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LOS ANGELES: Hollywood writers on Wednesday launched a protest against US television’s No. 1 show, “American Idol”, claiming the Fox Network talent contest underpays workers and subjects them to sweatshop conditions.
The move by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) underscores a long simmering feud between the trade union and producers of many reality TV programmes, which unlike scripted dramas and comedies are not covered by WGA contracts.
The WGA claims that the companies making “Idol” and similar shows force workers to toil nearly round the clock without overtime pay or benefits, in violation of California labour laws.
Since 2005, the union has sought to represent reality show employees such as production assistants and editors, arguing that the work they do in creating scenarios and outlines for the shows is tantamount to a form of writing.
“All these shows, they’re well-structured,” said David Weiss, vice president of the WGA West.
“You can’t sit through an hour of television that is the result of random footage being strung together.”
The “American Idol” protest began the day before the programme launched its summer audition tour in San Francisco to find contestants for the next edition of the smash hit singing competition.
In general, industry executives have long denied that reality TV show workers act as writers, because they do not pen conventional scripts or dialogue.
The WGA protest bus on Wednesday travelled from Los Angeles to San Francisco, where participants planned to set up an alternative show to steal attention from the audition.
Justin Buckles, 29, a former production assistant on “Idol”, joined the bus tour.
Buckles said that when he worked on the show he brought scripts to host Ryan Seacrest as part of a workday that often lasted 15 to 20 hours.
“You need to stand up for yourself, and that’s what I’m doing at this point,” Buckles said.
Weiss said workers like Buckles are grossly underpaid when calculating unpaid overtime.
“Some of these guys, when you average it out, are making like US$4.50 an hour,” he said.
In April, a dozen former workers from “Idol” and other reality shows filed complaints with the California Division of Labour Standards Enforcement, seeking US$500,000 in unpaid overtime and labour penalties.
“Idol” ranks as the most watched American television show and has propelled Fox to first place in network prime-time ratings.
This past season, the show averaged about 28 million US viewers per broadcast and was seen in various countries around the world.
- CNA/jk
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