Latest news with #IATSE
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FilmLA 5-Year Contract Approved Amid Worker Complaints
The Los Angeles Board of Public Works approved a new five-year contract with FilmLA on Friday, despite calls from industry groups for changes to the city's film permitting system. The Los Angeles Board of Public Works voted 4-0 to extend FilmLA's contract through June 2030, just days before the current deal was set to expire. Adrin Nazarian, who represents a district that includes North Hollywood, where many IATSE West Coast locals are headquartered, previously spoke about the rapid decline in Los Angeles production as studios have moved shoots to other states and countries amidst pressure to reduce production spending and make their streaming services profitable. 'We've been regressing and losing so much ground,' he stated. 'Now we're losing commercials and platforms and miniseries. We can't have this happen.' While a handful of high-profile productions have moved to California, including NBC's 'Suits L.A.' and the second season of Prime Video's popular 'Fallout,' TV production in Los Angeles has fallen 58% from its all-time high in 2021, according to the latest quarterly report from FilmLA. In response to this, Hollywood unions and studios, who two years ago were in conflict amid an industry-paralyzing double strike, have joined forces to lobby local and state officials to make changes that would allow California to become a more competitive production hub. In Sacramento, a pair of bills that would expand the types of productions eligible for the California Film and Television Tax Credit have been slowly advancing through various committees. The bills have the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last fall called for the program's cap to be raised from $330 million to $750 million. Among the fees required of L.A. shoots that are reduced or nonexistent in other cities include county and city fees for fire review and notification, hourly fees for public safety and fire workers and additional fees for shoots that take place on roads, including for permit applications, road inspections and closures. The post FilmLA 5-Year Contract Approved Amid Worker Complaints appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Union, Tailgates N' Tallboys organizers come to agreement to avoid picketing
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Any picketing of the Tailgate N' Tallboys festival has been called off after an agreement between organizers and a theatrical union was made. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees announced they have come to an 'amicable agreement' with organizers, the union said in a Facebook post. 'All planned picketing and handbilling actions by Locals 85 and 193 have been officially called off,' the post said. In May, the Iowa-based Locals 85 (Davenport, Iowa) and Locals 193 (Bloomington) said organizers of Tailgates N' Tallboys were not hiring local stagehands, according to a union news release at the time. The union claimed at the time that USA Concerts and Events bypassed union crews in favor of an out-of-state, non-union labor provider for their Clinton event. They said this undermined a Collective Bargaining Agreement that contains an Evergreen clause, which automatically renews the deal unless terminated by written notice. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stagehand union will have 3-day informational picket in Clinton
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE) is taking action against the organizers of Tailgate N' Tallboys, alleging USA Concerts and Events breached a labor agreement and refused to hire local stagehands in Clinton and Bloomington, Ill., according to a news release from the union. The IATSE will hold an informational picket in regard to the Tailgate N' Tallboys festival in Clinton. The picket will be from 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 2nd Street (Route 67) and 6th Avenue North in Clinton. The release says USA Concerts and Events signed a collective bargaining agreement with Davenport-based IATSE Local 85 in 2023. From rigging and forklift operation to spotlighting and camera work, union members have ensured safe, efficient, and professional execution of the event's technical needs. Similarly, Local 193 of central Illinois has covered the festival's operations for nearly a decade. 'Our local has safely and flawlessly serviced the Tailgate N' Tallboys Festival in Clinton since its inception,' said IATSE Local 85 Business Agent Joe Goodall. 'This event is a vital source of income for many area workers and their families. It's deeply disappointing that the organizers are forcing us to pursue legal action simply to ensure fair treatment for the local workers that have helped make this festival possible.' 'After almost ten years of IATSE Local 193 members serving as the dedicated workforce for Tailgate N' Tallboys, organizers want to abandon the workers and community that made it into the large and successful event it is today in favor of an out-of-state labor company. It's extremely disheartening,' said IATSE Local 193 Business Agent Michael Irvin. USA Concerts' decision to bypass union crews in favor of an out-of-state, non-union labor provider not only undermines standards for live event workers in the Midwest but also attempts to violate an established Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The contract contains a clear Evergreen clause, which automatically renews the deal unless terminated by written notice, but no such notice was given. The situation is further aggravated by the festival's actions in Bloomington, where Tailgate N' Tallboys also refused to hire area IATSE workers from Local 193. This pattern of bypassing local union labor undermines prevailing wage standards and deprives professionals of vital work in their own communities. The locals involved, with support from International union, are pursuing legal remedies and have issued a formal notice to USA Concerts, reinforcing their contractual obligations. IATSE continues to call on the organizers of Tailgate N' Tallboys to honor their signed agreement and support the local communities they operate in by hiring qualified, area union labor.' For more about the union, visit here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Will Smith Music Video Makes Union Deal With IATSE After Strike
