“After these basic living expenses, I have $192 left.”
NOTE: The following essay was written by an anonymous assistant. If you are an assistant who would like to submit an anonymous essay, please contact #PayUpHollywood at PayUpHollywood@gmail.com.
This essay is submitted without editing.
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I am very passionate about this topic, so I wanted to share a few things. First, a pay breakdown. Second, a conversation about the blurred lines between agents/execs and assistants. Third, a conversation about low wages contributing to the lack of diversity and the continued lack of support once POC enter the entertainment workforce.
I am an agency assistant. I wanted to share my personal story, that may also relate to many other agency assistants, from the “traditional” and very corporate side of the industry. We are not in a position to negotiate our wages. Our bosses aren’t even in a position to negotiate on our behalf. Our bosses are not allowed to forego a portion of their paychecks towards our salaries. Our wages are decided by the CEO/or the board that oversees the agency.
Before getting into the demands of my job, I wanted to share my personal budget breakdown.
I am fortunate to have subsidized healthcare provided by my company. After taxes, healthcare deductions ($240/month), and contributions to my 401k, I come home with roughly $480/week, a total of $1920 per month (this includes overtime pay which is currently capped).
Rent: $1100
Utilities: $125
Gas: $125
Car Insurance: $178
Medication: $50
Groceries: $150
After these basic living expenses, I have $192 left.
Now, as an agency assistant, aspiring to move into a development assistant position, I have some extra basic expenses (as do all Hollywood assistants in any part of the industry).
First, we are told to stay relevant and up to date on everything television and film. “You should be reading everything and watching everything.” My most economic choice to stay up to date on movies: AMC A-List at $24/month. Seriously, they’ve saved my life and my wallet. My parents pay for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Disney+. I use their cable login to watch on other online platforms.
Second, we are expected to be networking. As I look for a new job and interview for development assistant positions, I am constantly told that networking is a requirement. I have been told in multiple meetings that “you should be going out at least 2–3 times a week, meeting new people. You should be reporting back to me with new connections, finding new talent (writers/directors) to add to our roster for the future.” This potential employer acknowledged that this will be difficult, considering the fact that we don’t make a lot of money, and added “but it’s a part of the job.” I am required to do this, as a part of my job, but it is still going to come out of my pocket. This also touches on the issue that lines are blurred as far as assistants job duties go, but we will get to that later. Let’s say that I take the minimum of two meetings per week, at roughly $12 per meeting (drinks, food, tax, tip — this is a low estimate). This amounts to $96/month.
Let’s revisit the budget, with our basic living expenses and basic Hollywood assistant expenses factored in. Now, I am left with $72 for the rest of the month to put into savings.
There’s no room here for extracurriculars or emergencies. Every few months I’m going to need an oil change — at minimum — to maintain my car. Industry panels, script readings, comedy shows — all cost money. I want to go to concerts, go on vacation, visit my parents who don’t live in California, have dinners with friends, have a gym membership, maybe buy a new pair of pants. Two years ago I had a kidney infection and ran up a bill of $1200 in the emergency room. What if you’re in a car accident…and while insurance companies fight it out amongst each other, you have to pay the bills — rental car, repair deductible, medical bills — and it can take months to get reimbursed.
I don’t have as many expenses as some of my peers. I am fortunate to not have student loans thanks to many scholarships, assistantships, and the help of my parents. I have full emotional support and financial assistance from my parents. In this industry, in order to make ends meet, it’s a requirement to have outside financial support, and it shouldn’t be. I am required to have a college degree for this job. I actually have a masters’ degree. I should be paid a livable wage.
A few arguments I have heard from higher up, that make no sense:
- “This is how it’s always been.” That doesn’t mean it’s right, or was right then. Also, living costs are not how they’ve always been. They have actually tripled in the last twenty years. So again, argument invalid.
- “Low wages should push people to work harder, to get more experience in order to make that next step and make more money.” Not true.
- “If you can’t handle it, then get out. You are replaceable.” This is the exact reason employers are able to keep wages so low. If you aren’t up to the task, someone else will be.
All of this takes a huge emotional and physical toll. Sure, I can make ends meet…but I work in a billions industry…to live paycheck to paycheck. I have anxiety. I am suffocated by the number in my bank account. I spend more time worrying about money and my career than I do my own deteriorating health. Anxiety can cause a myriad of issues, including but not limited to my symptoms, poor digestion and lack of appetite (which has successfully cut my grocery budget and helped me lose weight — but not healthy), loss of hair and scalp irritations/burning, nausea, decreased immune function and increased allergies (I’ve been congested for two months straight at this point), headaches and migraines, and fatigue despite a “good nights sleep.”
I cry because I can’t afford to fly home and see my family more than twice a year — and I miss my mom. And even though they do help me, they aren’t wealthy, and can’t afford pricey plane tickets either.
Now, let’s get to the blurry lines of being an assistant.
