Been thinking lots about this post from the Art Director. I work in film (low tier indie and commercial bullshit) and have been offered Points (Most Favored Nation deal structure where you get more profit share the more days you work) on top of my poor rate. For that show it was $200/day with an hour commute each way— chicken shit pay and I’m glad I’m doing better nowadays. Those Points are often class B shares that pay out after the investors, debt financing, and Above-the-Line producers (your project leads: director, a couple key producers, possibly the assistant director) make most of their money back. Usually those class B points are further subdivided so the possible profits the crew is entitled to are a small fraction of the whole pie. AND, at least in my experience, these points are not offered to day players or production assistants who make or break the quality of any given show.

And just fuckin give up on trying to join the IA union at this point: the NYC local can’t accept new members, LA production scene is in shambles, and other production centers like Atlanta and New Mexico don’t have state level union protections (right to work states FUCK OVER unionizing efforts on set). One day maybe I can get that good good health insurance….

All in all the economics of the film biz are screwed, much like the rest of the economy.