December 21, 2024 • 60 mins
Ahoy film folks! We're back in full swing with our first interview of season 2. This week we welcome back Simonette, our IATSE local 478 business representative, to discuss "the contraction" and migration of productions. What are the logistical hurdles that comes with? How are s'mores made overseas? Why tax incentive programs are important and what's in store for productions in the U.S. Enjoy the show!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello film friends, friends of film and everyone in between.
(00:13):
Welcome to the Film Folklore Podcast.
I am Jed Props and I am joined today by, we'll start just in sound.
Hello.
And Zoe Props.
Hi.
And not that we're recording these in a row, but you may notice that Chris and Joe aren't
here.
So Zoe, where is Chris?
He's just outside of the room sleeping like that, you know, that sleepy time bear on the
(00:36):
tee.
He's all comfy in his chair and he's in his little hat and pajama outfit.
He had a whoopie.
Yeah.
Look at him.
Look at him outside the door.
All tuckered out.
Yeah.
He's tired.
Would you say he's pooped?
Be quiet.
Don't laugh as loud because he's trying to sleep.
Yeah, that's true.
(01:00):
And of course, Joe is not with us today as is to be expected.
What was not expected is that he's actually in our own backyard at the St. Louis Cathedral
by Jackson Square with a gangster named Jambalaya Jake.
I intentionally put that name in because I had remembered an atrocious movie I did where
the story took place here in New Orleans.
And in the original draft, the gangster was named something like Crawfish Dan.
(01:22):
And we were all gagging on the writing choice and eventually new pages came out and it was
like, oh, thank God they were smart enough to get rid of that embarrassing and insulting
name for wait, Jambalaya Jake.
And that's the one that made it all the way into the final.
So anywho's great story.
Too bad we couldn't be writers.
I'd never think up something that good.
(01:45):
So we're going to get right into it.
We have a lovely interview for y'all today.
We have a returning guest who is now a three-peter, as y'all are going to soon learn is not a
guy's name.
And she's going to help us understand kind of the current state of affairs and try to
(02:05):
clear up where maybe there's some confusion and kind of talk positive, hopeful what we
see on the horizon, what might be some things to give us a little positive because we need
a little positive right now.
I'm just going to say that and then we're going to jump in.
And so I'm going to say without further ado, let's welcome back Siminette.
(02:26):
Welcome Siminette.
Welcome.
Hi, Siminette.
Wanted to say first, thank you for coming back.
It's always a pleasure having you on.
And you are a three-peter now.
Thanks for having me.
(02:47):
You're in special club with I think just Heather Rae.
Oh yeah?
I think y'all are the only three-peters.
Oh cool.
Yeah, he keeps on saying three-pete.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
When I said it earlier, Zoe had this quizzical look on her face and she was like, what?
Three-pete?
Who's that?
And she was thinking like a dude's name, like P-E-T-E.
(03:07):
Well, yeah.
I guess Siminette's bringing someone.
Yeah, yeah.
It's our weed dealer, three-pete.
Dave told me to tell you he really enjoyed your Yo Adrian series over the summer.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
No, we had a lot of fun with that.
We were joking off mic, but Tony and Heather Rae kept bringing box wine.
(03:32):
And we were like, this is not helping us go faster.
That's great.
And eventually, because I had said originally, we want to try to hold them to one hour-ish
formats and everything.
And then Heather Rae goes, why?
And I was like, well, I mean, it's just one of those weird podcast things.
You don't really want them to go long.
And that was out the window, I think, as of the first recording.
(03:53):
Justin just gave up.
He was like, sorry, these are going to be like an hour and 45.
But I mean, that's about as deep dive as-
That's a lot to break down there.
And that was also a fun thing because it was all new to him.
And so having him go through the series for the first time with fresh eyes, and then we
got to the end after going through the Creed's, and when we're all trying to do a grand ranking
(04:16):
of how we think best to worst is, it was interesting where everyone was differentiating a little
bit.
But we all unanimously agreed Creed 3 is the weakest in the entire nine movie series.
And that's the last one, right?
Yeah, currently, there's a fourth one.
There's a fourth one coming.
Wow.
Okay.
(04:37):
We speculate on what that could be.
Yeah.
Lots of lives up to it.
Spoiler.
Yeah.
But yeah, that was a lot of fun.
We're going to try and do a little offshoot mini series things every summer.
Anyway, so having you on today, we want to sort of kind of navigate the state of the
industry currently with your help and knowledge.
(04:59):
And we're going to be positive here because I know a lot of people out there, it's been
rough obviously for a lot of people.
We know this is not sustainable in the long run and that's what we want to attempt to
sort of give that transparency, quash maybe some of the rumor mill that might be churning
out there and everything and kind of give a little hope of what we can, where we can.
(05:23):
Because we need that right now, right?
So I guess the question is where to start.
And my idea was kind of to start with what has been referred to as the contraction.
And that's in reference to the streamers and the studios and what's been happening above
the line, which I don't think, there's definitely, I think a lot of people aren't really familiar
(05:43):
with what has been going on behind the scenes in their world.
Unless you subscribe to Deadline and you get 15 articles a day, then you're very aware.
But could you speak to that a little bit as far as what is the contraction that's being
referred to?
Yeah.
So there was a content boom in 20, I would say 2020 through 2022.
(06:06):
And the studios were basically trying to throw everything at the wall when it came to streaming
and see what sticks.
And they produced a lot of content very quickly.
And it was great for us because we had a lot of work.
But with them, they found themselves losing money because there was A, so much content
(06:32):
on the market and B, not all of it was quality content because you can have three things,
fast, cheap and quick.
Oh yeah.
Or what is it?
Good, fast and cheap.
Good, fast and cheap.
Thank you.
So with so much content being made, there was a handful of really good stuff and then
other stuff that maybe was good but didn't get as much of an audience just because there
(06:55):
were so much else on the market.
And then other things that, I mean, we've all worked on those shows that are just not
that great, right?
And so they saw their profits start to take a nosedive in a really big way.
And many of these companies at the same time were becoming more and more large tech companies.
(07:19):
There's been a lot of mergers in the past few years, in the past five years.
Paramount still in a limbo right now, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Discovery and WB and all these companies kind of coming together and shifting.
So many, and also Amazon is not just a film company, right?
(07:47):
A film production.
Right.
It's a distribution company.
It has this giant arm of shipping and production and tech.
And then Apple is another example.
They make iPhones, they do all this stuff.
So we're talking not only about distributors and studios, but also these giants of the
(08:10):
technological world and some of the biggest companies in the US.
So their streaming arms are only part of their businesses.
But besides that, they're still trying to make a profit.
And then to contrast that, there's all these indies out there that are still doing their
thing trying to make the next film, trying to get the money to make the next film and
(08:36):
move up the ladder.
And I think the studios have seen the potential in some of these indie projects and started
to outsource a lot more, not only in the US, but also internationally because they wanted
to expand their viewership and really also save some money.
(09:02):
Because sometimes when you buy something that's already done, well, they can't go over budget
because it's already made, right?
Exactly.
So it's just kind of a different game.
So all of that plus the difficulty in making a real sustainable profit resulted in them
(09:23):
kind of building this dam and just kind of stopping most production.
And that was coupled with the Writers Guild Strike and the Screen Actors Guild Strike.
And so 2023 was like, you know, it was the shutdown year for us.
There was very little production.
(09:43):
The productions that did come through during the strikes were approved by the Screen Actors
Guild and were smaller, low budget productions that were not associated with the big studios
in any way.
And so after those strikes were done, we had a period of thinking, oh, well, we're going
to come out of this, but the studios were still trying to figure out how to turn a sustainable
(10:07):
profit.
Netflix is really the only one who has figured out how to.
And even they, like I am constantly watching the trades just as you guys are, and they
are still finding ways to cut their budgets, to diversify their content, they're making
more globally.
Even they are being nimble in this market and trying to make the best financial decisions
(10:31):
for their company as possible, which doesn't always work out the best for us, as workers.
After the strikes ended in 2022, it did not go back to normal.
And we went into this period of like preparing for the IATSE and the Teamster negotiations.
(10:53):
And that was a time, you know, filled with some uncertainty.
But IATSE, you know, had learned from what happened the year before with WGA and SAG.
And we had been having these conversations with the major studios and building on the
progress that those unions made, basing some of those conversation points on that, saying,
(11:18):
well, you already were able to give these concessions to the WGA and SAG.
Let's not spend three months bargaining just to get to the same point.
And also, we don't want to have to go on strike.
But the power that we have in negotiations is also that threat of a strike.
(11:39):
I mean, it's just the reality of things.
If we don't come to a deal, we're not going to work together, whether it's a small contract
or a large contract.
So this is just a very large version of that, right?
So you have to be cautious.
You can't say, well, we're not going to go on strike.
Everything's going to be great.
And then you lose all your power in negotiations.
(12:00):
But there was still some nervous nervousness going into that.
At the same time, the Teamsters were coming to the bargaining table with us and they were
talking a really big game.
And there was a threat that they may go on strike as well.
And their negotiations were just after ours.
And so we got through negotiations.
(12:21):
It was still fairly slow, but they had the ability to continue to work as we negotiated.
And I think after the first round of negotiations, it was clear that we needed to go back to
the table to resolve things.
And there was definitely still the threat of a strike on the table.
But we knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel that was possible.
(12:45):
And so after our negotiations were resolved, it was very successful.
Then the Teamsters went to the table.
And after the Teamsters were done, we thought, hey, we're all going to get back to work.
It's all going to be normal.
And that's what we were hearing from the studios as well.
And maybe part of that's on them like a carrot to dangle on a stick.
(13:09):
Because we're going off of what we're hearing.
But at the same time, from what I had been hearing from producers, I wasn't getting a
ton of calls.
I felt like I was getting some calls, but I was expecting those calls to ramp up once
there was more security, once they felt sure.
But through the winter of 2023 and beginning of 2024, it didn't pick up as much as we had
(13:36):
expected.
And so this year has really been watching the financial situations of the studios, looking
at the quarterly reports, looking and seeing what them going overseas, how that's affecting
these production companies.
On the one hand, yes, they're saving money in some ways.
(13:58):
But on the other hand, it takes an immense amount of financial investment to relocate,
like Marvel relocated to the UK.
That takes a lot of money.
And so that's a big gamble for them long term.
But even just show for show, going overseas, there's all sorts of different logistical
concerns that you have to consider when you're going overseas.
(14:22):
And I think from hearing from many of these industry sources and producers, some of those
things are starting to open their eyes a little bit.
It takes a long time to develop an infrastructure in a new place.
We were one of the first in the US to have tax incentives.
(14:46):
And it took us a while to grow our infrastructure to what it is today.
Now they're going into these other places and starting fresh.
And so that's square one for many places.
And yes, they're building stages, they're creating vendor companies.
(15:07):
And depending on the place and the incentives there, some places may be growing more quickly
than others.
And there have been existing film markets, but a lot of those film markets have not been
nearly to this size.
So it's a huge upscaling exercise, if you will.
(15:29):
In addition to that, there are other things to consider like visas that you need to get
to have skilled workers travel abroad, different cultural differences, language barriers with
local workers possibly, traveling home.
(15:50):
A lot of the producers and actors and crew that's being flown over there, it's not just
a quick weekend trip to go back and see their families.
