By Peter Caranicas Nov 17, 2007, 3:36 GMT
Industry trade Below the Line contacted three of the most prominent camera rental houses in Los Angeles equipment to gauge the impact of the WGA strike on their business. Here’s what they told us.
Members of the Writer's Guild of America West picket in front of Sony Entertainment in Culver City, California, USA on 08 November 2007. Writer's Guild of America members have been on strike since Monday and are demanding a greater portion of profits derived from DVD and internet sales. EPA/SEAN MASTERSON
DENNY CLAIRMONT/CLAIRMONT CAMERA
Will the strike cause you to lay people off?
We have no intention to do so now, but that could change at any time.
What’s your timetable?
By the end of December we’ll need to see what we’re going to do with employees. I can’t see how I would let people go at this time. My people have families, holidays, medical plans. But right now I’m playing by the seat of my pants.
What’s happening in your Albuquerque office?
We have two TV shows there. Breaking Bad will be returning equipment in late December and shutting down. In Plain Sight has informed us they will be returning equipment but has not yet given us a date.
How long do you think the strike will last?
There’s no way of knowing. Everyone has a theory. My best guess would be the end of January, but it could go on much longer.
What’s your advice to the two sides?
Settle as soon as possible so we can all go back to work.
OTTO NEMENZ AND FRITZ HEINZLE/OTTO NEMENZ INTERNATIONAL
Are all sectors of your business affected?
Commercials will continue to do well. They always do over the January/February time frame. But TV will die. I don’t know about movies.
What measures have you taken?
We’ve cut out most overtime. We’re taking a watch-and-see attitude. I’m willing to let this thing go through the holidays, then we’ll see how much work there is out there and we’ll do we have to do.
Has any equipment been returned yet?
Any equipment we get back from TV series will end up helping out with a shortage of equipment for low-budget features and commercials.
How will the economy be affected?
The strike is hurting not only strikers but also the rest of the industry and the whole economy. There could be tremendous losses in cars, appliances, real estate—and especially in retail right before the holidays.
Get back to the table and make it work. It won’t be pretty going into the season with no paychecks and no jobs.
RUFUS BURNHAM/CAMERA HOUSE
How has the strike affected you?
It has been absolute devastating. After two years of heavy investments in new technology, this strike could destroy us. We had already let go 20 percent of our staff go since last summer in anticipation of a slowdown after we had just begun to recover from the 2000 de facto strike. This is damaging to everybody.
How many below-the-line workers do you think will lose jobs?
I believe that for every working writer, there are 200 below-the-line people affected by the WGA action. I’m praying for a resolution soon. Thousands of people working for vendors are also at the mercy of this strike.
The full article will appear in the next issue of Below the Line www.btlnews.com , hitting the street Monday November 19.
Columnist Mark London Williams and veteran reporter Jack Egan regularly update on the writers strike on "Blog the Line" on the BTL website.
Peter Caranicas is the editor-in-chief of "Below the Line," a newspaper for craftspeople working in the of the entertainment industry. Caranicas was previously publisher and editor of Film & Video magazine and development director of ShowBiz Expo.
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