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At the end of a long week in February 2015, after working an overnight shift as a gaffer and lightning technician on an independent feature film, Chris Walters fell asleep as he was driving home and totaled his truck. Walters, a lifelong Los Angeles resident who joined the entertainment industry right out of high school, was exhausted from consecutive days on set that wrapped late at night or early in the morning. While he was accustomed to such long hours, Walters says, his fatigue finally caught up with him that morning on Interstate 5. Nodding off,...

It ain’t over yet.

Many in Hollywood have been breathing a big collective sigh of relief that IATSE and the studios, networks and streamers finally reached a tentative agreement this past weekend that narrowly staved off a workers’ strike that would have paralyzed production across Hollywood.

But, as we learned, not all IATSE members were thrilled with the new three-year contract, and many have taken to social media to denounce the deal and persuade members to vote no on its ratification. They say it didn’t go far enough to satisfy demands for improved working conditions, especially the long shifts crews are made to work, and did nothing to eradicate the stigma of asking for time off.

“It’s so common for your supervisors to look down on you if you ask for time off to spend with your family or take care of personal stuff,” best boy grip Bryce Milburn tells me.