So they're gone.
I just spoke to another 478 member who is about to leave his family for nine months.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, yeah.
(16:11):
To go on a film that's going to all these incredible destinations across the world.
And he was telling me, oh, I'm going to, I went to Malta last year and I'm going to...
I mean, it was all these wonderful exotic locations.
I was like, oh, are you excited?
And he's like, you know, that kind of wore off last year because he's been lucky enough
(16:31):
to have the work to travel a lot.
He's a Marine coordinator.
But at the same time, he's like, I really just want to be with my family.
And when I'm there, I'm working so many hours in a day that I don't really get a chance
to feel energized enough to go and sightsee.
And so I do get to see a little bit of the locale, but between the late nights and the
(16:54):
demands of the job, I really wish I was doing a project here in the US.
And the time differences too, if you just want to communicate with your family.
Yeah.
Or your coworkers in the US who work at the studio.
I mean, there's lots of...
I just had...
I mentioned it briefly before, but the last thing that I did was exactly that, where roughly
(17:21):
60% was shot overseas and about 40% was shot here.
And we were the second leg.
And they came back over here full of complaints, customs, major customs issues.
The crew just wasn't used to something of that scale.
(17:41):
So a lot of the things the crew did, it kind of made sense for me from a prop perspective,
as I'm inheriting what has been shot over there and it's arriving to me and I'm opening
things up, unfortunately, all the props from there, I should say, I'm going to keep it
vague because it's not released.
All the stuff from there arrived two days before we started shooting.
(18:07):
And so I have no time to pivot.
I'm just opening going, oh, apparently they didn't buy doubles of anything.
Okay.
And it's from overseas, so it's not exactly an easy...
Oh yeah.
So then I turned to my crew and I'm going, take extra special care of everything because
I don't know what else to tell you.
(18:27):
And then we're also not finding things where it's like, why are we not finding the rings
and watches?
And then we learn, oh, well over there, costumes does the rings and watches.
And it's like, okay.
And they have the sunglasses too.
And so then I'm having this conversation with costumes and they're like, do you want the
stuff?
I'm like, well, if that's the way that y'all been doing it, then we'll just keep it this
(18:48):
way.
So it's just whatever is going on here.
But we don't know these things because we don't know how they operate.
They're not used to how we operate.
And it's an American production, but it's in a foreign country where they have their
own system of how they do things.
And what became very obvious is that most countries in the world, for people that don't
(19:09):
know, they're doing projects that are two mil, five mil.
Like a $10 million movie might be a big movie in some of these countries.
So some of these countries just aren't used to doing bigger shows.
This was a $30 million movie.
And so it was just very obvious that they had done these things.
(19:29):
Also, this is a corporate backed movie.
So typically corporate shows come with a lot of rules and red tapes and they're very particular
about how they want things done.
So you get these guidelines that unfortunately on this show, the guidelines for rap were
kind of comical because they were telling me to put things on a CD.
And I was like, are y'all sure this is current?
(19:50):
And then they're like, oh no, you don't have to do that.
And I was like, okay, just making sure because y'all might want to update this.
Basically, rather than update the form, they just audibly go instead of CD thumb drive,
just remember that.
And it's like, do you want a physical still?
Like we used to do physical books, rap books, and now it's all digital.
But this says to do a physical and like, oh no, we don't need that.
(20:11):
I'm like, well, it's too late.
I already did it.
I'm like, I guess throw it over there.
They're like, well, I'm glad we did that.
Thanks for these rules.
But like the foreign crew that I was in talks with and everything, everyone's nice and everything
like that.
But you can also see where they're getting frustrated with the corporate stuff because
they're not used to some giant LA conglomerate saying this is how we want things done very
(20:35):
specifically and tediously.
And then you get jealous too, because the European prop master that was on that, she
left the last day of shooting.
She didn't even stick around for rap.
And that's because she had another job that she immediately had jumped to.
(20:55):
And it was in these nice tropical islands and I'll leave it at that.
And then I'm just, and I'm seeing in the email where she's got her new signature tag.
And then I'm just seeing like, you know, department head on this show on these island chains.
And I'm just going, and it's probably, you know, it's probably like a mil five or two
(21:16):
mil or something like that.
It's not like it's a big movie necessarily, but just, Hey, if I could be low budget and
just traveling around to beautiful destinations, there is something to be said about that.
But to your point, families, things like that obviously makes it an issue too.
When we covered Jaws, because Jaws went so horrifically long, it was like triple the
(21:38):
amount of planned days to shoot it.
So you got these guys in Martha's Vineyard for, that were only expecting to be there
maybe a few months.
They were there for like nine months instead.
And so even in that you're reading about it and they're talking about how they're all
missing their families and wanting to go home and they're in Martha's Vineyard, which is
normally a beautiful destination to go to, but they're just like F this, get me home.
(22:01):
But one of the issues that we had on that last show was customs was a big problem.
And I had teased in our intro episode for season two that I have a s'more story because
I was hired on before I officially started to do shopping to send stuff to them.
(22:23):
They were doing some stage work and they were doing an American apartment over there.
And so they wanted me to basically use for set dressing and props, like here's a punch
list of things to buy and then get shipped over to us.
So while I'm doing that, I get contacted basically saying like, flag on the play, pause what
you're doing there.
We have a bit of an emergency in these rewrites for this camping scene that's supposed to
(22:48):
be here in North American world.
They're cooking and eating s'mores, but apparently over there you can't get the basic things
to make basic s'mores.
Like marshmallows are different size.
The chocolate is probably too high quality.
So it doesn't melt right.
You know, whatever.
Oh man.
No, it's gotta be her.
She's
It makes me feel so bad for America.
(23:10):
The chocolate is just too high quality.
Yeah, exactly.
So, so I went to Walmart and I'm doing the math where it's like, okay, it's two people.
They're supposed to be making and then cooking the s'mores.
So if you're thinking they're building them and then you got multiple takes, you get into
coverage.
Okay, we'll call that 40 or no, let's go higher 60 seconds, a 30 and a 30.
(23:35):
So that should, that's overkill.
They should definitely have plenty of stuff to do it.
So I go, I get the Hershey bars.
I get the larger stave puffed.
I get the honey made graham crackers and everything.
I bought a little cooler to put in the box and I'm packing the more sensitive stuff into
the cooler and I made sure everything's nicely done.
I get it sent over there.
(23:56):
It gets held up in customs.
And now they're running, it will not be, now they're running out of time.
Yeah, they're like this, this shitty chocolate will not enter this country.
So now they're asking me to get specs on the items because they're having to hire a food
stylist.
(24:17):
So for example, I can tell you good old American Imperial system, honey made is a two inches
by eight inches before you separate the perforations.
Otherwise a two by four.
And I had to measure all this out, send all the information with pictures and all this.
They get a food stylist over there to make it.
I had rush shipped that package FedEx.
(24:39):
It was like $1,600 to get it.
So like $400 something dollars to get everything together to put in this box.
$1,600, so we're already at two grand just to get this dumb thing over there for a dumb
s'mores gag that's not gonna ultimately matter anything.
Because it's just, the scene is not about s'mores.
So I was trying to do the math and I'm going like, okay, now they've got a food stylist.
(25:03):
They gotta buy their ingredients and then they gotta make everything.
They got their labor and all this and they are in a foreign country so maybe they could
be on the cheaper side.
But I was putting all this together and I was going, okay, so somewhere on the low end
we're around 4K for this s'mores gag.
On the high end we're somewhere around 7K.
It just really, I don't know what a food stylist is gonna charge over there.
(25:23):
So I use that one example to, it's like, yes, $4,000 on something that's $30 million is
not a drop in the bucket.
However, if that's one example of multiple problems and you start extrapolating that,
that is a number that starts raising an eyebrow if it's across the board.
And that's where, say something like customs can wrench and tell me, correct me if I'm
(25:48):
wrong, that's kind of what that testing the waters is for them.
Because those are costs they don't really know until they get into it.
And then they're over there going like, Jesus Christ, customs, I didn't have any idea this
was gonna be this hard.
I mean, this country normally seems quite easy to get anything into, but suddenly I'm
having these customs issues.
So yeah, we were hearing that the production designer had told me what the crew was making,
(26:16):
at least in the art department world.
And he was like, I was shocked when I saw the payroll.
And I was like, yeah, well, that's definitely a reason they're going over there is cheaper
labor and the materials probably for builds are cheaper.
But it's those hidden costs that you're talking about is what for me was raising an eyebrow
because that was my first overseas.
(26:37):
I've had a Canadian production come this way, but I've never had overseas where I'm on the
second leg.
But that was kind of, you know, in the back of your mind, you're going, I hope it costs
so much money.
Yeah, yeah.
I hope you paid through the nose for that stupid thing.
And then there's also the added problem of continuity for us where we're now dependent
(26:58):
on their photos, their information for things that we have to match.
And you know, if they're not used to that and they do things their own way, now that's
a new issue with this communication thing.
And it kind of speaks to what you're talking about, like as far as training a crew and
having them do it like in our system of things.
And there's all these little things that will happen.
(27:20):
Like I always have to push about chairbacks.
Nobody ever wants to talk about chairbacks, but they get upset when they're not there.
And you need production to give you the names.
You need the art department to get the logo.
You need the production designer and whoever else director that gives a shit about it to
approve the look and all that has to happen.
(27:42):
And then you get it printed and that's all a bit to do so that everyone can have their
stupid little chair back.
And they think it should just magically occur.
Right.
Without any questions.
God, again about the chairbacks.
And I'm like, dude, if I don't ask, y'all are going to get pissy.
So I was doing that on this show and I'm like, where are the chairbacks?
Nobody could seem to answer anything.
I'm like, do I need to make new ones or like what's going on?
(28:04):
Production makes chairbacks in this country.
And so it was a big to do to figure out because I was talking to the wrong people essentially.
Then that's why the confusion was there.
And then finally someone goes, oh, props doesn't do that here.
Production doesn't.
And it's like, oh, thank you.
You actually knew what you were talking about.
(28:25):
That's all I needed.
That's all I needed.
And then they come and you're like, is it cheap?
Whatever.
Yeah.
And then the director complains and then you're going, do you want me to make another one?
But they were very vocal.
The higher ups when they had gotten over here that they were less than enthusiastic about
(28:46):
their experience over there.
So it's one of those weird things where I'm like, I hope it continues to happen.
Not that I wish ill will upon people.
Maybe in sports terms, it's that thing where you're like, I don't want him like career
ending injury.
I just need him out of this game.
That kind of thing.
Another good example of that is a story I heard about a production trying to get equipment.
(29:11):
They went and scouted in this country and the tax incentives were good.
They loved the locations.
They were like, oh, so can we get equipment?
And they were like, oh yeah, we have all these distributors.
You can get equipment, no problem.
And so they go there and they call and say, oh, we need a crane for tomorrow.
(29:32):
And they're like, tomorrow?
Talking about it.
We said you could get equipment.
We didn't say it would be tomorrow.
It's like three or four days later.
So the pace that we're used to with our vendors that are already set up to be like, tomorrow
no problem.
Let go.
(29:54):
It's a little different.
It's a different priority level.
There are also different permits and safety regulations in different countries.
