History MediaNotes / UnionsInHollywood

UsefulNotes/LosAngeles is famously the home of the American film and television industry, and the various tradespeople who work for the industry are represented by a number of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States unions]]. Many of these unions also have branches in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, where certain television shows and all the national news broadcasts are produced. The unions are of interest to casual fans due to their role in [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes strikes]].

The unions handle their members' credits, healthcare, pensions, and working rules; and bargain individually with the UsefulNotes/{{AMPTP}} (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), the collective face of the various entertainment conglomerates (which seems like media collusion, but isn't for some reason).

Composed of about 15,000 members, the WGA is actually made up of two groups--Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West--which handle their respective sides of the Mississippi River (which is really to say "New York City" and "Los Angeles"). The two sides used to have beef, but they kissed and made up in preparation for the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes 2007 strike]]. The WGA are well organized for a union of creative types, and are aggressive in their negotiations with the AMPTP. As unions go, they're pretty well-rounded.

Pre-merger, the [[Series/TheBradyBunch Jan Brady to SAG's Marcia]]. Initially, AFTRA handled videotaped production (along with radio news anchors, commercial announcers, jingle singers, some videogame voiceover artists, and the rare RadioDrama player since the end of the GoldenAge of Radio) while SAG handled film, but modern technology has eliminated that distinction. SAG and AFTRA have a complex history: at one point SAG considered buying AFTRA, but they opted not to. Then in 2011, the two unions merged, becoming SAG-AFTRA.

!!!!Screen Actors Guild (SAG)

!!!!American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)

Composed of about 15,000 members, the WGA is actually made up of two groups, WGA East and WGA West, which handle their respective sides of the Mississippi River (which is really to say "New York City" and "Los Angeles"). The two sides used to have beef, but they kissed and made up in preparation for the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes 2007 strike]]. The WGA are well organized for a union of creative types, and are aggressive in their negotiations with the AMPTP. As unions go, they're pretty well-rounded.

!!!Writer's Guild of America (WGA)

The largest of the above-the-line unions, with well over 150,000 members. Formed in 2011 by a merger between two other unions:

Composed of about 10,000 members, the WGA is actually made up of two groups, WGA East and WGA West, which handle their respective sides of the Mississippi River (which is really to say "New York City" and "Los Angeles"). The two sides used to have beef, but they kissed and made up in preparation for the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes 2007 strike]]. The WGA are well organized for a union of creative types, and are aggressive in their negotiations with the AMPTP. As unions go, they're pretty well-rounded.

The largest of the above-the-line unions, with well over 100,000 members. Formed in 2011 by a merger between two other unions:

The real union for {{Producers}} (TakeThat AMPTP!). Arguably the least active union in Los Angeles. However they are becoming more active as since 2013 they require the "Big Five" film studios to submit the producers list of all films (co-)produced by them to be certified with the "Producers Mark", which certifies the most contributing producers in a movie project, regardless of PGA membership.[[note]]Any movie with a legal US distributor may apply for the Mark, but movies (co-)produced by the Big Five are always required to apply for the Mark.[[/note]] Producers that are certified with the Producers Mark in a film are distinguished in credit rolls by their use of [[AllLowercaseLetters "p.g.a."]] as post-nominals.

A notoriously intimidating and well-organized union. You know all those jokes about daunting and scary Teamsters that you don't want to mess with? It's a case of TruthInTelevision. Teamsters are nice guys, particularly now that they are no longer [[TheMafia connected]] at the highest level, but don't mess with them. They were loosely allied with the WGA during the 2007 strike. Originally associated with hauling, the Teamsters now represent many different trades[[note]]They represent everything from brewers to bakers to conference center workers to...well...you get the idea, although their bread and butter remains truckers, bus drivers, transit workers, etc.[[/note]] including the casting directors who unionized under the Teamster flag in 2005.

The real union for {{Producers}} (TakeThat AMPTP!). Arguably the least active union in Los Angeles. However they are becoming more active as since 2013 they require the "Big Five" film studios to submit the producers list of all films (co-)produced by them to be certified with the "Producers Mark", which certifies the most contributing producers in a movie project, regardless of PGA membership.[[note]]Any movie with a legal US distributor may apply for the Mark, but movies (co-)produced by the Big Five are always required to apply for the Mark.[[/note]] Members can be distinguished in credit rolls by their use of [[AllLowercaseLetters "p.g.a."]] as post-nominals.

The WGA-West headquarters building is located at the corner of Third St. and Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles, kitty-corner from The Original Farmers' Market. This is not a coincidence; it's been said that upwards of 50% of the scripts in Hollywood are written within line-of-sight of the Farmers' Market wine bar.

IATSE and the WGA have a longstanding jurisdictional beef over animation writers. The WGA claims that writing is writing (''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' are all WGA shows); IATSE claims that [[AnimationAgeGhetto they belong in the]] [[http://www.animationguild.org/ cartoonists' union]]. This remains a hotly-debated issue, and can provoke real life flame wars.

A large and powerful union, with over 150,000 members in the US and Canada. It was founded by theatrical stagehands in 1893, and over time expanded to include workers in film, television, and trade shows.[[note]]Incidentally, the name listed in the heading is actually a ''short version''. The ''full'' name is [[OverlyLongName International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada.[[/note]] For decades, IATSE's favored tactic in the film sphere has been early negotiations with the studios. Their former president, Thomas Short, was a vocal opponent of the Writer's Strike. He remains a controversial figure in the world of organized labor.

