.<\/p>\n Gabriel Sanders, who lives in Decatur, Ga., with his wife and two daughters, is a longtime boom mic operator who has worked on films like \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever\u201d and series like \u201cLaw & Order: Organized Crime.\u201d As the strikes have dragged on, Mr. Sanders has turned to teaching fitness and yoga classes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good for my soul, but it doesn\u2019t pay very well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His wife, Carey Yaruss Sanders, a voice instructor, has started a pet-sitting and dog-walking business to help make ends meet.<\/p>\n Mr. Sanders said there had been \u201ca lot of internal fighting\u201d in the crew community about the strikes, with some people, like him, cheering on the actors and writers and others saying, \u201cEnough already, we just need to get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have no resentment \u2014 do what you have to do to protect your rights,\u201d Mr. Sanders said, referring to the strikes. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean it has been easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n