With the s'mores and the chocolate, different quality control issues.
So I think there's a lot of unforeseen costs in addition to the normal things that you
(30:20):
can see right away.
People need to get travel visas and airplane tickets and stuff like that.
It's a lot more than that.
And then there's also different requirements in different countries per the tax credits
as well.
I just learned Japan as a country now has an entire incentive package program.
(30:43):
And a friend of mine that's a production designer who is Japanese, she was telling me that there's
this sudden boom in work, but there's not enough crew.
And so now they have this new problem of, I happen to know Japan's unique weird world
that most of the Japanese film industry actually lives in LA and Honolulu.
(31:07):
And they're dual citizen types.
And so when there's a project over there, they just go over there, do the project, but
then they come back over here and then they do work on the American side.
Because of the way things are going right now, a lot of people like that woman are back
in Japan, just almost like headless chickens running around.
She said she was actually doing multiple projects at once because of the lack of crew and everything.
(31:31):
So they're not traveling outside people.
She said there's been talk of that, but it's weird because they're just basically grabbing
people off the street, which also it's a country of foreign language and everything like that.
So you add that into the mix.
And so she said it's been very hectic and very, like I said, headless chicken like.
(31:53):
And I think that speaks to what you were saying earlier where they're just testing these waters,
kind of throwing to see what sticks and figure it out from there.
I kept joking on the last show where I kept saying, I do have a valid passport.
I'm just throwing that out there for anyone that needs to know.
No reason, just saying.
Because yeah, I mean, sure, go put me in a foreign country and maybe not nine months
(32:16):
or something.
It's a long time.
At this point.
I'll take the one.
Yeah.
One month is good.
But then you think about like maybe it does get to a point where they're like, well, we'll
get department heads over there, but then you have to hire locally.
Well, now you become like a drill sergeant almost that you got to train your department
(32:36):
while you're also actively prepping at the same time.
Like that sounds problematic.
Language barrier aside.
That's happened again and again and again as you know, different areas have had different
incentives.
Like all throughout the states, for example, like somebody had to train the crews up when
(32:57):
the incentives first started.
Because there were only so many people that they would bring in.
And we saw that here.
And then when a lot of business went to Georgia, it was the same thing, a lot of new people
coming in.
But if you add the difficulty in getting skilled crew at a second's notice when you can't hire
(33:18):
someone locally, when there is no skilled person to do this one specific job, they have
to fly overseas.
It's going to take at least like what a day and a half for them to get there and hit the
ground running from the airport.
I mean, it's a little different.
And then training the crews takes time.
(33:40):
Building a skilled crew base takes time.
And that's one thing that Louisiana has and our jurisdiction in general has to offer skilled
crew base.
Yeah.
You know, and they know that.
The studios know that and love to come here not only because of the incredible creative
economy that we have in this area, but also they know that they can get good crew.
(34:02):
Yeah.
I'm lucky to have witnessed that my official start was 2002, unofficially 2001, but that's
right before everything kicked off here.
And so back then when companies were testing the waters here, we would get a really big
(34:25):
movie like Ray would come, you know, kind of thing.
And then you're excited because you can feel this is going to be, this is award material
right here.
And then you realize that doesn't mean anything to me, but you get excited at first for it.
And then you're like, I'll be lucky if my name is in the credits.
Name is in the credits, yeah.
I'm so far down this totem pole.
But then there would be nothing.
(34:46):
And then maybe an Indy would come and maybe a commercial would be there.
And back then I was delivering pizza for Italian pie.
I was a background extra or a set PA depending on how they would hire me or whatever.
And when you couple all that together, there would be weeks where I'm pulling like a hundred
hour weeks.
And even if you take inflation into account, I'd have like $600 after taxes and I just
(35:10):
wanted to cry.
You know, there's like, I just want to go back to school where it's safe.
And you know, I think a BG rate on some stuff was like 45 bucks back then.
And those are major movies that were paying like 45.
And then was it runaway jury, I got to dance back and forth where I would be on set, then
I'd be BG and then back to set PA.
(35:31):
But then you fast forward a few years when everything got really busy here and you really
did see the experience kind of come together pretty quickly.
And I think we've been very fortunate in Louisiana with that, that we've always been pretty solid
and quick learning on the whole.
And then fast forward all the way to 2017, I'm in Atlanta, because Atlanta is so busy.
(35:54):
Now they're bringing, you know, people like me over there because they don't have enough
people.
But then they'll say, but you got to hire local.
You're like, well, I'm here because there's no one local.
So now here I am grabbing some off the street, trying to show what I can show, you know,
kind of.
And so you see those cycles over time.
And Atlanta at that time was very unique because they had feasted, not famineed at the time.
(36:18):
And so there was a lot of entitlement, a lot of fast ladder climbing and everything.
And yet they wouldn't understand set etiquette, like something that's very basic.
And I remember a set PA saying, I've been doing this for two years.
It's BS that I haven't moved up.
And it's like, you're talking to the wrong dude.
Oh, bless their hands.
I think I had like six years as a PA.
(36:39):
Like I used to joke about donating my days because I never had any wish to be in the
WDGA.
Yeah, yeah.
Like I would happily donate this to a needy PA if I could.
Yeah.
I got a good 250, 300 or something like that.
Atlanta, they have different rules for their union though, right?
You don't need like 30 days or 90 days or whatever.
No, you can buy your way in, which is something that is a little troubling on the whole.
(37:01):
I think we've talked about it before, but where it gets problematic is for X number
of money, we'll say $1,400, you can join the union and say you're a decorator.
Now in theory, you still would need to produce a resume for a job, but we all know that there's
jobs that don't look at resumes.
They don't call references and stuff.
And once you are in there and you have a title, you also can transfer to another union that
(37:25):
might have different rules such as ours, which then gets problematic.
Yeah.
And that's something that I did not know that until I went there.
And then I was like, wait, what?
I mean, what do I want to be when I grow up?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why am I an assistant prop master?
Why I could be, what's the highest title you guys got here?
Yeah.
(37:46):
Yeah.
So it is weird.
Which I get it, no knock on anyone in that union that doesn't mean that you're not skilled
and blah, blah, blah.
I just think it's an interesting process.
Well, and also getting into right to work and all of that, this last job that I was
talking about a second ago, the lead man was brought in from Atlanta and he was absolutely
(38:08):
lovely.
You want to be upset on the one hand because there's not a lot of work.
You want your local brethren to be first and foremost, but the reality of our world and
right to work is if somebody wants somebody from somewhere else, it's going to happen.
It's challenging.
And when the guy's good and he's nice, then it makes it even harder to, because you're
(38:30):
like, he really is a good guy.
And shout out to him if he's listening.
But it is, as you just used the word challenging, it is that balance that we...
Because you get into this weird world of like, you don't want to fight amongst yourselves.
You want to be brothers and sisters.
There's also the reality that we all need to work.
(38:53):
That's something that happened while we were on break, but 479, the Atlanta IOTC, they
swelled to like 7,000 members.
8,000 members.
And even though I'm not supposed to see the 600 report, I did see the last 600 report
where that's a regional thing, so they're showing multiple jurisdictions.
(39:15):
And if you take away a game show, a documentary, and you're just strictly looking at TV and
film, there's like 10 projects there.
And so what I keep reminding people that they'll go, they have so much more work than we do
right now, but they have that many mouths to feed.
8,000 members.
That's like 50-ish projects that you need to sustain that.
(39:37):
That's crazy.
Yeah, and they have tons of studios sitting empty right now that are like beautiful state
of the art.
Marvel leaving.
That was what, Pinewood Studios?
Yeah.
Pinewood.
Yeah, that's the first one that comes to mind.
And at that point, many of those members, especially the newer ones, or even people
(39:57):
that are considering, oh, Atlanta's a production location.
Maybe I should transfer from my local to go over there.
I try to caution people that this is such a mercurial industry.
Making that kind of a big decision and going into a market that's so flooded with other
people isn't necessarily, unless you have mad connections that you trust that are gonna
(40:19):
get you a job after that, that they're like, we're gonna go and here's the offer for your
first show.
Get it in writing.
Yeah, get it in writing.
And the thing is, even when you get it in writing, sometimes the show will fold.
We saw with, what was it, Dallas Sting in August of 2022.
They came in, they hit the ground running.
Construction had a month of work on the ground and then a scandal happened with the people
(40:45):
at the top.
So the show was about a coach of some kind and then some allegations.
I remember that one.
I remember that one.
Oh, right.
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So they tried to like, the writers tried to be like, well, maybe we can just make it about
(41:07):
a general coach and not about this coach in particular.
And they tried to write their way around the script for like that month because it was
all kind of happening very quickly once it's all things do.
And didn't they pull the plug like a week before?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They pulled the plug because they were like, we can't get away from this.
It's gonna blow up if we do PR for this.
It was Matthew McConaughey.
Yeah, Matthew McConaughey was supposed to play the role.
(41:29):
Yeah, I don't know if we're like, I read, I read, I read.
I'm like, who?
I can't even remember who it was us that was supposed to work.
I remember people being like, fuck.
Yeah.
And I think that's just a code name.
So like, I don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I totally forgot about that.
I remember that one.
Yeah.
Well, and we can talk about it off mic, but I had gotten a call for something that was
(41:52):
supposed to start prepping right away in January and then it has now pushed.
And they didn't, they weren't able to give me any details.
And so I was trying to speculate, like educated guessing.
And I know it has something to do with the Super Bowl being here.
It has something to do with Mardi Gras.
I think it has something to do with hotel bookings and permits and something of that
(42:15):
nature.
And I think that's why the push happened.
So I was trying to do the math and I'm like, well, if they push two weeks, that would put
principal photography on the other side of Mardi Gras.
Yeah, but we'd be prepping during this.
If they go two months, that puts prep and everything on the other side.
And so then it becomes a March thing or it could be indefinite because they didn't know.
(42:36):
So it's gotta be one of these three.
And then you're going like, well, that's, I can't bank on that.
And so then you're going like, all right, well, I need something more tangible.
If this happens, great.
But then I got to look over here at what's more.
Also, really awful to get hopes up and then get that kind of news.
That happens quite a bit.
I mean, with some of the smaller shows, it's often, oh, we're just waiting on that final
(43:02):
green light for the budget or we need this cast person to sign on so that we can get
the budget.
Because often the investors won't move forward unless there's a big name attached.
So they're prepping as much as they can until they have that.
And then they have to push if they don't get it in time or money doesn't get locked in.
Yeah.
And then with bigger shows, things like hotel bookings and I mean, Super Bowl, the you know,
(43:26):
it's going to be very difficult to get a hotel here in town.
Oh, I'm sure prices are also inflated even if you can get it.
The Super Bowl is here.
Yes.
Oh, I don't know, man.
They've been prepping all year.
They've been prepping all year.
Don't worry, the homeless will be out of sight so no one gets offended.
Oh, thank God.
(43:47):
Yeah, they they have a whole like clean zone throughout the city that they've been prepping
and and like repainting and repainting living under a rock.
Yeah.
You probably just thought it was normal construction we're behind on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, we have something about building all of this heavy concrete structures on this
(44:09):
soft ground is not a great model.
Because we're below sea level, you know, just little things.
I've often joked that it doesn't matter what kind of apocalypse it could be, any kind or
it could be water levels rising, whatever.
