‘Sharknado 3’ Production Hit With Strike

A strike involving crew members working on Sharknado 3 has entered its third day, with still no sign of budging from either side.

On Tuesday, March 3, about 40 members of the crew walked off the job and began picketing The Asylum—the production company involved in making the SyFy TV movie—bringing to a halt many aspects of the production.

Citing unfair labor practices, safety concerns, and inadequate pay, the crew, backed by the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), has been pushing for the adoption of union standard benefits and payment for the work being performed. While the previous entry in the bafflingly popular Sharknado series was made in accordance to union regulation, the picketing crew members are alleging that the latest production is being made without union support. Workers involved in the strike are demanding that The Asylum give workers a union contract and all the benefits that encompasses.

“The Asylum has a long history of treating its crew poorly,” said a striking member of the Sharknado 3 crew who asked to remain nameless. “Unpaid overtime, long hours, and short turnaround.”

According to my source, this has long been a problem with The Asylum.

“The pay Production Assistants $80-100 [a day] for 16 hours of work, significantly under minimum wage,” they said. “And often they pay crews $126 [a day] for 12 hours of work, which is exactly minimum wage, and then refuse [to pay] overtime which can stretch on for hours. They also do not regularly follow laws regarding film permits and set safety, for example, fires and explosions without a fire marshal.”

While to many the payment being offered by The Asylum might seem like solid compensation, the payment structure for union crews operates a bit on a sliding scale. The amount of money allotted for crew paychecks is, by union standard, determined by the overall cost of production. Strikers are alleging that The Asylum has disregarded the “age-old union conditions and pay requirements” for a film with Sharknado 3’s budget.

“We are willing to accept lower pay and harsher conditions for truly small-budget independent films because it is a good training ground for new film crew and because sometimes art requires sacrifice. However, when a company decides to profit on the sacrifices of their crew, it is only reasonable to demand fair compensation and safe conditions,” my source said.

Among the unsafe conditions cited by strikers, allegations that crew are expected to work long hours—often carrying heavy equipment—without breaks and short turnarounds (the amount of time between wrapping one day and returning to work the next) have been levied against the production company.

“In Florida, the Art Department stayed up for 48 hours to complete a set.”

Other members of the crew and IATSE took to Twitter to express their grievances using the hashtag #strikenado to draw attention to their demands.

 

 

 

Attempts that were made to reach The Asylum and SyFy by email remained unanswered as of this writing. Indeed, they’ve remained mum throughout this ordeal, releasing only a single statement via a lawyer which appeared to mock the strikers and their grievances.

“We are happy to report that we have reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Selachimorpha, which represents the sharks in our film. We will be increasing the amount of chum at the craft services table and will no longer require our employees to sleep without moving.”

Despite the apparent lack of concern for the strikers and their demands, my source contends that the mood on the picket line is good.

“Everyone is upbeat. We all feel like we are doing the right thing by standing with our Union brothers and sisters. The [other] Unions have all been supportive.”

While several industry insiders have speculated that this strike might affect the planned July release date, my source confirms that the crew is eager to return to work “as soon as The Asylum is willing to talk with the union reps and stop releasing press statements written by their lawyers making fun of unionization and worker’s rights.”

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