Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500026
38 C I N E M O N T A G E C O V E R S T O R Y producers who are becoming editors, such as Emmy nominee Laurel Ostrander." DeChambres and her colleagues want to build more awareness of the work that members do on union unscripted shows, a s w e l l a s s u p p o r t t h o s e w o r k i n g o n projects that haven't yet organized. The unionization of unscripted is an ongoing, unfinished project. Although unscripted crews have been fighting for and winning union agreements for over a decade, even many successful, long-running franchises such as "Top Chef" and "Amazing Race" are still non-union projects. Historically, this has led to some prob- lems for workers on non-union shows. Seely, the member who advocated for the formation of the unscripted group, said that as a young editor, he worked on non-union projects where the producers cut as many corners as possible, at least when it came to post. " I s u b j e c te d m y s e l f to s o m e a w f u l deals where I was working for months in a row without a single cent of overtime or 6th/7th day pay," he said. "Some of this was, for sure, naivete and being a young 20-something, but at the same time, none of these sorts of things would happen on a union show." As unscripted TV grew in prominence, more attention was paid to how the content was being made. "Reality television as we know it really came into existence in 2000 when 'Survi- vor' came on the scene," Shock said. "But 'Survivor,' for example, did not cover its editors under a union contract until 2014 when the post-team went on strike. That allowed for a lot of time when bad work habits became part of the workflow in non- union unscripted work, such as producers working on [the] Avid." Her hope, she said, is that the UWA will "help editors feel empowered in calling out these workplace violations when they occur on union shows." " I n t h e g r a n d s c h e m e o f t h i n g s , unscripted programming is pretty new, especially when it comes to union contracts and organizing," Scott added. "Early on in the production phase, scripted shows are organizing, whereas we are faced with the onus of doing it ourselves. Since we don't have writers, we're always starting a little bit behind. I think the really important part of what we're doing is giving people the confidence to be able to start having those conversations with their associates." This continuing collaboration matters, DeChambres said, because as the Guild continues to grow, "the way for the mem- bership to connect is through these smaller peer groups that we're starting to form." As for what's next, the group's found- ers hope to host an in-person event or virtual roundtable each quarter in 2023, as well as continue to add more stor y producers to the videotape agreement and potentially transition the group to an of- ficial committee for budget consideration from the Guild in 2024. "We want this to be a community where you know your worth," Shock said. ■ Kristin Marguerite Doidge is a freelance writer whose work appears frequently in CineMontage. ASSEMBLY LINE: "Survivor" didn't unionize editors until 2014. Editing work stations on one prime time unscripted union show, representing 14 editors, 16 story producers, and 2 executive producers who work remotely. P H O T O : C B S P H O T O : M A R Y D E C H A M B R E S