Management companies up and down the Sunset Strip have gone quiet as the SAG-AFTRA strike continues into its fourth month. For only the second time in U.S. history, both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA striked at the same time, leaving agencies, management companies, costume designers and caterers in Hollywood without work. Though the writers’ strike has since concluded, the industry is still in flux.
While media outlets were quick to jump on coverage of what actors and writers were doing while they were out of work, many were left wondering who else might have been affected by these recent strikes, and in what ways. What of the agencies, management companies, costume designers, caterers and more that also lost much of their livelihoods as a result of these negotiations?
Assistants and managers at MGMT Entertainment described how the once bustling office sometimes looks like a ghost town on certain days of the week, as employees cope with working from home, reduced hours and pay and a complete hold on activity for their clients. Valentina Velazquez, assistant to MGMT senior manager Courtney Kivowitz, found similarities between the strike and the effects of COVID-19.
“With the cut days and cut hours, with everybody working from home, whatever culture was there has severely decreased,” Velaquez said. “We still have our Thursday team lunches, and if a bunch of managers have meetings they’ll still come in. Like the other day, all the partners were in for the first time, so it was a little higher in energy for better or for worse, but for the most part, it’s a lot more quiet. It’s a lot less busy just in terms of bodies in the office space and in workload.”
Lack of work for their clients and a very strict code of what actors and writers are able to do without violating the strike left management companies with few opportunities to generate business for those they represented. Leo Driessen, a former assistant to lead talent manager at MGMT Adam Isaacs, discussed how not only were projects in development immediately halted, but no new auditions or gigs could be pitched to their clients.
“I can’t do any of their scheduling because they can’t do press, so no press, no acting. They can still meet with their managers and do independent gigs – like a lot of them are going into podcasting or other things – but most productions that are SAG-affiliated,” Driessen said. “We’re not able to do much for them, which is not great, because the worst thing you want to be as a manager is ineffective.”
As a result of a halt in projects for their clients, management companies have experienced a massive loss in revenue that is suspected to impact the industry for years after the strike ends. Like many agencies and management companies, MGMT makes commissions from clients that help fund the company. However, many projects take years to complete, meaning that revenue from those projects may not be seen until years later. It also means that as a result, MGMT might be dealing with a loss of revenue years later, due to projects that were halted during the negotiations.
Mark Morikawa, a talent manager at MGMT Entertainment, discussed the efforts that MGMT has made to reduce layoffs in their company as much as possible, but it meant that many assistants experienced pay reductions and reduced hours.
“Little things like our parking passes have gone away, we’re parking on the street so we’re not paying for parking passes as well,” Morikawa said. “Our expense accounts have been shut down, so we’re not going to lunches, drinks, dinners, we’re not taking clients out to things like this. We’re not necessarily going to film festivals and premiers with clients that we would usually expense to attend with them.”
In addition to management companies, production companies have also been affected. Irelyn Wesley, a senior film and TV production major at USC, interns at Productivity Media, a financing and producing company. She has had to work in this role remotely as a result of negotiations and hasn’t been able to step foot in her company office.
“I’m currently not working in the industry now besides freelance shoots that I conduct myself, so as of now it only affects my experience with my internship and not being able to attend anything in person,” Wesley said.
Similarly, Kiana Ong, a junior majoring in public relations, experienced a shift in her internship experience, as well. Ong interns for MPRM Communications, an entertainment PR firm, where she noticed how a lack of in-person time at the office leaves her without a lot of informative experience that she hoped to gain from her internship.
“I don’t know how office life was before the strike happened, but I was informed before my interview that there might not be as many in-person event opportunities for me to go to because of the strike, so premiers, red carpets, or awards shows, or any press for TV or film,” Ong said.
The ripple effect doesn’t stop there. Loss in production has hurt many businesses that supply certain products for films and TV. Morikawa also noted just how far the effects of the strike fell.
“It’s the below-the-line folks, as well. It’s craft services, it’s hair and makeup, it’s stylists. You hear of publicity companies who are not allowed to promote their clients’ films, they’re on retainers. Clients pay them fees on a monthly basis, so if they’re not on for 5 months, that’s five months that they’re not able to make money,” Morikawa said.
“I know during a lot of the SAG strike, a lot of the publicists were meeting with SAG about ‘what can we promote? What can we not promote? What can we speak to? Can they have a magazine cover if they don’t speak about films? Can they just speak about their career as a whole?’ so in the publicity piece, they have been very much affected by it,” he added
The end of the writers’ strike two weeks ago may have signaled a revival in some industry work, but the struggles that these industries face is far from over. Though the writers may be starting work again, many of these businesses won’t be able to see much revenue – at least not until SAG-AFTRA’s terms get accepted. Justin Horowitz, assistant to manager Cora Olson, explained that one strike cannot end without the other, as no projects can begin again until both guilds are able to collaborate together
“If we just resolved the writer’s strike, there would be some money that comes in for writing stuff, but not in large amounts because there are no actors attached, so there’s no real monetary value there yet,” Horowitz said.
Even then, managers and assistants alike understand that even with both strikes eventually being settled, strike negotiations of the terms of the agreement will likely span another few months. Despite the wait, Morikawa and Velazquez are hopeful for what lies ahead.
Morikawa also used this experience to prepare for the future. He urges those involved in the entertainment industry to be mindful of how the industry rapidly changes and “to try and stay on top of it as much as possible and adapt to the changing environment, but no one is 100% sure about how it’s going to be affected.”
Editors’ note: The author of this article is a coverage intern for MGMT Entertainment.