Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1188730
34 C I N E M O N T A G E L A B O R M A T T E R S different policies about whether or not they will work with loan-outs. Many of these employers are expected to take a wait-and-see approach so they can see what effect legal action prompted by the bill will have when the legal dust settles. The bill's effect will not be clear for many months. Warren Evokes Labor's Past Senator Elizabeth Warren, in a speech that drew tens of thousands of support- ers to a historic site in Lower Manhattan in mid September, made one of her stron- gest appeals to female voters and labor history since announcing her bid for the White House, writes Politico. In Washington Square Park, an area f illed with the history of women-led political action against corruption, big business and labor abuse, she sought to cast her own campaign as an extension of that movement. "We're not here today because of famous arches or famous men. In fact, we're not here because of men at all," she declared to loud cheers. "We're here because of some hard-working women." Wa r r e n s t o o d b e f o r e o n e o f h e r biggest campaign crowds yet, a block from the site of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where a 1911 f ire caused by dangerous conditions in a sweatshop killed 146 people, most of t h e m fe m a l e i m m i g ra n t s. W i t h f i re spreading and emergency exits locked, scores of women leapt to their deaths on the sidewalk below. The episode became a national symbol of corporate abuse of garment workers and led to sweeping labor reforms. Warren, who has been gaining mo- mentum as the Democratic field begins to narrow, linked her own candidacy to the female-led labor movement that the Triangle disaster aroused. She singled out Frances Perkins, who witnessed the tragedy and subsequently helped organize and implement reforms, later becoming President Franklin Roosevelt's labor secretary and the first female Cab- inet member. Perkins later said the fire was "the day the New Deal was born," Warren noted. California Moves to Protect Industry Workers Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will ensure access to unemployment insurance, state disability insurance and paid family leave benefits for California residents who work in the film business and work on projects outside the state. The bill is SB 271. It was authored by California State Senator Scott Weiner a n d co - s p o n s o re d by t h e C a l i fo r n i a IATSE Council and the Entertainment Union Coalition. SB 271 resolves a long-standing prob- lem specific to residents of California who work in the motion picture and television industry on productions that shoot in other states. Until now, outdated rules were used to establish where their employment taxes would be credited. Often that was to other states. When it came time to claim their benefits, many California entertainment workers found their benef its were lower than they should have been or even nonexistent. Study Looks at Hollywood's Latinx Images A study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and Dr. Stacy Smith found that Hollywood has underrepre- sented the Latinx community when it comes to their portrayal in popular mov- ies, according to Deadline Hollywood. The comprehensive study examined the frequency of Latino characters on- screen across 1,200 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2018. It shed light on the presence — or absence of — Latinos working as directors, producers, and casting directors. Further, Smith provid- ed a qualitative analysis which looked at Latino actors and characters in 200 top films from 2017 and 2018. According to the study, these films underrepresented Latino characters. Only 4.5 percent of all 47,268 speaking or named characters across the last 12 years were Latino, as were only 3 percent of lead or co-lead actors. As the years went on, little to no change was seen. This is not in keeping with the size of the Latinx community in the real world, as 77 percent of US states and territories have a population of Latinos greater than the percentage seen in Hollywood films. T h e s t u d y w a s d o n e i n p a r t n e r - ship with the National Association of L a t i n o I n d e p e n d e n t P ro d u c e r s a n d Wise Entertainment. ■ Jeff Burman is a member of the Guild's Board of Directors.