I just I have a very strong belief that New Orleans will just revert back to being a pirate
town and nothing will really change.
(44:29):
You know, probably you'll have some piratey kind of dude, Jean Lafitte type that will
just declare himself emperor of New Orleans.
And you're like, OK, it's barter town like Mad Max 3.
Here we go.
Oh, look, they really have a thunderdome.
Cool.
I can totally see that.
Super Bowl turned thunderdome.
And then you would notice not much changes.
(44:50):
Yeah.
So switching gears a little bit here, I wanted to look at a little bit of maybe what what
we can do as far as like like right now, this format, social media, you do a great job,
by the way, of reminding people to stay positive.
(45:13):
You know, when we're needing when we're being called upon to talk to our local politicians
and everything like that, you know, even though maybe internally you have a lot of animosity
for things going on, not to vocalize that stick to the talking points, you know, keep
these things.
And whether we're talking about this format or like your own personal social media or
(45:34):
maybe some other things that we can talk about as well, like trying to get this message out
and make it more public feels like the safe course of action where we're not maybe we're
not being condescending, we're not being, you know, pointing targeting as much as we're
saying, hey, everybody, you all need to be aware of this.
(45:54):
Like this is a thing and this is not sustainable.
Obviously, people have already been hurting, suffering, you know, as a lot of our brothers
and sisters have been, but it's it's not like these studios don't know that this is happening.
And so I don't know if maybe part of this question to you is what's their end game if
(46:17):
there's no crew?
Are they just banking that I'll just go shoot in Wisconsin and figure it out, you know,
kind of thing, or they'll go they'll be back, you know, like some kind of Scarface was it
Michelle Pfeiffer with Quail.
She'll be back.
But a couple Quailus.
(46:38):
But what could you speak to that a little bit as far as what we can do maybe as far
as positive message, family, friends, you know, trying to draw attention to hey, this
is an issue that should be addressed as working Americans.
Yeah, so there's a couple things that I want to talk to you and they they all have to do
(46:58):
with tax credit programs, both the state incentives and the potential for federal incentives.
So recently, we went through a special session where the Louisiana legislature was going
through this big tax reform bill.
And a part of that tax reform bill was the elimination of all the incentives for Louisiana
(47:24):
all all the incentive incentive programs, except the ones that we don't talk about.
Oh, yeah, those aren't technically incentive programs.
Those are exclusions and all sorts of other all sorts of other that's an entirely different
topic.
But there but there were some exclusions and exemptions that were included in that as well.
And oil did actually face some cuts at the end, which I was surprised to see the oil
(47:48):
and gas industry, you know, getting cuts because usually they're like, you know, not not as
affected.
But I think everybody took some hits.
Most people took some hits.
Most industries rather, right, took some hits in this in this last special session.
I mean, the the tax structure in Louisiana is problematic.
(48:11):
Right.
And and hopefully, you know, some of the changes that they're making will will help businesses.
But when they're trying to attract business, right, which is what a big part of this was
lowering corporate income tax rates so that and lowering tax rates in general in various
(48:33):
ways so that businesses would find it more attractive to come and base their, you know,
their factories here, their production centers, whatever, come come and do their things in
Louisiana, why get rid of an industry that already creates, you know, 10 to 15000 high
paying jobs per year that that already supports many local vendors that when we roll into
(49:00):
any city, you know, buying up the hotels, patronizing the restaurants, going to all
the, you know, local businesses for props, local shopping.
Yeah.
And there's so many different ways buying buying lumber and like we've been through
thirty three different parishes throughout the state in the past five years.
I mean, many legislators are under the misconception and we've been trying to educate them that,
(49:25):
you know, it's not just, you know, below the I-10.
It's not just New Orleans.
It's all across the state and it affects all across the state.
I mean, case in point, you know, Shreveport right now, Curtis Jackson is G unit.
Yeah, G unit.
He's he's like, you know, starting a whole, you know, production company up there with
(49:47):
his new lease with Millennium.
So so we have a lot going for us as an industry already and a lot to offer the state of Louisiana
and it's it's comprised of Louisiana residents.
I think another misconception is they think that it's a bunch of Hollywood people coming
in and, you know, like trying to take advantage of Louisiana tax money, but it's not.
And also the politics, too, that can get in the way of things where it's like we're a
liberal industry by nature.
(50:10):
Some conservatives and this this goes both ways.
I should be clear that it's like it's not a one way street, but a lot of times that
politics gets involved in people without trying to understand something will be dismissive
because it's in this example, it's liberal and I'm a conservative guy, so therefore
I don't like it and and I'll keep them nameless.
(50:30):
But there are certain politicians that when we try to showcase our stuff at the Capitol
to say, hey, why don't you come look, the very people that need to see what we do won't
come and then they stay close minded and that doesn't help anything.
Yeah.
And then that just gets in the way of things that happens all the time in multiple states,
just to be clear.
Oh, yeah.
(50:51):
Yeah.
And so the thing becomes trying to find creative ways to open their minds and to get them to
see, hey, this is not about what side of the aisle you're on.
This is about jobs.
This is about local people.
And that's when it comes to everyone in the industry.
Us speaking out, everybody calling and emailing made all the difference in the world in this
(51:15):
special session.
And it's not going to be the last time that we're going to have to do this.
So we were successful in preserving our tax credit program and they did cut us a little
bit, but it's not as much as you might think.
It went from 180 million capped, but the redemption cap is actually, or is still currently until
(51:39):
the end of June, 2025, 150 million.
Now they cut everything towards 125 million flat.
So redemption cap is only 25 million less than it was before.
So it's not going to really affect us a whole lot.
(51:59):
And we also have a surplus that we're working with.
All that to say, our voices were the loudest industry in the special session from what
we've heard from those legislators.
We need to put that same energy into talking to our federal legislators, our congresspeople
about federal tax incentives next.
(52:20):
And so that is going to be the next push.
And it's not just going to be Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
We need to do this all across the state.
I have a meeting with the business agents of all the other IATSE locals in the ASA regions
to talk about this and to get them to meet with their film commissioners and start meeting
(52:42):
with these politicians and pushing for these federal incentives because that is going to
come up next year.
And it would be financial incentives for US-based productions, for hiring US workers, for using
US-based products and technologies, all of that to try to draw more business back to
(53:04):
the US and make us even more competitive on top of our state incentives alone.
So continuing to be vocal when it comes to calls to action for political machinations
that happen within our own state.
But also when the time comes, we will start to ask you guys to reach out to your federal
(53:29):
legislators as well, your congresspeople, and say, hey, this is needed.
We need to bring our industry back.
And we still have some things in the pipe for 2025, which is encouraging, but it's not
at the level that it should be.
And I think a federal incentive, if we're able to push it through, would really help.
(53:50):
IATSE, the political team at IATSE has been lobbying and has gotten Adam Schiff to write
a letter detailing why this would be important.
We've been working with the other unions and guilds on this.
And they're basically starting a plan and starting to look at language and build things
(54:11):
for this.
So it's not like a pipe dream.
It's a reality that we can work towards.
And so if we're able to do that, I think it would be an en masse thing where all across
the country, entertainment workers, which we are an industry of unions, we know how
to organize.
That's one thing we know how to do.
It's organize and let our voices be heard.
We do this when it comes time to put pressure on studios.
(54:35):
Now let's put pressure on our Congress people to do the right thing and make sure that we
can get business back into this country.
So when that time comes and they're about to look at that tax structure, moving forward
federal tax structure in 2025, that's going to be our next call to action.
(54:58):
I think that's a good note to end on too, because that's one of those things that any
politician across the board is going to agree.
More jobs for Americans.
It doesn't matter where your affiliations are.
Since we've been born, that's what everyone is always talking about.
More jobs, more jobs, more jobs.
So it seems like a no brainer in some sense, but obviously there's hurdles that we have
(55:21):
to go through to get to these things.
But that all sounds very, to me, positive and doable.
It's a very feasible outcome and it does make sense in a very base thing that isn't complicated.
Do you guys want more works for your constituents?
Here's this option.
Do you like options?
(55:42):
Because here's one.
And I'd just like to add that what we saw just in this recent session could serve as
a case study.
Home Louisiana is a trade organization that's comprised of both unions and businesses.
So we can speak to both sides of the aisle.
We can speak to the business minded, more Republican side of things.
(56:07):
And then the unions and the guilds can speak to the Democratic caucus.
And we can take that and ideally get the studios on board.
With this incoming administration, Jeff Bezos, he has a financial interest in this.
(56:28):
Maybe us all working together as an industry could be a positive thing here.
And it wouldn't just be us across from each other at the bargaining table, but us all
working together towards a greater goal of bringing more business back here.
Because the studios would financially benefit from this as well.
(56:48):
Again, it just seems like one of those things that it should be a no brainer.
I'll leave it at that.
But I want to thank you so much for coming on today.
You are so knowledgeable and so lovely positive as always, which is very appreciated.
I know as a business agent, it's not a fun job in a lot of ways because you constantly
(57:13):
have people calling, texting you, complaining, whether things are going well, things are
going bad.
So just want to say we appreciate you always keeping a smile on, which is not an easy thing.
But thank you so much, Simonette, for coming in and we hope to see you soon.
Thanks a lot.
(57:35):
All right.
That was pretty fantastic and very cool.
What did y'all think about that?
What a voice.
Besides all the other stuff she had to say, I was like Simonette's voice.
Yeah, she has a great voice.
She does have a very good voice.
Yes.
She could definitely DJ smooth jazz, but not an issue.
(57:58):
Or fill in for Terry Gross.
Yeah, or late night talk shit.
Once in a while.
Definitely.
Really great voice for keeping a bunch of union members calm.
Exactly.
And a lot of what we talked about today, we've been talking amongst ourselves about a lot
of these topics, but I'm glad that she was able to come in and shed some light, clear
(58:22):
up some things where the danger that we're in is playing the game of telephone.
And that is where rumors can quickly get out of control and things like that.
So very happy that she was able to come on and speak to some of this stuff.
I think the interview sort of speaks for itself.
I mean, is there anything that y'all can add to that?
It's a great season opener.
Yeah.
(58:42):
I wanted to ask more questions.
I mean, we just ran out of time, but you know what?
We can have her as a four Peter.
It doesn't work.
Oh yeah.
You know what?
You're right.
I actually just went through all the numbers in my head.
I'm like, he can't ever say that again.
No.
Unless we get to 23 or 33 or any of the threes.
And that's it.
(59:03):
So until she's a 23 Peter, that's it.
That's fair.
Sorry.
Doesn't even work for 13.
What about 13?
That's fair.
So you can stop saying that.
What about a quad?
It doesn't work.
It doesn't work.
It's dead.
It's dead after this.
All right.
(59:23):
Fine.
But I bet there is something that you want to talk about, Zoe.
Why don't you tell the people?
Hell yeah.
Desperately.
Everybody shut up.
Do you like what we're doing here?
Do you have thoughts, comments, questions?
Do you have an idea or suggestion for topics you want to hear about?
Well, you can find us on the intrawebs.
(59:44):
You can email us at filmfolklorepodcast at gmail.com.
You can find us on the social medias, Instagram being filmfolklorepodcast.
We have a Facebook group called Film Folklore, Twitter X, whatever you want to call it, at
the film folk.
