A Call For Fans To Help Below the Line Workers
Believe it or not, sometimes I remember that not everyone on my flist is from LA. LA is a strange, strange town in a lot of ways. I went through a lot of culture shock when I moved here--often in ways that I hadn't expected.
One of the ways that LA is strange is that it is very much an Industry town. It seems that everyone here knows someone who works in entertainment. It's kind of inevitable.
And sometimes we pick up Industry jargon without thinking about it.
I spend a lot of time listening to NPR, and today as I was getting ready for work, NPR was airing a piece about how below the line workers have been affected by the WGA strike.
Below the line is the term used in the industry to refer to the hordes of crew members who work on sets to help make the television shows and films that almost all of us consume. The NPR interview was about a woman who had a business putting together floral arrangements for television and film productions. Before the strike, she had seven full time workers. Since the strike began, she's down to herself. Come April, she estimates, she'll no longer be able to afford the basic overhead to keep her business in existence.
When the WGA went on strike, below the line workers were affected, and unlike financially strapped members of the WGA who have some union support funds to help them out, below the line workers are pretty much out of luck.
I'd been hoping that there would be an opportunity for fandom to show its support for the folks who work in lighting, make up, hair, costume, set dressing, and all those other vital but often unthanked jobs on set--because all those people make our shows and films just as possible as the writers and actors and showrunners do and they're being hit really, really hard by the strike.
And now, gleefully gakked from cofax7, I present to you an opportunity for fandom to do exactly that.
If you're able to make a contribution between now and January 31st, you'll be entered into a drawing to win a signed script by some of the striking writers.
If you do make a donation, please be sure to type "Cash for the Crew" in the notes section so that we can keep track of how much money fandom donates.
Also, if you're so inclined, be sure to pass the word around fandom.
One of the ways that LA is strange is that it is very much an Industry town. It seems that everyone here knows someone who works in entertainment. It's kind of inevitable.
And sometimes we pick up Industry jargon without thinking about it.
I spend a lot of time listening to NPR, and today as I was getting ready for work, NPR was airing a piece about how below the line workers have been affected by the WGA strike.
Below the line is the term used in the industry to refer to the hordes of crew members who work on sets to help make the television shows and films that almost all of us consume. The NPR interview was about a woman who had a business putting together floral arrangements for television and film productions. Before the strike, she had seven full time workers. Since the strike began, she's down to herself. Come April, she estimates, she'll no longer be able to afford the basic overhead to keep her business in existence.
When the WGA went on strike, below the line workers were affected, and unlike financially strapped members of the WGA who have some union support funds to help them out, below the line workers are pretty much out of luck.
I'd been hoping that there would be an opportunity for fandom to show its support for the folks who work in lighting, make up, hair, costume, set dressing, and all those other vital but often unthanked jobs on set--because all those people make our shows and films just as possible as the writers and actors and showrunners do and they're being hit really, really hard by the strike.
And now, gleefully gakked from cofax7, I present to you an opportunity for fandom to do exactly that.
If you're able to make a contribution between now and January 31st, you'll be entered into a drawing to win a signed script by some of the striking writers.
If you do make a donation, please be sure to type "Cash for the Crew" in the notes section so that we can keep track of how much money fandom donates.
Also, if you're so inclined, be sure to pass the word around fandom.