Professionals behind titles like ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘The Gilded Age’ argue that self-negotiating compensation is no longer benefiting the majority of their group: “It’s hard out there.”
Though many core crafts in Hollywood have been members of organized labor organizations for decades and decades — some around a century — casting directors unionized for the first time just 19 years ago. Their vote to join two Teamsters Locals in 2005 was a watershed moment for the group responsible for scouting the next class of bankable movie and television stars and matchmaking actors and projects. In their first union contract, reached the next year, casting directors secured protections like union health and pension benefits, paid vacation days and grievance and arbitration procedures.