And yeah, thanks for joining us today.
All right.
Thanks everybody.
(01:00:05):
Thanks.
Bye.
Bye.
Hello film friends, friends of film and everyone in between.
(00:13):
Welcome to the Film Folklore Podcast.
I am Jed Props and I am joined today by, we'll start just in sound.
Hello.
And Zoe Props.
Hi.
And not that we're recording these in a row, but you may notice that Chris and Joe aren't
here.
So Zoe, where is Chris?
He's just outside of the room sleeping like that, you know, that sleepy time bear on the
(00:36):
tee.
He's all comfy in his chair and he's in his little hat and pajama outfit.
He had a whoopie.
Yeah.
Look at him.
Look at him outside the door.
All tuckered out.
Yeah.
He's tired.
Would you say he's pooped?
Be quiet.
Don't laugh as loud because he's trying to sleep.
Yeah, that's true.
(01:00):
And of course, Joe is not with us today as is to be expected.
What was not expected is that he's actually in our own backyard at the St. Louis Cathedral
by Jackson Square with a gangster named Jambalaya Jake.
I intentionally put that name in because I had remembered an atrocious movie I did where
the story took place here in New Orleans.
And in the original draft, the gangster was named something like Crawfish Dan.
(01:22):
And we were all gagging on the writing choice and eventually new pages came out and it was
like, oh, thank God they were smart enough to get rid of that embarrassing and insulting
name for wait, Jambalaya Jake.
And that's the one that made it all the way into the final.
So anywho's great story.
Too bad we couldn't be writers.
I'd never think up something that good.
(01:45):
So we're going to get right into it.
We have a lovely interview for y'all today.
We have a returning guest who is now a three-peter, as y'all are going to soon learn is not a
guy's name.
And she's going to help us understand kind of the current state of affairs and try to
(02:05):
clear up where maybe there's some confusion and kind of talk positive, hopeful what we
see on the horizon, what might be some things to give us a little positive because we need
a little positive right now.
I'm just going to say that and then we're going to jump in.
And so I'm going to say without further ado, let's welcome back Siminette.
(02:26):
Welcome Siminette.
Welcome.
Hi, Siminette.
Wanted to say first, thank you for coming back.
It's always a pleasure having you on.
And you are a three-peter now.
Thanks for having me.
(02:47):
You're in special club with I think just Heather Rae.
Oh yeah?
I think y'all are the only three-peters.
Oh cool.
Yeah, he keeps on saying three-pete.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
When I said it earlier, Zoe had this quizzical look on her face and she was like, what?
Three-pete?
Who's that?
And she was thinking like a dude's name, like P-E-T-E.
(03:07):
Well, yeah.
I guess Siminette's bringing someone.
Yeah, yeah.
It's our weed dealer, three-pete.
Dave told me to tell you he really enjoyed your Yo Adrian series over the summer.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
No, we had a lot of fun with that.
We were joking off mic, but Tony and Heather Rae kept bringing box wine.
(03:32):
And we were like, this is not helping us go faster.
That's great.
And eventually, because I had said originally, we want to try to hold them to one hour-ish
formats and everything.
And then Heather Rae goes, why?
And I was like, well, I mean, it's just one of those weird podcast things.
You don't really want them to go long.
And that was out the window, I think, as of the first recording.
(03:53):
Justin just gave up.
He was like, sorry, these are going to be like an hour and 45.
But I mean, that's about as deep dive as-
That's a lot to break down there.
And that was also a fun thing because it was all new to him.
And so having him go through the series for the first time with fresh eyes, and then we
got to the end after going through the Creed's, and when we're all trying to do a grand ranking
(04:16):
of how we think best to worst is, it was interesting where everyone was differentiating a little
bit.
But we all unanimously agreed Creed 3 is the weakest in the entire nine movie series.
And that's the last one, right?
Yeah, currently, there's a fourth one.
There's a fourth one coming.
Wow.
Okay.
(04:37):
We speculate on what that could be.
Yeah.
Lots of lives up to it.
Spoiler.
Yeah.
But yeah, that was a lot of fun.
We're going to try and do a little offshoot mini series things every summer.
Anyway, so having you on today, we want to sort of kind of navigate the state of the
industry currently with your help and knowledge.
(04:59):
And we're going to be positive here because I know a lot of people out there, it's been
rough obviously for a lot of people.
We know this is not sustainable in the long run and that's what we want to attempt to
sort of give that transparency, quash maybe some of the rumor mill that might be churning
out there and everything and kind of give a little hope of what we can, where we can.
(05:23):
Because we need that right now, right?
So I guess the question is where to start.
And my idea was kind of to start with what has been referred to as the contraction.
And that's in reference to the streamers and the studios and what's been happening above
the line, which I don't think, there's definitely, I think a lot of people aren't really familiar
(05:43):
with what has been going on behind the scenes in their world.
Unless you subscribe to Deadline and you get 15 articles a day, then you're very aware.
But could you speak to that a little bit as far as what is the contraction that's being
referred to?
Yeah.
So there was a content boom in 20, I would say 2020 through 2022.
(06:06):
And the studios were basically trying to throw everything at the wall when it came to streaming
and see what sticks.
And they produced a lot of content very quickly.
And it was great for us because we had a lot of work.
But with them, they found themselves losing money because there was A, so much content
(06:32):
on the market and B, not all of it was quality content because you can have three things,
fast, cheap and quick.
Oh yeah.
Or what is it?
Good, fast and cheap.
Good, fast and cheap.
Thank you.
So with so much content being made, there was a handful of really good stuff and then
other stuff that maybe was good but didn't get as much of an audience just because there
(06:55):
were so much else on the market.
And then other things that, I mean, we've all worked on those shows that are just not
that great, right?
And so they saw their profits start to take a nosedive in a really big way.
And many of these companies at the same time were becoming more and more large tech companies.
(07:19):
There's been a lot of mergers in the past few years, in the past five years.
Paramount still in a limbo right now, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Discovery and WB and all these companies kind of coming together and shifting.
So many, and also Amazon is not just a film company, right?
(07:47):
A film production.
Right.
It's a distribution company.
It has this giant arm of shipping and production and tech.
And then Apple is another example.
They make iPhones, they do all this stuff.
So we're talking not only about distributors and studios, but also these giants of the
(08:10):
technological world and some of the biggest companies in the US.
So their streaming arms are only part of their businesses.
But besides that, they're still trying to make a profit.
And then to contrast that, there's all these indies out there that are still doing their
thing trying to make the next film, trying to get the money to make the next film and
(08:36):
move up the ladder.
And I think the studios have seen the potential in some of these indie projects and started
to outsource a lot more, not only in the US, but also internationally because they wanted
to expand their viewership and really also save some money.
(09:02):
Because sometimes when you buy something that's already done, well, they can't go over budget
because it's already made, right?
Exactly.
So it's just kind of a different game.
So all of that plus the difficulty in making a real sustainable profit resulted in them
(09:23):
kind of building this dam and just kind of stopping most production.
And that was coupled with the Writers Guild Strike and the Screen Actors Guild Strike.
And so 2023 was like, you know, it was the shutdown year for us.
There was very little production.
(09:43):
The productions that did come through during the strikes were approved by the Screen Actors
Guild and were smaller, low budget productions that were not associated with the big studios
in any way.
And so after those strikes were done, we had a period of thinking, oh, well, we're going
to come out of this, but the studios were still trying to figure out how to turn a sustainable
(10:07):
profit.
Netflix is really the only one who has figured out how to.
And even they, like I am constantly watching the trades just as you guys are, and they
are still finding ways to cut their budgets, to diversify their content, they're making
more globally.
Even they are being nimble in this market and trying to make the best financial decisions
(10:31):
for their company as possible, which doesn't always work out the best for us, as workers.
After the strikes ended in 2022, it did not go back to normal.
And we went into this period of like preparing for the IATSE and the Teamster negotiations.
(10:53):
And that was a time, you know, filled with some uncertainty.
But IATSE, you know, had learned from what happened the year before with WGA and SAG.
And we had been having these conversations with the major studios and building on the
progress that those unions made, basing some of those conversation points on that, saying,
(11:18):
well, you already were able to give these concessions to the WGA and SAG.
Let's not spend three months bargaining just to get to the same point.
And also, we don't want to have to go on strike.
But the power that we have in negotiations is also that threat of a strike.
(11:39):
I mean, it's just the reality of things.
If we don't come to a deal, we're not going to work together, whether it's a small contract
or a large contract.
So this is just a very large version of that, right?
So you have to be cautious.
You can't say, well, we're not going to go on strike.
Everything's going to be great.
And then you lose all your power in negotiations.
(12:00):
But there was still some nervous nervousness going into that.
At the same time, the Teamsters were coming to the bargaining table with us and they were
talking a really big game.
And there was a threat that they may go on strike as well.
And their negotiations were just after ours.
And so we got through negotiations.
(12:21):
It was still fairly slow, but they had the ability to continue to work as we negotiated.
And I think after the first round of negotiations, it was clear that we needed to go back to
the table to resolve things.
And there was definitely still the threat of a strike on the table.
But we knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel that was possible.
(12:45):
And so after our negotiations were resolved, it was very successful.
Then the Teamsters went to the table.
And after the Teamsters were done, we thought, hey, we're all going to get back to work.
It's all going to be normal.
And that's what we were hearing from the studios as well.
And maybe part of that's on them like a carrot to dangle on a stick.
(13:09):
Because we're going off of what we're hearing.
But at the same time, from what I had been hearing from producers, I wasn't getting a
ton of calls.
I felt like I was getting some calls, but I was expecting those calls to ramp up once
there was more security, once they felt sure.
But through the winter of 2023 and beginning of 2024, it didn't pick up as much as we had
(13:36):
expected.
And so this year has really been watching the financial situations of the studios, looking
at the quarterly reports, looking and seeing what them going overseas, how that's affecting
these production companies.
On the one hand, yes, they're saving money in some ways.
(13:58):
But on the other hand, it takes an immense amount of financial investment to relocate,
like Marvel relocated to the UK.
That takes a lot of money.
And so that's a big gamble for them long term.
But even just show for show, going overseas, there's all sorts of different logistical
concerns that you have to consider when you're going overseas.
(14:22):
And I think from hearing from many of these industry sources and producers, some of those
things are starting to open their eyes a little bit.
It takes a long time to develop an infrastructure in a new place.
We were one of the first in the US to have tax incentives.
(14:46):
And it took us a while to grow our infrastructure to what it is today.
Now they're going into these other places and starting fresh.
And so that's square one for many places.
And yes, they're building stages, they're creating vendor companies.
(15:07):
And depending on the place and the incentives there, some places may be growing more quickly
than others.
And there have been existing film markets, but a lot of those film markets have not been
nearly to this size.
So it's a huge upscaling exercise, if you will.
(15:29):
In addition to that, there are other things to consider like visas that you need to get
to have skilled workers travel abroad, different cultural differences, language barriers with
local workers possibly, traveling home.
(15:50):
A lot of the producers and actors and crew that's being flown over there, it's not just
a quick weekend trip to go back and see their families.
So they're gone.
I just spoke to another 478 member who is about to leave his family for nine months.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, yeah.
