Drama Behind Reality TV Cameras Puts Producers on the Line

1/29/2015

Inhumanly long hours, cruelty, frayed nerves. And that’s just behind the cameras at reality shows. “It’s scary and nerve-wracking,” said Sevita Qarshi, a producer walking the line Thursday outside the Realscreen conference at the Washington Hilton. Qarshi has worked on a number of reality TV shows, and says that the working conditions for the men and women producing the popular programs are just as dramatic as those in front of the cameras. “It’s just awful,” she said, “incredibly long hours, many of them unpaid, no sick days, no health insurance, no job security and constant stress.”
photo by Chris Garlock

The target of Thursday’s picket lines, organized by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), is ITV Studios, a UK-owned television production company. The WGAE has successfully organized six major production companies and is fighting to win a contract with ITV, one of the conference sponsors, which is refusing to sign a deal with the WGAE even though the employees voted to organize four years ago. The action was part of the industry-wide campaign to organize some 2,000 writers and producers of reality and non-fiction TV programming in New York City. “Reality and nonfiction TV employees are victims of rampant wage theft, and in many cases receive no health benefits at all,” said WGAE Director of Organizing Justin Molito as picketers chanted nearby. “Unfortunately, this sort of freelance precarious labor is spreading into more and more industries.” “We get to work with a lot of great people,” said Qarshi, “but ITV wants more for less and everybody’s overworked and stressed out.” Winning a union “would mean we have rights,” she added, “it would stop the intimidation, and help us feel appreciated for our hard work.”