More from Gary Baum
‘Priscilla’ L.A. Premiere Moves Amid Venue’s Union Dispute (Exclusive)
Priscilla’s L.A. premiere on Monday has been derailed by an ongoing IATSE contract dispute with the American Legion Theater in Hollywood. Distributor A24 confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that it decided on Friday to move to another, yet-to-be-announced location after becoming aware of the labor fight Thursday night. THR published an in-depth examination of the […]
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How a Sexual Misconduct Scandal and Allegations of Corruption Sparked a Civil War at the American Legion Theater
This year, the head of American Legion Post 43, the nearly century-old private club for military veterans in Hollywood, faced a secret probe into his alleged misconduct. An employee at the organization’s theater, which is rented out for events, had accused him of putting his arm around her neck at the end of a night […]
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Unmasking the AMPTP: Hollywood Labor’s Opaque Nemesis
On Sept. 8, more than four months into a historic Hollywood labor battle, the Writers Guild of America turned a klieg light on its adversary, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Citing behind-the-scenes conversations the union’s leaders were allegedly having with unidentified legacy studio executives, its negotiating committee said in a bulletin to […]
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AMPTP Hires New Crisis PR Firm as Strikes Go On
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has hired a prominent Washington, D.C.-based crisis management firm to assist its messaging effort as the double actors and writers strike grinds on with no end in sight. The studios’ trade association has been under an unprecedented national spotlight in its four-decade history as the work stoppages […]
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More Allegations of Picket-Busting at NBCUniversal Campus
It’s happening again. The NBCUniversal campus, already a flashpoint for Hollywood’s ongoing labor unrest, as the writers and actors guilds have alleged picket-busting, is now the site of a new strike controversy. This time, Unite Here Local 11, the Southern California hospitality union that’s also currently staging walkouts, is claiming that the Sheraton Universal is […]
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The Insiders’ Insider: Hollywood’s Go-To Wine Cellar Consultant
“You are part private banker, part art curator, part psychiatrist,” explains Jeff Smith, Hollywood’s go-to wine cellar consigliere, of his job. “Sometimes you’re hosting private dinners for your clients; sometimes you go in through the back door.” Smith, 63, grew up in Beverly Hills and now lives in Bel Air, a short stroll from the […]
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Hollywood Food Insecurity Spikes Amid Strikes
The entertainment industry’s most vulnerable workers are increasingly unable to feed themselves amid a historic double strike with no clear end in sight, according to non-profits tasked with addressing the food insecurity crisis. They describe Hollywood’s ongoing work stoppage — prompted by the contractual impasse between the writing and acting guilds on one side and […]
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NBCUniversal Partially Restores Sidewalk for Writers Guild, SAG-AFTRA Picketers
Two weeks after the Writers Guild of America and performers organization SAG-AFTRA filed mirror National Labor Relations Board grievances against NBCUniversal, claiming the studio had infringed on their members’ right to picket — as well as their safety — by obstructing the public sidewalk in front of their studio lot, the company has restored partial […]
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After Unions’ Legal Threat, Radford Studio Center Allows Picketing at Main Entrance
One day after The Hollywood Reporter published an examination of a private equity giant’s obstinacy about picketing at its studio lot amid the ongoing actors and writers strike, the company has relented, according to a protest leader. “We have won a huge victory in the battle of Radford because of the article that came out […]
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Writers Guild, SAG-AFTRA Threaten Legal Action Over Radford Picketing Conditions
A week after filing National Labor Relations Board grievances against NBCUniversal, the two striking Hollywood unions are reaching their limit at another picketing location 3 miles west in the San Fernando Valley: Radford Studio Center. The Writers Guild of America, now on the cusp of marking its third month on strike against the Alliance of […]
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AOC Strike Q&A: CEOs Can’t “Cry Poverty,” Greed Will “Erode” Brands
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a New York City picket line in front of Netflix’s Union Square offices on Monday as the Writers Guild nears three months on strike and SAG-AFTRA enters its second week of a work stoppage. Both unions are protesting what they see as the rapaciousness and intransigence of the Alliance of Motion […]
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Tree-Trimming or Picket-Busting? L.A. City Auditor Investigates
The boundary of NBCUniversal’s lot is now a flashpoint for the on-the-ground mistrust of Hollywood’s double strike. On July 18, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA filed mirrored complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging NBCUniversal had engaged in “illegal conduct” by having picketers march along blocks of Lankershim Blvd. sidewalk on the west end of […]
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