Producers of a Will Smith music video have reached a deal with IATSE over a union contract after facing a picket line from dismissed workers. The shoot, which was taking place at Quixote's West Hollywood studios, fired workers on Thursday night after they attempted to unionize the project, sources told The Hollywood Reporter. The workers responded by picketing the Breathe Entertainment production on Friday morning. Non-union crew members that had been brought in to replace the dismissed workers also joined the picket line. More from The Hollywood Reporter This Week in Sean "Diddy" Combs' Trial: Freezer Meat, DNA Evidence and Kompromat How to Watch the 2025 American Music Awards Online Without Cable for Free Different President, Same Song: Trump Pulls a Nixon in His Battle Against The Boss As of Friday afternoon, at least some members of the original crew had been allowed to return back to work on the shoot in a sign that the union and the production were collaborating. A few hours later, the union and the producers reached a deal allowing the 35-member crew to continue work under a contract that allowed for health and pension benefits. In a statement, Breathe Entertainment creative director Stephen Trivieri said he was 'just excited to release this video and showcase the work of some of LA's finest crew.' With their unionization push, crew members were focused on gaining union pension and health benefits. When a show 'flips,' or turns from a non-union to a union project, workers can apply their hours worked on the project toward the threshold that is required to have access to the union's health plan and the production helps support the unions benefits plans. At a moment when production work is down in Los Angeles, with one IATSE union leader recently saying that some Locals are at nearly 50 percent unemployment, even short shoots can make the difference for crew members seeking to stay on their unions' health plans. IATSE went public with the strike on Friday morning, posting on the social-media platform X that the crew would be picketing at Quixote Studios 'unless a fair contract is offered to the crew.' The union also informed members not to accept work on the shoot, as it became a struck production. Smith, whose film and television career is still recovering from the 2022 Academy Awards, where he slapped presenter Chris Rock following a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith, released his first album in two decades in March. Titled Based on a True Story, the album addresses the controversy several times in songs like 'Int. Barbershop' and 'You Lookin' for Me.' May 23, 2:28 p.m. Updated with news that a deal had been reached. May 23, 5:12 p.m. Updated with Stephen Trivieri statement. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stunt Performer Sues Kevin Costner and ‘Horizon 2' Over Unscripted Rape Scene
One day in May 2023, stunt performer Devyn LaBella showed up to the Utah set of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, the second part of the sprawling Western series from Kevin Costner, expecting to double for one of the film's stars in some basic, fairly boring shots. Instead, she says, she was surprised by being subjected to an unscripted, brutal rape scene without proper notice, consent or the presence of a contractually mandated intimacy coordinator. Now, LaBella is suing Costner and the film's production companies for sexual discrimination, harassment and the creation of a hostile work environment. Moreover, the complaint alleges LaBella faced retaliation after she reported the incident by not being called back for subsequent work on the Horizon series and never being hired again by the film's stunt coordinator, with whom she had worked previously. More from The Hollywood Reporter Will Smith Music Video Makes Union Deal With IATSE After Strike Hollywood Commission's Workplace Misconduct Resource Opened Up to All Entertainment Industry Workers L.A. Mayor Vows to Cut Red Tape and Make It Easier to Shoot Movies and Shows In the City 'On that day, I was left exposed, unprotected, and deeply betrayed by a system that promised safety and professionalism,' LaBella said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. 'What happened to me shattered my trust and forever changed how I move through this industry.' In a statement, Costner's attorney Marty Singer said his client 'always wants to make sure that everyone is comfortable working on his films and takes safety on set very seriously.' He says, however, that the lawsuit has 'absolutely no merit' and is 'completely contradicted by [LaBella's] own actions — and the facts.' The suit represents the latest legal battle for Horizon, as Costner's loan-out firm for the series was recently hit with an arbitration claim for allegedly breaching its co-financing agreement with New Line Cinema. This complaint was filed after settlement discussions with Costner and production company representatives broke down, says James Vagnini of Valli Kane & Vagnini, one of the attorneys representing LaBella, with support from the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund. The Horizon series is the product of decades of hustle from Costner, a veteran of the Western epic, from Dances With Wolves to Hatfields & McCoys to Yellowstone. With no major studio willing to fork over the cash he felt was needed, Costner invested $38 million of his own funds, with the series' first