Hollywood crew members fight to hang on as the strikes drag on: ‘We’re the collateral damage’

Jamie McElrath, an IATSE member and scenic artist who’s out of work due to the strikes, makes candles and does card readings to get by. He instead referred to an oft-repeated quote from an anonymous studio executive who told Deadline in July, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” The AMPTP said last week that every member of the alliance is committed to “working together with the WGA to end the strike.” Bodie Hyman, a key grip, and his wife, a yoga instructor, have spent about $40,000 of their savings, mostly to pay for food and the mortgage on their Woodland Hills home, where they are raising their two children. “It’s a very expensive town to not work in and live in.” The nature of work for crew members differs from the rest of Hollywood. James Goldman, a longtime camera operator who worked on blockbusters “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” said IATSE members’ pensions are tied to the amount of residuals they make from projects. Hollywood makeup artist Geneva Nash-Morgan agreed, and said, “People don’t recognize it because we don’t negotiate at the same time, but if they can get that done, we will have a good chance of getting done what we need to get done.” Crew members also are quick to acknowledge that actors and writers have been struggling amid the largely stagnant talks.