(16:11):
To go on a film that's going to all these incredible destinations across the world.
And he was telling me, oh, I'm going to, I went to Malta last year and I'm going to...
I mean, it was all these wonderful exotic locations.
I was like, oh, are you excited?
And he's like, you know, that kind of wore off last year because he's been lucky enough
(16:31):
to have the work to travel a lot.
He's a Marine coordinator.
But at the same time, he's like, I really just want to be with my family.
And when I'm there, I'm working so many hours in a day that I don't really get a chance
to feel energized enough to go and sightsee.
And so I do get to see a little bit of the locale, but between the late nights and the
(16:54):
demands of the job, I really wish I was doing a project here in the US.
And the time differences too, if you just want to communicate with your family.
Yeah.
Or your coworkers in the US who work at the studio.
I mean, there's lots of...
I just had...
I mentioned it briefly before, but the last thing that I did was exactly that, where roughly
(17:21):
60% was shot overseas and about 40% was shot here.
And we were the second leg.
And they came back over here full of complaints, customs, major customs issues.
The crew just wasn't used to something of that scale.
(17:41):
So a lot of the things the crew did, it kind of made sense for me from a prop perspective,
as I'm inheriting what has been shot over there and it's arriving to me and I'm opening
things up, unfortunately, all the props from there, I should say, I'm going to keep it
vague because it's not released.
All the stuff from there arrived two days before we started shooting.
(18:07):
And so I have no time to pivot.
I'm just opening going, oh, apparently they didn't buy doubles of anything.
Okay.
And it's from overseas, so it's not exactly an easy...
Oh yeah.
So then I turned to my crew and I'm going, take extra special care of everything because
I don't know what else to tell you.
(18:27):
And then we're also not finding things where it's like, why are we not finding the rings
and watches?
And then we learn, oh, well over there, costumes does the rings and watches.
And it's like, okay.
And they have the sunglasses too.
And so then I'm having this conversation with costumes and they're like, do you want the
stuff?
I'm like, well, if that's the way that y'all been doing it, then we'll just keep it this
(18:48):
way.
So it's just whatever is going on here.
But we don't know these things because we don't know how they operate.
They're not used to how we operate.
And it's an American production, but it's in a foreign country where they have their
own system of how they do things.
And what became very obvious is that most countries in the world, for people that don't
(19:09):
know, they're doing projects that are two mil, five mil.
Like a $10 million movie might be a big movie in some of these countries.
So some of these countries just aren't used to doing bigger shows.
This was a $30 million movie.
And so it was just very obvious that they had done these things.
(19:29):
Also, this is a corporate backed movie.
So typically corporate shows come with a lot of rules and red tapes and they're very particular
about how they want things done.
So you get these guidelines that unfortunately on this show, the guidelines for rap were
kind of comical because they were telling me to put things on a CD.
And I was like, are y'all sure this is current?
(19:50):
And then they're like, oh no, you don't have to do that.
And I was like, okay, just making sure because y'all might want to update this.
Basically, rather than update the form, they just audibly go instead of CD thumb drive,
just remember that.
And it's like, do you want a physical still?
Like we used to do physical books, rap books, and now it's all digital.
But this says to do a physical and like, oh no, we don't need that.
(20:11):
I'm like, well, it's too late.
I already did it.
I'm like, I guess throw it over there.
They're like, well, I'm glad we did that.
Thanks for these rules.
But like the foreign crew that I was in talks with and everything, everyone's nice and everything
like that.
But you can also see where they're getting frustrated with the corporate stuff because
they're not used to some giant LA conglomerate saying this is how we want things done very
(20:35):
specifically and tediously.
And then you get jealous too, because the European prop master that was on that, she
left the last day of shooting.
She didn't even stick around for rap.
And that's because she had another job that she immediately had jumped to.
(20:55):
And it was in these nice tropical islands and I'll leave it at that.
And then I'm just, and I'm seeing in the email where she's got her new signature tag.
And then I'm just seeing like, you know, department head on this show on these island chains.
And I'm just going, and it's probably, you know, it's probably like a mil five or two
(21:16):
mil or something like that.
It's not like it's a big movie necessarily, but just, Hey, if I could be low budget and
just traveling around to beautiful destinations, there is something to be said about that.
But to your point, families, things like that obviously makes it an issue too.
When we covered Jaws, because Jaws went so horrifically long, it was like triple the
(21:38):
amount of planned days to shoot it.
So you got these guys in Martha's Vineyard for, that were only expecting to be there
maybe a few months.
They were there for like nine months instead.
And so even in that you're reading about it and they're talking about how they're all
missing their families and wanting to go home and they're in Martha's Vineyard, which is
normally a beautiful destination to go to, but they're just like F this, get me home.
(22:01):
But one of the issues that we had on that last show was customs was a big problem.
And I had teased in our intro episode for season two that I have a s'more story because
I was hired on before I officially started to do shopping to send stuff to them.
(22:23):
They were doing some stage work and they were doing an American apartment over there.
And so they wanted me to basically use for set dressing and props, like here's a punch
list of things to buy and then get shipped over to us.
So while I'm doing that, I get contacted basically saying like, flag on the play, pause what
you're doing there.
We have a bit of an emergency in these rewrites for this camping scene that's supposed to
(22:48):
be here in North American world.
They're cooking and eating s'mores, but apparently over there you can't get the basic things
to make basic s'mores.
Like marshmallows are different size.
The chocolate is probably too high quality.
So it doesn't melt right.
You know, whatever.
Oh man.
No, it's gotta be her.
She's
It makes me feel so bad for America.
(23:10):
The chocolate is just too high quality.
Yeah, exactly.
So, so I went to Walmart and I'm doing the math where it's like, okay, it's two people.
They're supposed to be making and then cooking the s'mores.
So if you're thinking they're building them and then you got multiple takes, you get into
coverage.
Okay, we'll call that 40 or no, let's go higher 60 seconds, a 30 and a 30.
(23:35):
So that should, that's overkill.
They should definitely have plenty of stuff to do it.
So I go, I get the Hershey bars.
I get the larger stave puffed.
I get the honey made graham crackers and everything.
I bought a little cooler to put in the box and I'm packing the more sensitive stuff into
the cooler and I made sure everything's nicely done.
I get it sent over there.
(23:56):
It gets held up in customs.
And now they're running, it will not be, now they're running out of time.
Yeah, they're like this, this shitty chocolate will not enter this country.
So now they're asking me to get specs on the items because they're having to hire a food
stylist.
(24:17):
So for example, I can tell you good old American Imperial system, honey made is a two inches
by eight inches before you separate the perforations.
Otherwise a two by four.
And I had to measure all this out, send all the information with pictures and all this.
They get a food stylist over there to make it.
I had rush shipped that package FedEx.
(24:39):
It was like $1,600 to get it.
So like $400 something dollars to get everything together to put in this box.
$1,600, so we're already at two grand just to get this dumb thing over there for a dumb
s'mores gag that's not gonna ultimately matter anything.
Because it's just, the scene is not about s'mores.
So I was trying to do the math and I'm going like, okay, now they've got a food stylist.
(25:03):
They gotta buy their ingredients and then they gotta make everything.
They got their labor and all this and they are in a foreign country so maybe they could
be on the cheaper side.
But I was putting all this together and I was going, okay, so somewhere on the low end
we're around 4K for this s'mores gag.
On the high end we're somewhere around 7K.
It just really, I don't know what a food stylist is gonna charge over there.
(25:23):
So I use that one example to, it's like, yes, $4,000 on something that's $30 million is
not a drop in the bucket.
However, if that's one example of multiple problems and you start extrapolating that,
that is a number that starts raising an eyebrow if it's across the board.
And that's where, say something like customs can wrench and tell me, correct me if I'm
(25:48):
wrong, that's kind of what that testing the waters is for them.
Because those are costs they don't really know until they get into it.
And then they're over there going like, Jesus Christ, customs, I didn't have any idea this
was gonna be this hard.
I mean, this country normally seems quite easy to get anything into, but suddenly I'm
having these customs issues.
So yeah, we were hearing that the production designer had told me what the crew was making,
(26:16):
at least in the art department world.
And he was like, I was shocked when I saw the payroll.
And I was like, yeah, well, that's definitely a reason they're going over there is cheaper
labor and the materials probably for builds are cheaper.
But it's those hidden costs that you're talking about is what for me was raising an eyebrow
because that was my first overseas.
(26:37):
I've had a Canadian production come this way, but I've never had overseas where I'm on the
second leg.
But that was kind of, you know, in the back of your mind, you're going, I hope it costs
so much money.
Yeah, yeah.
I hope you paid through the nose for that stupid thing.
And then there's also the added problem of continuity for us where we're now dependent
(26:58):
on their photos, their information for things that we have to match.
And you know, if they're not used to that and they do things their own way, now that's
a new issue with this communication thing.
And it kind of speaks to what you're talking about, like as far as training a crew and
having them do it like in our system of things.
And there's all these little things that will happen.
(27:20):
Like I always have to push about chairbacks.
Nobody ever wants to talk about chairbacks, but they get upset when they're not there.
And you need production to give you the names.
You need the art department to get the logo.
You need the production designer and whoever else director that gives a shit about it to
approve the look and all that has to happen.
(27:42):
And then you get it printed and that's all a bit to do so that everyone can have their
stupid little chair back.
And they think it should just magically occur.
Right.
Without any questions.
God, again about the chairbacks.
And I'm like, dude, if I don't ask, y'all are going to get pissy.
So I was doing that on this show and I'm like, where are the chairbacks?
Nobody could seem to answer anything.
I'm like, do I need to make new ones or like what's going on?
(28:04):
Production makes chairbacks in this country.
And so it was a big to do to figure out because I was talking to the wrong people essentially.
Then that's why the confusion was there.
And then finally someone goes, oh, props doesn't do that here.
Production doesn't.
And it's like, oh, thank you.
You actually knew what you were talking about.
(28:25):
That's all I needed.
That's all I needed.
And then they come and you're like, is it cheap?
Whatever.
Yeah.
And then the director complains and then you're going, do you want me to make another one?
But they were very vocal.
The higher ups when they had gotten over here that they were less than enthusiastic about
(28:46):
their experience over there.
So it's one of those weird things where I'm like, I hope it continues to happen.
Not that I wish ill will upon people.
Maybe in sports terms, it's that thing where you're like, I don't want him like career
ending injury.
I just need him out of this game.
That kind of thing.
Another good example of that is a story I heard about a production trying to get equipment.
(29:11):
They went and scouted in this country and the tax incentives were good.
They loved the locations.
They were like, oh, so can we get equipment?
And they were like, oh yeah, we have all these distributors.
You can get equipment, no problem.
And so they go there and they call and say, oh, we need a crane for tomorrow.
(29:32):
And they're like, tomorrow?
Talking about it.
We said you could get equipment.
We didn't say it would be tomorrow.
It's like three or four days later.
So the pace that we're used to with our vendors that are already set up to be like, tomorrow
no problem.
Let go.
(29:54):
It's a little different.
It's a different priority level.
There are also different permits and safety regulations in different countries.
With the s'mores and the chocolate, different quality control issues.
So I think there's a lot of unforeseen costs in addition to the normal things that you
(30:20):
can see right away.
People need to get travel visas and airplane tickets and stuff like that.