film premiering to anemic box office in June 2024. An ascendant stunt performer who had worked on Barbie and American Horror Stories, LaBella was hired on Horizon's second installment as the lead stunt double for actress Ella Hunt, who plays one of the film's main characters. Hunt's role did involve sexual violence. As part of her contract, the lawsuit maintains, Hunt negotiated a mandatory intimacy coordinator on all nude or intimate scenes, which, as her stunt double, would apply to LaBella as well. Moreover, given that Hunt and LaBella are members of the performers union SAG-AFTRA, their intimate scenes would also be subject to the labor group's regulations, which call for prior notice, consent and a closed set. Everything went by the book for a scripted rape scene that shot on May 1, according to the suit: The scene — where LaBella performed the more physical, rough aspects of the action — was detailed on the day's call sheet, rehearsed with a stunt coordinator and an intimacy coordinator, later monitored by that intimacy coordinator, took place on a closed set and was structured such that performers got breaks in between shots. But rules were allegedly thrown out the window the next day, when LaBella showed up on set to double for two non-intimate sequences and was asked by Costner to stand in for Hunt for a shot. Unbeknownst to LaBella, the complaint claims, Hunt had just walked off of the set, 'visibly upset,' after Costner told her he had just added an impromptu scene of sexual violence perpetuated by a different character than the previous day's scene. LaBella, instructed to lay down on a wagon, allegedly only found out that this was a rape scene after Costner called for actor Roger Ivens to simulate nonconsensual sex on top of her: 'Mr. Ivens violently rustled Ms. LaBella's skirt up as if trying to penetrate her against her will' while pinning her down per the director's orders, the complaint states. No notice had been given, the scene had not been rehearsed, no intimacy coordinator was on set and all of the action was aired on monitors that could be viewed by the entire crew, according to the suit. Costner's attorney Singer maintains that this was a rehearsal without cameras rolling and not a filmed scene itself. The film's stunt coordinators were present, he added. After this rehearsal, LaBella 'gave her Stunt Coordinator supervisor a 'thumbs up' and indicated her willingness to then shoot the scene, if needed,' he states; the scene ended up being shot with a stand-in performer and not LaBella. The lawsuit emphasizes that Costner did not consistently call 'action' or 'cut' during this process, leaving LaBella without time to fully comprehend what was happening as the action repeated. Meanwhile, 'Mr. Ivens never separated from Ms. LaBella,' the suit says, consistently keeping his hand on her body. Moreover, the complaint claims the wardrobe department had not prepared LaBella for her undergarments to be exposed, as they were by the directions Costner was giving Ivens. The complaint describes LaBella as shaken and 'terrified' following this experience. Afterward, she raised concerns and made complaints to several stunt coordinators and to the film's intimacy coordinator, later feeling that many in the production team were treating her with kid gloves, the suit states. She received some apologies from colleagues on the film, but was directed to stay in her trailer, fully costumed and not used on set for several days, the complaint claims. Singer disputes that LaBella made a complaint to the film's stunt coordinators, saying 'she was in good spirits and made no complaints to them' at a dinner the night after the scene. He says that LaBella took stunt coordinator Wade Allen to a thank-you dinner following the production, and sent him a text stating, 'Thank you for these wonderful weeks!' Ultimately, LaBella was not called back for the third film in the series, and Allen did not hire her again, though he had hired her for projects before Horizon. The lawsuit alleges that LaBella's career came to an 'abrupt halt' after the incident. Not only was Allen not hiring her again, but 'the workplace, and stunt work in general, which was once a source of purpose and fulfillment, is now a place of heightened apprehension and the whole experience has left Ms. LaBella feeling 'disposable' and 'worthless,'' the complaint states. If the case goes to trial, LaBella and her attorneys are asking the jury to determine any potential punitive damages. Beyond compensation, the point of the suit is also to 'address the continued failures at the highest levels of Hollywood production companies to comprehend and address the impacts of performing in sexually explicit and violent 'scenes' and the need for intimacy coordination,' the complaint reads. The use of intimacy coordinators in Hollywood exploded after the #MeToo movement prompted a reappraisal of power dynamics on set. Choreographing scenes of an intimate nature, intimacy coordinators are intended to be watchdogs for performer safety and comfort. While some famous performers have embraced them (Rachel Zegler, Phoebe Dynevor), others have waved them off or said they didn't feel they need them, like Mikey Madison and Sean Bean. Per the lawsuit, in this case an intimacy coordinator was mandated by a performer contract, amplifying existing union protections. Says Jennifer Mondino, the senior director of the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, which supported the case, 'The guidelines that are supposed to be followed on regular movie sets weren't being followed.' Adds LaBella's lawyer Vagnini, 'If it can happen on a size of a production worth $100 million or more, imagine what happens on smaller ones where you're really trying to cut corners.' As for Singer, he says, 'The facts are clear and we are beyond confident that Kevin will prevail.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
