Industry & Labor

WASHINGTON — The farmworkers movement led by Cesar E. Chavez celebrated a historic victory in 1975 when California became the first state to extend collective bargaining rights to those who toiled in the fields.

Entertainment industry workers who work behind the scenes and in front of the house at some of your favorite shows and concerts held a solidarity walk in downtown Portland March 11 to mark the one-year anniversary of when the industry went dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most haven’t worked a day since.

Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto is the recipient of the 2021 Vilcek Prize in Filmmaking, the Vilcek Foundation has announced. The award is part of the Vilcek Foundation Prizes, which are bestowed in a range of categories each year, in celebration of the outstanding contributions of immigrant trailblazers, within the arts and sciences.

Could movies be losing their cultural cachet? The latest evidence: The Golden Globe Awards saw ratings plummet 62 percent in total viewers to just 6.91 million. Sure, there were extenuating circumstances: The show lacked a strong lead-in; the virtual ceremony meant the glitz was dialed way down; and because of the pandemic-forced cinema closings, most of the films never had a chance to woo moviegoers in theaters.

NEW YORK -- Organizers trying to form the first union at an Amazon warehouse are getting support from another big name: Black Lives Matter. The group plans to hold an event Saturday near the warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, making it the latest high-profile supporter of the union push, which is the biggest in Amazon's nearly 30-year history.

If Hollywood were to address racial inequities in the film and TV industry, annual revenue could rise by 7%, or about $10 billlion, according to the findings of a new study from McKinsey. The consulting firm’s research found that Black-led stories are underfunded and undervalued.

(Reuters) - A group of U.S. lawmakers visited an Amazon facility in Alabama on Friday to lend support to a growing push to unionize its workers, in what labor leaders and lawmakers called one of the most important union elections in United States history.

In advance of International Women’s Day on March 8, Netflix Head of Global TV Bela Bajaria announced that the first $5 million of a recently announced Creative Equity Fund will go towards programs that help to nurture, develop and uplift women in the entertainment industry globally.

While “Nomadland’s” Joshua James Richards and “Mank’s” Erik Messerschmidt lead the field for the cinematography Oscar race, this is a deep competition, and although there are some women contending, they are once again a minority.

BATON ROUGE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Two creative industry partners in Louisiana have received a $220,372 grant from the state. According to the state, The New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC) and the Local 478 of IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees, will share the grant from Louisiana’s new Entertainment Development Fund.

Leaders of the DGA, SAG-AFTRA and IATSE have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to work with President Joe Biden to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, saying that it will provide “much-needed relief for the current crisis and address long-standing vulnerabilities in our economy.”

IndieWire reached out to the cinematographers whose films are in awards contention and among the most critically acclaimed films of the year to find out which cameras and lenses they used and, more importantly, why these were the right tools to create the visual language of their respective films.