It's a lot more than that.
And then there's also different requirements in different countries per the tax credits
as well.
I just learned Japan as a country now has an entire incentive package program.
(30:43):
And a friend of mine that's a production designer who is Japanese, she was telling me that there's
this sudden boom in work, but there's not enough crew.
And so now they have this new problem of, I happen to know Japan's unique weird world
that most of the Japanese film industry actually lives in LA and Honolulu.
(31:07):
And they're dual citizen types.
And so when there's a project over there, they just go over there, do the project, but
then they come back over here and then they do work on the American side.
Because of the way things are going right now, a lot of people like that woman are back
in Japan, just almost like headless chickens running around.
She said she was actually doing multiple projects at once because of the lack of crew and everything.
(31:31):
So they're not traveling outside people.
She said there's been talk of that, but it's weird because they're just basically grabbing
people off the street, which also it's a country of foreign language and everything like that.
So you add that into the mix.
And so she said it's been very hectic and very, like I said, headless chicken like.
(31:53):
And I think that speaks to what you were saying earlier where they're just testing these waters,
kind of throwing to see what sticks and figure it out from there.
I kept joking on the last show where I kept saying, I do have a valid passport.
I'm just throwing that out there for anyone that needs to know.
No reason, just saying.
Because yeah, I mean, sure, go put me in a foreign country and maybe not nine months
(32:16):
or something.
It's a long time.
At this point.
I'll take the one.
Yeah.
One month is good.
But then you think about like maybe it does get to a point where they're like, well, we'll
get department heads over there, but then you have to hire locally.
Well, now you become like a drill sergeant almost that you got to train your department
(32:36):
while you're also actively prepping at the same time.
Like that sounds problematic.
Language barrier aside.
That's happened again and again and again as you know, different areas have had different
incentives.
Like all throughout the states, for example, like somebody had to train the crews up when
(32:57):
the incentives first started.
Because there were only so many people that they would bring in.
And we saw that here.
And then when a lot of business went to Georgia, it was the same thing, a lot of new people
coming in.
But if you add the difficulty in getting skilled crew at a second's notice when you can't hire
(33:18):
someone locally, when there is no skilled person to do this one specific job, they have
to fly overseas.
It's going to take at least like what a day and a half for them to get there and hit the
ground running from the airport.
I mean, it's a little different.
And then training the crews takes time.
(33:40):
Building a skilled crew base takes time.
And that's one thing that Louisiana has and our jurisdiction in general has to offer skilled
crew base.
Yeah.
You know, and they know that.
The studios know that and love to come here not only because of the incredible creative
economy that we have in this area, but also they know that they can get good crew.
(34:02):
Yeah.
I'm lucky to have witnessed that my official start was 2002, unofficially 2001, but that's
right before everything kicked off here.
And so back then when companies were testing the waters here, we would get a really big
(34:25):
movie like Ray would come, you know, kind of thing.
And then you're excited because you can feel this is going to be, this is award material
right here.
And then you realize that doesn't mean anything to me, but you get excited at first for it.
And then you're like, I'll be lucky if my name is in the credits.
Name is in the credits, yeah.
I'm so far down this totem pole.
But then there would be nothing.
(34:46):
And then maybe an Indy would come and maybe a commercial would be there.
And back then I was delivering pizza for Italian pie.
I was a background extra or a set PA depending on how they would hire me or whatever.
And when you couple all that together, there would be weeks where I'm pulling like a hundred
hour weeks.
And even if you take inflation into account, I'd have like $600 after taxes and I just
(35:10):
wanted to cry.
You know, there's like, I just want to go back to school where it's safe.
And you know, I think a BG rate on some stuff was like 45 bucks back then.
And those are major movies that were paying like 45.
And then was it runaway jury, I got to dance back and forth where I would be on set, then
I'd be BG and then back to set PA.
(35:31):
But then you fast forward a few years when everything got really busy here and you really
did see the experience kind of come together pretty quickly.
And I think we've been very fortunate in Louisiana with that, that we've always been pretty solid
and quick learning on the whole.
And then fast forward all the way to 2017, I'm in Atlanta, because Atlanta is so busy.
(35:54):
Now they're bringing, you know, people like me over there because they don't have enough
people.
But then they'll say, but you got to hire local.
You're like, well, I'm here because there's no one local.
So now here I am grabbing some off the street, trying to show what I can show, you know,
kind of.
And so you see those cycles over time.
And Atlanta at that time was very unique because they had feasted, not famineed at the time.
(36:18):
And so there was a lot of entitlement, a lot of fast ladder climbing and everything.
And yet they wouldn't understand set etiquette, like something that's very basic.
And I remember a set PA saying, I've been doing this for two years.
It's BS that I haven't moved up.
And it's like, you're talking to the wrong dude.
Oh, bless their hands.
I think I had like six years as a PA.
(36:39):
Like I used to joke about donating my days because I never had any wish to be in the
WDGA.
Yeah, yeah.
Like I would happily donate this to a needy PA if I could.
Yeah.
I got a good 250, 300 or something like that.
Atlanta, they have different rules for their union though, right?
You don't need like 30 days or 90 days or whatever.
No, you can buy your way in, which is something that is a little troubling on the whole.
(37:01):
I think we've talked about it before, but where it gets problematic is for X number
of money, we'll say $1,400, you can join the union and say you're a decorator.
Now in theory, you still would need to produce a resume for a job, but we all know that there's
jobs that don't look at resumes.
They don't call references and stuff.
And once you are in there and you have a title, you also can transfer to another union that
(37:25):
might have different rules such as ours, which then gets problematic.
Yeah.
And that's something that I did not know that until I went there.
And then I was like, wait, what?
I mean, what do I want to be when I grow up?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why am I an assistant prop master?
Why I could be, what's the highest title you guys got here?
Yeah.
(37:46):
Yeah.
So it is weird.
Which I get it, no knock on anyone in that union that doesn't mean that you're not skilled
and blah, blah, blah.
I just think it's an interesting process.
Well, and also getting into right to work and all of that, this last job that I was
talking about a second ago, the lead man was brought in from Atlanta and he was absolutely
(38:08):
lovely.
You want to be upset on the one hand because there's not a lot of work.
You want your local brethren to be first and foremost, but the reality of our world and
right to work is if somebody wants somebody from somewhere else, it's going to happen.
It's challenging.
And when the guy's good and he's nice, then it makes it even harder to, because you're
(38:30):
like, he really is a good guy.
And shout out to him if he's listening.
But it is, as you just used the word challenging, it is that balance that we...
Because you get into this weird world of like, you don't want to fight amongst yourselves.
You want to be brothers and sisters.
There's also the reality that we all need to work.
(38:53):
That's something that happened while we were on break, but 479, the Atlanta IOTC, they
swelled to like 7,000 members.
8,000 members.
And even though I'm not supposed to see the 600 report, I did see the last 600 report
where that's a regional thing, so they're showing multiple jurisdictions.
(39:15):
And if you take away a game show, a documentary, and you're just strictly looking at TV and
film, there's like 10 projects there.
And so what I keep reminding people that they'll go, they have so much more work than we do
right now, but they have that many mouths to feed.
8,000 members.
That's like 50-ish projects that you need to sustain that.
(39:37):
That's crazy.
Yeah, and they have tons of studios sitting empty right now that are like beautiful state
of the art.
Marvel leaving.
That was what, Pinewood Studios?
Yeah.
Pinewood.
Yeah, that's the first one that comes to mind.
And at that point, many of those members, especially the newer ones, or even people
(39:57):
that are considering, oh, Atlanta's a production location.
Maybe I should transfer from my local to go over there.
I try to caution people that this is such a mercurial industry.
Making that kind of a big decision and going into a market that's so flooded with other
people isn't necessarily, unless you have mad connections that you trust that are gonna
(40:19):
get you a job after that, that they're like, we're gonna go and here's the offer for your
first show.
Get it in writing.
Yeah, get it in writing.
And the thing is, even when you get it in writing, sometimes the show will fold.
We saw with, what was it, Dallas Sting in August of 2022.
They came in, they hit the ground running.
Construction had a month of work on the ground and then a scandal happened with the people
(40:45):
at the top.
So the show was about a coach of some kind and then some allegations.
I remember that one.
I remember that one.
Oh, right.
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So they tried to like, the writers tried to be like, well, maybe we can just make it about
(41:07):
a general coach and not about this coach in particular.
And they tried to write their way around the script for like that month because it was
all kind of happening very quickly once it's all things do.
And didn't they pull the plug like a week before?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They pulled the plug because they were like, we can't get away from this.
It's gonna blow up if we do PR for this.
It was Matthew McConaughey.
Yeah, Matthew McConaughey was supposed to play the role.
(41:29):
Yeah, I don't know if we're like, I read, I read, I read.
I'm like, who?
I can't even remember who it was us that was supposed to work.
I remember people being like, fuck.
Yeah.
And I think that's just a code name.
So like, I don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I totally forgot about that.
I remember that one.
Yeah.
Well, and we can talk about it off mic, but I had gotten a call for something that was
(41:52):
supposed to start prepping right away in January and then it has now pushed.
And they didn't, they weren't able to give me any details.
And so I was trying to speculate, like educated guessing.
And I know it has something to do with the Super Bowl being here.
It has something to do with Mardi Gras.
I think it has something to do with hotel bookings and permits and something of that
(42:15):
nature.
And I think that's why the push happened.
So I was trying to do the math and I'm like, well, if they push two weeks, that would put
principal photography on the other side of Mardi Gras.
Yeah, but we'd be prepping during this.
If they go two months, that puts prep and everything on the other side.
And so then it becomes a March thing or it could be indefinite because they didn't know.
(42:36):
So it's gotta be one of these three.
And then you're going like, well, that's, I can't bank on that.
And so then you're going like, all right, well, I need something more tangible.
If this happens, great.
But then I got to look over here at what's more.
Also, really awful to get hopes up and then get that kind of news.
That happens quite a bit.
I mean, with some of the smaller shows, it's often, oh, we're just waiting on that final
(43:02):
green light for the budget or we need this cast person to sign on so that we can get
the budget.
Because often the investors won't move forward unless there's a big name attached.
So they're prepping as much as they can until they have that.
And then they have to push if they don't get it in time or money doesn't get locked in.
Yeah.
And then with bigger shows, things like hotel bookings and I mean, Super Bowl, the you know,
(43:26):
it's going to be very difficult to get a hotel here in town.
Oh, I'm sure prices are also inflated even if you can get it.
The Super Bowl is here.
Yes.
Oh, I don't know, man.
They've been prepping all year.
They've been prepping all year.
Don't worry, the homeless will be out of sight so no one gets offended.
Oh, thank God.
(43:47):
Yeah, they they have a whole like clean zone throughout the city that they've been prepping
and and like repainting and repainting living under a rock.
Yeah.
You probably just thought it was normal construction we're behind on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, we have something about building all of this heavy concrete structures on this
(44:09):
soft ground is not a great model.
Because we're below sea level, you know, just little things.
I've often joked that it doesn't matter what kind of apocalypse it could be, any kind or
it could be water levels rising, whatever.
I just I have a very strong belief that New Orleans will just revert back to being a pirate
town and nothing will really change.
