How will California’s $15 minimum wage hike impact aspiring actors?
$15 dollar minimum wage has officially been approved for the state of California and it has many people wondering what kind of impact it will have on the film industry.
According to the Department of Labor, the benefits of increasing the minimum wage include “higher wages sharply reduce employee turnover which can reduce employment and training costs.” And, “Minimum wage increases have little to no negative effect on employment as shown in independent studies from economists across the country.”
But, many people in Los Angeles are not confident that the minimum wage hike will be beneficial to the film industry.
According to a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, many filmmakers and economists believe that productions will not be impacted by the wage hike but, aspiring actors will find it a lot tougher to find jobs until they get “discovered.” From THR:
What will happen is you’ll have a smaller pool of waiters/wannabe actors to draw from.”
“Hollywood isn’t a low-wage industry,” says Economist Christopher Thornberg. “It’s an industry that has a lot of income and pretty good margins. What will happen is you’ll have a smaller pool of waiters/wannabe actors to draw from.”
In addition, many filmmaking professionals believe the increase in the minimum wage will be passed on to consumers making the price for tradition consumer good and production workers more expensive.
“Your standard person is going to end up paying more for your food, for the clothes you buy,” Thornberg argues. “A lot of the costs get passed through to the consumer. It will make living in Los Angeles a more expensive proposition.”
It will make living in Los Angeles a more expensive proposition.”
It’s reasonable to believe that more productions will be headed to states like Georgia who currently enforce the Federal minimum wage of only $7.25 and provide film tax credits of up to 30%.
By moving to Georgia producers can essentially save over 80% of the production costs when it comes to hiring background extras.
Source: THR
