The Reality Behind TV Reality Shows: Workers Treated Badly

[Earth Bound Misfit]

by James Parks, Aug 18, 2008



Contestants on some of the most popular TV shows—“American Idol,” “The Price Is Right,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Million Dollar Password” and other mega-hit reality and game shows—can strike it rich in a matter of minutes. But behind the glittery sets, the writers, drivers and other workers who make the shows a success are the big losers because they are not getting what’s due them.

Many workers for FremantleMedia, the company that produces these huge reality shows, report they do not receive benefits that are standard in the entertainment industry such as overtime pay, health insurance or retirement benefits. They also say the company uses nonunion drivers who work excessive overtime without proper rest periods.

For more than a month, some 50 members of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE); Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW); Screen Actors (SAG); and the Teamsters (IBT) have traveled across country on the “American Idol Truth Tour” to let the viewing public know the reality behind the reality shows. On Aug. 19, the Truth Tour will roll into New York City and will join with hundreds of union members for a mass rally and informational picket outside FremantleMedia’s Manhattan offices.

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Among those workers is Justin Buckles, production coordinator for American Idol. He says when he was hired he was told to expect to work 12-hour days.

What I wasn’t told was that it would actually be 15-to-20 hour days, many times working seven days a week. And, when I even mentioned the possibility of getting a raise, I was threatened with losing my job, told that I was replaceable, and that I’d be blacklisted from working on any other show if I spoke out.

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While Fremantle rolls in mega profits, their writers…work through meals. They get no credits, no residuals and they don’t get overtime. Sometimes that overtime can be as much as 40 free hours a week.

Read More @: http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/08/18/the-reality-behind-tv-reality-shows-workers-treated-badly/