(44:29):
You know, probably you'll have some piratey kind of dude, Jean Lafitte type that will
just declare himself emperor of New Orleans.
And you're like, OK, it's barter town like Mad Max 3.
Here we go.
Oh, look, they really have a thunderdome.
Cool.
I can totally see that.
Super Bowl turned thunderdome.
And then you would notice not much changes.
(44:50):
Yeah.
So switching gears a little bit here, I wanted to look at a little bit of maybe what what
we can do as far as like like right now, this format, social media, you do a great job,
by the way, of reminding people to stay positive.
(45:13):
You know, when we're needing when we're being called upon to talk to our local politicians
and everything like that, you know, even though maybe internally you have a lot of animosity
for things going on, not to vocalize that stick to the talking points, you know, keep
these things.
And whether we're talking about this format or like your own personal social media or
(45:34):
maybe some other things that we can talk about as well, like trying to get this message out
and make it more public feels like the safe course of action where we're not maybe we're
not being condescending, we're not being, you know, pointing targeting as much as we're
saying, hey, everybody, you all need to be aware of this.
(45:54):
Like this is a thing and this is not sustainable.
Obviously, people have already been hurting, suffering, you know, as a lot of our brothers
and sisters have been, but it's it's not like these studios don't know that this is happening.
And so I don't know if maybe part of this question to you is what's their end game if
(46:17):
there's no crew?
Are they just banking that I'll just go shoot in Wisconsin and figure it out, you know,
kind of thing, or they'll go they'll be back, you know, like some kind of Scarface was it
Michelle Pfeiffer with Quail.
She'll be back.
But a couple Quailus.
(46:38):
But what could you speak to that a little bit as far as what we can do maybe as far
as positive message, family, friends, you know, trying to draw attention to hey, this
is an issue that should be addressed as working Americans.
Yeah, so there's a couple things that I want to talk to you and they they all have to do
(46:58):
with tax credit programs, both the state incentives and the potential for federal incentives.
So recently, we went through a special session where the Louisiana legislature was going
through this big tax reform bill.
And a part of that tax reform bill was the elimination of all the incentives for Louisiana
(47:24):
all all the incentive incentive programs, except the ones that we don't talk about.
Oh, yeah, those aren't technically incentive programs.
Those are exclusions and all sorts of other all sorts of other that's an entirely different
topic.
But there but there were some exclusions and exemptions that were included in that as well.
And oil did actually face some cuts at the end, which I was surprised to see the oil
(47:48):
and gas industry, you know, getting cuts because usually they're like, you know, not not as
affected.
But I think everybody took some hits.
Most people took some hits.
Most industries rather, right, took some hits in this in this last special session.
I mean, the the tax structure in Louisiana is problematic.
(48:11):
Right.
And and hopefully, you know, some of the changes that they're making will will help businesses.
But when they're trying to attract business, right, which is what a big part of this was
lowering corporate income tax rates so that and lowering tax rates in general in various
(48:33):
ways so that businesses would find it more attractive to come and base their, you know,
their factories here, their production centers, whatever, come come and do their things in
Louisiana, why get rid of an industry that already creates, you know, 10 to 15000 high
paying jobs per year that that already supports many local vendors that when we roll into
(49:00):
any city, you know, buying up the hotels, patronizing the restaurants, going to all
the, you know, local businesses for props, local shopping.
Yeah.
And there's so many different ways buying buying lumber and like we've been through
thirty three different parishes throughout the state in the past five years.
I mean, many legislators are under the misconception and we've been trying to educate them that,
(49:25):
you know, it's not just, you know, below the I-10.
It's not just New Orleans.
It's all across the state and it affects all across the state.
I mean, case in point, you know, Shreveport right now, Curtis Jackson is G unit.
Yeah, G unit.
He's he's like, you know, starting a whole, you know, production company up there with
(49:47):
his new lease with Millennium.
So so we have a lot going for us as an industry already and a lot to offer the state of Louisiana
and it's it's comprised of Louisiana residents.
I think another misconception is they think that it's a bunch of Hollywood people coming
in and, you know, like trying to take advantage of Louisiana tax money, but it's not.
And also the politics, too, that can get in the way of things where it's like we're a
liberal industry by nature.
(50:10):
Some conservatives and this this goes both ways.
I should be clear that it's like it's not a one way street, but a lot of times that
politics gets involved in people without trying to understand something will be dismissive
because it's in this example, it's liberal and I'm a conservative guy, so therefore
I don't like it and and I'll keep them nameless.
(50:30):
But there are certain politicians that when we try to showcase our stuff at the Capitol
to say, hey, why don't you come look, the very people that need to see what we do won't
come and then they stay close minded and that doesn't help anything.
Yeah.
And then that just gets in the way of things that happens all the time in multiple states,
just to be clear.
Oh, yeah.
(50:51):
Yeah.
And so the thing becomes trying to find creative ways to open their minds and to get them to
see, hey, this is not about what side of the aisle you're on.
This is about jobs.
This is about local people.
And that's when it comes to everyone in the industry.
Us speaking out, everybody calling and emailing made all the difference in the world in this
(51:15):
special session.
And it's not going to be the last time that we're going to have to do this.
So we were successful in preserving our tax credit program and they did cut us a little
bit, but it's not as much as you might think.
It went from 180 million capped, but the redemption cap is actually, or is still currently until
(51:39):
the end of June, 2025, 150 million.
Now they cut everything towards 125 million flat.
So redemption cap is only 25 million less than it was before.
So it's not going to really affect us a whole lot.
(51:59):
And we also have a surplus that we're working with.
All that to say, our voices were the loudest industry in the special session from what
we've heard from those legislators.
We need to put that same energy into talking to our federal legislators, our congresspeople
about federal tax incentives next.
(52:20):
And so that is going to be the next push.
And it's not just going to be Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
We need to do this all across the state.
I have a meeting with the business agents of all the other IATSE locals in the ASA regions
to talk about this and to get them to meet with their film commissioners and start meeting
(52:42):
with these politicians and pushing for these federal incentives because that is going to
come up next year.
And it would be financial incentives for US-based productions, for hiring US workers, for using
US-based products and technologies, all of that to try to draw more business back to
(53:04):
the US and make us even more competitive on top of our state incentives alone.
So continuing to be vocal when it comes to calls to action for political machinations
that happen within our own state.
But also when the time comes, we will start to ask you guys to reach out to your federal
(53:29):
legislators as well, your congresspeople, and say, hey, this is needed.
We need to bring our industry back.
And we still have some things in the pipe for 2025, which is encouraging, but it's not
at the level that it should be.
And I think a federal incentive, if we're able to push it through, would really help.
(53:50):
IATSE, the political team at IATSE has been lobbying and has gotten Adam Schiff to write
a letter detailing why this would be important.
We've been working with the other unions and guilds on this.
And they're basically starting a plan and starting to look at language and build things
(54:11):
for this.
So it's not like a pipe dream.
It's a reality that we can work towards.
And so if we're able to do that, I think it would be an en masse thing where all across
the country, entertainment workers, which we are an industry of unions, we know how
to organize.
That's one thing we know how to do.
It's organize and let our voices be heard.
We do this when it comes time to put pressure on studios.
(54:35):
Now let's put pressure on our Congress people to do the right thing and make sure that we
can get business back into this country.
So when that time comes and they're about to look at that tax structure, moving forward
federal tax structure in 2025, that's going to be our next call to action.
(54:58):
I think that's a good note to end on too, because that's one of those things that any
politician across the board is going to agree.
More jobs for Americans.
It doesn't matter where your affiliations are.
Since we've been born, that's what everyone is always talking about.
More jobs, more jobs, more jobs.
So it seems like a no brainer in some sense, but obviously there's hurdles that we have
(55:21):
to go through to get to these things.
But that all sounds very, to me, positive and doable.
It's a very feasible outcome and it does make sense in a very base thing that isn't complicated.
Do you guys want more works for your constituents?
Here's this option.
Do you like options?
(55:42):
Because here's one.
And I'd just like to add that what we saw just in this recent session could serve as
a case study.
Home Louisiana is a trade organization that's comprised of both unions and businesses.
So we can speak to both sides of the aisle.
We can speak to the business minded, more Republican side of things.
(56:07):
And then the unions and the guilds can speak to the Democratic caucus.
And we can take that and ideally get the studios on board.
With this incoming administration, Jeff Bezos, he has a financial interest in this.
(56:28):
Maybe us all working together as an industry could be a positive thing here.
And it wouldn't just be us across from each other at the bargaining table, but us all
working together towards a greater goal of bringing more business back here.
Because the studios would financially benefit from this as well.
(56:48):
Again, it just seems like one of those things that it should be a no brainer.
I'll leave it at that.
But I want to thank you so much for coming on today.
You are so knowledgeable and so lovely positive as always, which is very appreciated.
I know as a business agent, it's not a fun job in a lot of ways because you constantly
(57:13):
have people calling, texting you, complaining, whether things are going well, things are
going bad.
So just want to say we appreciate you always keeping a smile on, which is not an easy thing.
But thank you so much, Simonette, for coming in and we hope to see you soon.
Thanks a lot.
(57:35):
All right.
That was pretty fantastic and very cool.
What did y'all think about that?
What a voice.
Besides all the other stuff she had to say, I was like Simonette's voice.
Yeah, she has a great voice.
She does have a very good voice.
Yes.
She could definitely DJ smooth jazz, but not an issue.
(57:58):
Or fill in for Terry Gross.
Yeah, or late night talk shit.
Once in a while.
Definitely.
Really great voice for keeping a bunch of union members calm.
Exactly.
And a lot of what we talked about today, we've been talking amongst ourselves about a lot
of these topics, but I'm glad that she was able to come in and shed some light, clear
(58:22):
up some things where the danger that we're in is playing the game of telephone.
And that is where rumors can quickly get out of control and things like that.
So very happy that she was able to come on and speak to some of this stuff.
I think the interview sort of speaks for itself.
I mean, is there anything that y'all can add to that?
It's a great season opener.
Yeah.
(58:42):
I wanted to ask more questions.
I mean, we just ran out of time, but you know what?
We can have her as a four Peter.
It doesn't work.
Oh yeah.
You know what?
You're right.
I actually just went through all the numbers in my head.
I'm like, he can't ever say that again.
No.
Unless we get to 23 or 33 or any of the threes.
And that's it.
(59:03):
So until she's a 23 Peter, that's it.
That's fair.
Sorry.
Doesn't even work for 13.
What about 13?
That's fair.
So you can stop saying that.
What about a quad?
It doesn't work.
It doesn't work.
It's dead.
It's dead after this.
All right.
(59:23):
Fine.
But I bet there is something that you want to talk about, Zoe.
Why don't you tell the people?
Hell yeah.
Desperately.
Everybody shut up.
Do you like what we're doing here?
Do you have thoughts, comments, questions?
Do you have an idea or suggestion for topics you want to hear about?
Well, you can find us on the intrawebs.
(59:44):
You can email us at filmfolklorepodcast at gmail.com.
You can find us on the social medias, Instagram being filmfolklorepodcast.
We have a Facebook group called Film Folklore, Twitter X, whatever you want to call it, at
the film folk.
And yeah, thanks for joining us today.
All right.
Thanks everybody.
(01:00:05):
Thanks.
Bye.
Bye.
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