As an agency assistant, I have discovered that everyone’s job/desk is different. There are some assistants that do the basics: answer phones, schedule meetings, send out appointments when they come in. Some people don’t do anything without their boss’ knowledge, they only do things following instructions (which sometimes includes pawning their work onto me and my office). There are some desks that do even more than I do. Some assistants are right out of college. Some assistants have 2–3 years of previous experience under their belt. Some assistants have graduate degrees. But, we all get paid the same non-negotiable rate. However, sometimes there are more responsibilities and “freedoms.” My boss and I communicate as a team when we have clients to pitch for projects. In addition, I have been given the “freedom” to pitch clients for projects that I feel fit them, on my own. I am the one who gets clients to appointments and meetings, handles rescheduling, handle when they get lost on the CBS lot, etc.
If I pitch a client for a project, send them to appointments and meetings, and they end up getting an offer — there is the line between my job and my boss’ job. My boss is the only one who can negotiate. My boss is the one that gets the commission. I did all of the leg work, my boss tied the bow, and the company reaps the benefits. But again, I should be grateful to be given this extra responsibility and freedom, because I am able to learn more than the assistants in our office whose only job is to answer phones and do what their boss tells them (for the same amount of money).
I recently learned that there are assistants, aspiring agent assistants, who have been given opportunities to negotiate deals for clients. That word “opportunity.” Now, I find it interesting, specifically considering this ATA/WGA situation, that assistants are able to negotiate deals. How are we getting away with this? By still listing an agent as the booking agent. Which means, the booking agent who has been named gets the commission, even though they were not the one who negotiated the deal. So, in this case, they quite literally are doing the job of the agent, getting paid almost minimum wage. BUT, “you should be lucky to be given this learning opportunity.”
And, the best part, since we are now paid above minimum wage, our agency has eliminated raises. No matter if you have worked here for one year, two years, four years, you still make the same amount as every other assistant. No matter if you get promoted to a coordinator, taking on more responsibility, you still make the same amount as every other assistant.
Lastly, and very importantly, we need to keep up the conversation of diversity.
I am a woman of color, who is able to be in this industry because I have support from my parents. But, they are are still a middle-class family helping me, a master’s graduate, trying to survive in Los Angeles and follow her dreams. And, I am NOT an only child. I have other siblings they are supporting as well.
There are many, many POC that aren’t even able to dream of a job in this industry because historically, they do not have the economic means to do so.
As I’ve heard through the grapevine, POC are starting to feel even more overshadowed as a result of this movement than they already do. This is a large part of the reason many are not sending their own stories, they didn’t feel they could. I do not speak for a mass but a handful of those who came to me. The question presented on the Scriptnotes podcast was to address how low wages are a barrier to diverse populations entering the business. Yes, low pay is an overarching issue, that if solved, will open up some doors for entry, but diversity in general it’s still a barrier for some of us now in the industry.
The number of times that I have been told “Oh, you’re probably in the running because they’re looking to add more diversity to their team,” is LAUGHABLE. As if my only value as a woman of color is that I am a woman and I have brown skin.
In my opinion, the industry still has this unconscious and sometimes conscious bias that people who look like them will be like them and succeed like them. White men are hired on their potential, while women, and especially people of color, must prove themselves and are held to a higher standard. I see it happen around me all the time.
Example: I was hired to the mailroom at my agency. I recommended a friend of mine for the mailroom. Our resumes are almost identical. The response was, “I just feel like {X} is so much better than just a mailroom position.” If our resumes are exactly the same, what made {X} so much better than me? I didn’t have the courage to ask that question.
Example: I was recently given the chance to pitch a television show to a panel of showrunners and executives. I was nervous, and in an attempt to make me feel better, a co-worker said, “You shouldn’t worry, you have the whole diversity thing going for you.” I asked her to elaborate, she said “I mean, you’d probably get a chance over me (white woman) even if I had an idea that was just as good or even better than yours.” I turned around and walked away.
Example: Agents continuously tell white individuals that the reason they aren’t booking projects is because “There is just no demand for caucasians in the market, every role is diverse now.” Statistically untrue.
We continue to pacify White Americans with the idea that diversity is taking their jobs. How about we say someone better than you got the job? Someone more talented? Someone more qualified?
What do we tell POC when they aren’t hired and a white man is hired instead?
We struggle to make it into the industry in the first place. And we continue to struggle. We stay assistants longer. We are the last to get promoted. We are the first to get fired. We are remembered for our mistakes, while our triumphs are forgotten. We are called upon first by the color of our skin, not by our talent and drive to succeed in this industry. And we are continuously told that we should be lucky to be considered for any position in this industry.
On the Scriptnotes podcast, they called for higher levels to find out what assistants make, and to take a stand. I can say with confidence that agents in my office could care less. Most don’t even know that this is happening! I don’t really know how to get this issue in front of them. But, I am only hoping that #PayUpHollywood gets bigger and bigger, and maybe Deadline will pick it up (I hear agents rely on them a little more heavily).
The rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.
For every one person that speaks up during this movement, there are 10 people behind them staying silent. I’m here writing from a burner email for the same reason. It’s terrifying.
There shouldn’t be an argument of “being lucky to be here.” Yes, we are lucky. Yes, we still make more money than some other people. But, the gap is what matters. We work in a billions industry. We, as assistants, pull a lot of weight in making this billions happen. We should be compensated with a livable wage.
Eventually, the best will leave this industry because fighting for a living wage gets to be too much. And Hollywood won’t care, because we are all replaceable.