A large and powerful union whose favored tactic is early negotiations with the studios. Their president, Thomas Short, was a vocal opponent of the Writer's Strike. He remains a controversial figure in the world of organized labor.

UsefulNotes/LosAngeles is famously the home of the American film and television industry, and the various tradespeople who work for the industry are represented by a number of unions. Many of these unions also have branches in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, where certain television shows and all the national news broadcasts are produced. The unions are of interest to casual fans due to their role in [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes strikes]].

The unions handle their members' credits, healthcare, and pensions; and bargain individually with the UsefulNotes/{{AMPTP}} (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), the collective face of the various entertainment conglomerates (which seems like media collusion, but isn't for some reason).

The real union for {{Producers}} (TakeThat AMPTP!). Arguably the least active union in Los Angeles. However they are becoming more active as since 2013 they require the "Big Five" film studios to submit the producers list of all films (co-)produced by them to be certified with the "Producers Mark", which certifies the most contributing producers in a movie project, regardless of PGA membership.[[note]]Any movie with a legal US distributor may apply for the Mark, but movies (co-)produced by the Big Five are always required to apply for the Mark.[[/note]] Ever saw a movie credits a producer with the title "p.g.a."?

SAG-AFTRA is quite well known for their controversial [[http://www.sagaftra.org/production-center/globalruleone "Global Rule One"]] (inherited from SAG), which bars their members from working in non-union environments. This made it especially difficult for voice actors who had entered the voice acting business through {{anime}} (like Creator/SteveBlum and Creator/CrispinFreeman) to reprise some of their old roles, as most anime dubbing projects are considered non-union.[[note]]Although some union studios do specialize in anime dubbing; Creator/BangZoomEntertainment and Creator/{{Studiopolis}} are among the few dub studios that are union shops and contracted to SAG-AFTRA.[[/note]] Needless to say, Global Rule One is one of the main reasons that there is ''limited'' work for their members and some of them even had to work in non-union shops under a pseudonym to [[TakeAThirdOption work around this rule]].

!!Above The Line

The DGA reps directors in addition to a variety of below-the-line types (unit production managers, assistant directors, etc). The DGA considers themselves the "gold standard" of unions and they remain aloof from the others. They maintain a clubby relationship with the AMPTP (some would say too clubby) and have only gone on strike once (a symbolic affair that lasted a few hours). The major exception was TheSeventies during the presidency of Creator/RobertAldrich. Aldrich presented a more combative approach than others before and after him, and under him directors managed to fight and expand rights. Most notably, thanks to him, DGA got directors the mandated "first cut" privilege, i.e. any Hollywood production with DGA talent is obligated to allow the directors to make a first cut before anyone else can even touch the film or make suggestions. The only way to dodge this is if a film-maker voluntarily recuses himself before production or if he's fired before completing a certain percentage of film-making that would mandate him credit and first cut privilege[[note]]This became known among general moviegoers thanks to the constant reshoot-heavy nature of contemporary blockbusters and especially the coverage of ''Film/{{Solo}}'' and ''Film/JusticeLeague2017''[[/note]]. Most of the DGA couldn't care less about residuals: the majority are below the line (who don't get residuals), and most of the actual directors make so much money up front that they don't rely on residuals at all. As a result, the DGA demands tend to center around first class airline tickets and possessorial credit ("a film by..."). The selection of DGA leadership is a mysterious process. Currently Michael Apted serves as president, but National Director Jay Roth has the power.

The largest of the above-the line unions, with well over 100,000 members. Formed in 2011 by a merger between two other unions:

SAG-AFTRA is quite well known for their controversial [[http://www.sagaftra.org/production-center/globalruleone "Global Rule One"]] (inherited from SAG), which bars their members from working in non-union environments. This made it especially difficult for voice actors who had entered the voice acting business through {{anime}} (like Creator/SteveBlum and Creator/CrispinFreeman) to reprise some of their old roles, as most anime dubbing projects are considered non-union [[note]]Although there are some union studios that do specialize in anime dubbing; Creator/BangZoomEntertainment and Creator/{{Studiopolis}} are among the few dub studios that are union shops and contracted to SAG-AFTRA[[/note]]. Needless to say, the Global Rule One is one of the main reasons that there is ''limited'' work for their members and some of them even had to work in non-union shops under a pseudonym to [[TakeAThirdOption work around this rule]].

The real union for {{Producers}} (TakeThat AMPTP!). Arguably the least active union in Los Angeles. However they are becomng more active as since 2013 they require the "Big Five" film studios to submit the producers list of all films (co-)produced by them to be certified with the "Producers Mark", which certifies the most contributing producers in a movie project, regardless of PGA membership.[[note]]Any movie with a legal US distributor may apply for the Mark, but movies (co-)produced by the Big Five are always required to apply for the Mark.[[/note]] Ever saw a movie credits a producer with the title "p.g.a."?

!!Below The Line Guilds
The Below The Line Guilds represent the various members of film crews. Generally, they resent strikes, as it puts them out of work and they see little gain (you could try pointing out that a key figure regarding the AMPTP's contribution to their health care plan hinges on WGA residuals, but believe me, they do not care). A small minority of below the line union members sympathize with the above the line unions, bonded by a shared hatred of management and a belief in the power of organized labor.

!!!International Union of Teamsters