8/9/2023 0 Comments Beyond compare key 4![]() ![]() In the case of a lighting technician who worked on a recent Netflix original, she and her team were called out for two additional days of preparation and set-up, both of which were left off the books and unpaid, as was the hour they spent packing up equipment after each shoot. “This idea that they don’t need to pay workers for any work done before the actual filming begins is a long-standing practice here,” said Kim, the union president. One common practice is to count only the time the camera is rolling. Many production companies skirt the law by arbitrarily setting their own rules for what counts as “work” on sets. “We only had four full-time producers doing everything from managing staff contracts to running shoots.” “One person is expected to handle the workload of multiple people,” she said. She described Korean productions as chronically understaffed. “I’d say I worked somewhere between 90 to 100 hours a week.” “I was paid around $3,400 a month at the time,” said the producer. This amounted to hundreds of hours of illegal overtime - all unpaid. It’s a common arrangement used to squeeze workers.Ĭertain tasks, like prep days when film crews were off but producers were called into the office, were strategically excluded from the count. In the case of one midcareer freelance producer on a recent Netflix original series, the production company paid her a flat monthly wage that was understood to preemptively cover the maximum 52-hour workweek. The popularity of “Squid Game” is inseparable from South Korea’s very real crisis of mounting household debt, gaping inequality and a weak social safety net.įearing retaliation from the production companies, many of those interviewed for this story spoke on condition that their names not be published. World & Nation The seedy world of private lending in ‘Squid Game’ is a real temptation in South Korea The labor problems then largely stemmed from the fact that South Korean television dramas aired twice a week, often on back-to-back days. When Netflix launched in South Korea in 2016, workers and labor activists hoped that the global streamer, accustomed to stricter labor standards negotiated by Hollywood’s unions, would be an uplifting force in an industry notorious for abysmal working conditions. “These standards meet or exceed Korean law.” “We pay fair, highly competitive rates with our K-content creators and set clear standards for our Korean production partners, who produce all our shows and movies,” the company said. In a statement responding to questions from The Times, Netflix did not address specific examples but said that responsibility for the fair treatment of crew and creative workers lies with the local partners to which the streamer outsources all of its production. “There is a staggering amount of unpaid labor being done.” “It all comes down to labor costs,” said Kim Ki-young, president of the Broadcasting Staffs Union, which represents production crews. Thank you for your support.Įxplore more Subscriber Exclusive content. Times subscribers special access to our best journalism. Subscribers get exclusive access to this story ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |