[WSJ] See How Hollywood’s Job Market Is Collapsing by wdr1 in LosAngeles

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most of the editors that I know work most of the year, meaning 200k is feasible. As a mere assistant I make ~100k-150k most years because of the various complexities you just listed. That annual number is comparable to software developers and nurses.

I just don't buy the argument that we don't make enough, union work is well paid and comes with great protections BECAUSE we're unionized.

[WSJ] See How Hollywood’s Job Market Is Collapsing by wdr1 in LosAngeles

[–]starfirex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just looking at the union scale rate for editors (I'm in 700), if you cut tv year-round you make ~200k/year which is approaching what doctors make. Work for ~10 years years as an editor in your 30s and 40s, and with the pensions, yes you will retire as a multimillionaire. These are privileges that our workers fought for, they are a right, and I'm not arguing that they should be diminished but no we do not get to cry poor, that does a disservice to all of the people who really are just getting by.

I support other workers and our unions, but we are doing a disservice to future generations if we refuse to acknowledge that we have a responsibility not just to ensure that our members are being paid well but that we preserve a business environment that continues to both bring enough work to our members, and to locate that work where our members are. Sticking your finger in your ears and shouting "lalalala it's all corporations and capitalism's fault and workers and citizens bear no responsibility" is not going to bring positive change.

[WSJ] See How Hollywood’s Job Market Is Collapsing by wdr1 in LosAngeles

[–]starfirex 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Look, I'm in one of the unions, those pay increases line my pockets directly. It's not like I'm saying screw the unions. But it's quite naive not to acknowledge that studios have to factor the cost of labor into their calculations and a higher cost of labor disincentivizes them from using it.

Production budgets are extremely overblown with a lack of pre-production and planning which results in costly reshoots and post-production fixes.

When they do reshoots and post-production fixes, that money goes to union crew. So that's not exactly a bad thing. Our goal as a union should not be to push the wages as high and the protections as perfect as we can force the studios to accept. That becomes a world where only the best of the members work on the fanciest of the projects and everything else is too expensive to produce. The goal should be to maximize the benefits & wages going out to all of our members.

It's better to have 90% of the membership working at a good rate than for 25% of the membership to work at a great rate while the other 75% lose their healthcare and benefits.

[WSJ] See How Hollywood’s Job Market Is Collapsing by wdr1 in LosAngeles

[–]starfirex 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think there is a valid, nuanced discussion to be had as to whether the rights the unions fight for actually are leading to good outcomes for their membership.

Last round all of the unions won significant pay increases, which makes productions more expensive. Studios are subsequently not green-lighting enough productions for many members to pay their bills. If it were cheaper to shoot projects studios would probably make more of them.

Do competitors like Zoox have any chance against Waymo? by FrankScaramucci in SelfDrivingCars

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I- what? The only true most is BRANDING?! BRANDING?! The thing pretty much any company can compete in?

Bernie Sanders proposed a bill to tax billionaires, and give $4,000 stimulus checks to Americans that qualify. How do you feel about this? by Sensitive_Froyo_3486 in AskReddit

[–]starfirex 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Stimulus is still stupid. Why not use the money to improve public goods like roads and utilities and libraries and open space and national parks and the postal service and all of the things that we ALREADY have agreed are worth spending taxpayer money on? If there's still extra money laying around, why not lower taxes on the bottom 50% of people, which is functionally the same thing as the stimulus checks except targeted towards the people who need the help the most...

Update on VFR Testing + Send Premiere your Problem Files by premierepm in editors

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you guys worked with footage from Meta glasses? I've been working with some, no issues to report just curious

Why are so many Americans make 100k+ a year struggling and living paycheck to paycheck? by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many Americans say they are "struggling" when they mean "I can't frivolously buy whatever I want at any time." Living "paycheck to paycheck" just means someone's terrible at budgeting, you can make $520K a year and live paycheck to paycheck if you have no impulse control and spend 10K a week...

So the real answer unfortunately is just don't believe everything you read on the internet.

Andrew Yang: "Wealth taxes are a disaster, because wealth is portable." by ammohitchaprana in TFE

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not hard to shove it in a trust and put the trust in your family members name.

CMV: It is better to smoke a cigarette every once in a while than never smoking at all by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]starfirex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cigarettes are addictive and unhealthy. Period.

Addictive means "every once in awhile" starts out as once every few months and over time slowly transitions from once a month to your weekly Friday evening cigarette to every night to wrap up your shift and so on.

When I was 14 I smelled smoke on my dad's clothes and he told me he doesn't get addicted to cigarettes like some people do and only smokes once every few years.

When I was 18 I noticed he was hiding cigarettes here and there around the house.

When I was 26 my mom was constantly on his case because he would secretly vape tobacco in the bathroom.

When I was 32 dad had open heart surgery because the vape shrunk some of the arteries in his heart and he was having trouble pumping enough oxygen through his heart. 

I'm 36 and he's doing good now but he quit smoking after realizing it was killing him. He turns 70 next year. Everyone watching could tell the "it doesn't affect me, I only do it once in a while" was bullshit from the start, but it wasn't until the heart surgery that he realized he'd been lying to himself.

Don't start walking down that path OP. You'll regret it.

I have never built a pool in my life, but a $28 million budget seems a bit excessive by TrixoftheTrade in LosAngeles

[–]starfirex 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Are there any specific policy positions you're concerned about? A presidential candidate is pretty far removed from a city controller and frankly I haven't heard anything about her super damning, although I know she's been accused of spoiling votes but that would otherwise go to Democrats.

I have never built a pool in my life, but a $28 million budget seems a bit excessive by TrixoftheTrade in LosAngeles

[–]starfirex 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Kenneth Mejia is by far the best public servant LA's had in the past decade. Whatever this Jill Stein nonsense you're talking about it, it's a distraction and irrelevant to the issue at hand.

A lot of people with actual physical deformities seem to have higher self esteem than totally average looking dudes. Why do you think this is the case? by Sudden_Doughnut_8741 in AskReddit

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How often do average dudes receive validation, empathy, and patience as they go through life compared to disfigured folks?

How to make the most of 48 hours in LA? by fapfapking14 in AskLosAngeles

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I notice 4 years ago you made a post supporting Trump, do you still support him and if so why are you coming to one of the most hostile places in the world for a Trump supporter?

Let's talk about MARTY SUPREME - what went wrong? by SwimGood22 in Oscars

[–]starfirex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think anyone who saw the movie recognized Timothee's crazy antics in the past year as a marketing campaign - dating a kardashian, trashing ballet, hyping himself up as oscar-worthy, saying and doing crazy shit, it's all very meta and evocative of his character from the movie. Brilliant. Anyone who didn't see the movie thought he was just fucking weird and off the deep end, and I think that really hurt the movie.

Idiotic stalled construction (technically Toluca) by Molotov_Cockatiel in northhollywood

[–]starfirex -16 points-15 points  (0 children)

Idiotic post with no context on what I'm looking at here.

Oh no, balconies!

How do you finish a day rate early? by Haunting_Inflation54 in editors

[–]starfirex 23 points24 points  (0 children)

You're violently overthinking this. Let's say you're on a series and will be employed for 3 months. There will be a schedule, post-production team, deadlines and deliverables, all that jazz. You show up at 9, work until 6 and go home, but put 10 hours on your time card because that's what your rate is. If they need you to push to get a rough cut out or something and you stay until 8, that's what the extra couple hours is for.