BURBANK, California: “Set decorator for 20 years. Single mom of 15-year-old twins,” read the sign over a table of baked goods for sale, including cupcakes, cookies, and other treats, “Struggling to pay bills, especially my mortgage.”
A prop master nearby was making ends meet by selling handmade quilts, which is typically a side job. “I now work two part-time jobs just to pay rent and utilities,” her sign read.
The banners that littered a parking lot flea market detailed the struggles that crew members who have been without a job for months have faced. These crew members were unintended victims of the twin strikes that halted the majority of scripted production in Los Angeles. Hollywood actors left their jobs in July after writers left in May.
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IATSE, the union that represents lighting technicians, costume designers and others who work on film and TV crews, estimates that even though its members are not on strike, they have lost close to $2 billion in wages after productions shut down. Members have pulled $44 million from their retirement plans to cover current expenses, the union says.
“Members are really starting to feel the pressure,” said Dejon Ellis, business manager with IATSE Local 80.
The motion picture and sound recording industries shed 17,000 jobs in August because of the strikes, according to U.S. government statistics.
Through mid-September, lost output from the strikes was estimated at around $5 billion across California and other production-heavy states such as Georgia and New Mexico, said Kevin Klowden chief global strategist at the Milken Institute, a think tank that studies the economy.
Writers and actors can apply for assistance from their unions, and some crew members are eligible for state unemployment benefits.
But that is not enough to cover basic costs of living, many entertainment industry workers said.
Daniel Fox, owner of North Pole Props, was liquidating his entire inventory at the crew-member flea market. His business had barely survived COVID, he said, and it was costing too much to store items that were no longer in demand.
“We definitely waited as long as we could,” Fox said as shoppers browsed his collection of furniture, glassware and other props. “We just can’t hold on any longer.”
