“Controversy arises as ‘Rust’ California Safety Bill is met with opposition from some crew members who deem it an ‘Unnecessary Overreach’”

While top entertainment unions have publicly spoken out in favor of a California-enacted safety law inspired by the tragedy Rusta vocal group of crew members pushes back the proposal, claiming the legislation goes too far.

On Monday, the special effects advocacy group The Alliance of Special Effects & Pyrotechnic Operators (ASEPO) sent a strongly worded letter expressing the group’s “strong opposition” to SB 735, a bill that proposes further regulating on-set firearms and launching a safety pilot program for a number of productions in the state. The board of directors of IATSE Local 44 – the local union representing special effects professionals, including many members of ASEPO, as well as real estate masters, construction coordinators and decorators – last week overwhelmingly passed a motion to write a letter of objection to the bill, introduced by Senator Dave Cortese. There was an amendment to the motion at the time, and the language and status of the letter is still in limbo, according to insiders.

Outside a Local 44 meeting on Saturday, ASEPO staged a letter writing campaign that saw union members sign hundreds of notices of protest against the bill, according to sources present. The letters were addressed to the California Senate Standing Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Pension, which is chaired by Cortese and considered the bill Wednesday. “Please vote NO to protect our industry from unnecessary overload and the California economy from runaway manufacturing,” the letters read.

ASEPO – a coalition of special effects workers and vendors – is keen to show that while major industry associations, including the Directors Guild of America and the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600), have supported the bill, not all workers are in favor . Cortese’s office had no comment when she was reached THRbut was referring to a statement Wednesday calling the bill “pioneering legislation to protect the health and safety of television and film workers.”

ASEPO specifically has difficulty involving the state government in the industry’s pre-existing safety process and the impact the bill could have on California manufacturing.

In their letter, group leaders, including President Jesse Noel (special effects coordinator at Black Panther And Bumblebee) and vice president JD Streett (special effects supervisor on The old man) criticize the bill’s suggestion that some of the industry non-binding safety advisories be codified into law (the letter erroneously states that all 70 safety recommendations would be included in law if the bill passed; only two focusing on firearms and ammunition would, under the current language of the bill). “This is problematic because if changes are made to the security bulletins, they become de facto changes to the law,” the letter said. “The Field Safety Bulletins are purposely referred to as ‘Recommendations’, ‘Recommended Practices’ and ‘Guidelines’ because we recognize that they cannot possibly describe every situation and must allow for reasonable choices.”

ASEPO also raises the specter of “runaway production” (movies and television shows leaving California for other states) if the bill passes into law. The group argues that the bill’s requirement that titles participating in the California film and TV tax credit program hire “safety consultants” in a pilot program would create “financial or logistical burdens (which) send more shows out of the state,” such as having to hire what the group estimates to be “thousands” of qualified safety consultants if the pilot program is expanded.

The industry’s current safety program is self-regulated: productions adhere to a set of recommendations developed by a committee of labor and management representatives. That program “has evolved over the past 40 years into a really rigorous and comprehensive program that has been incredibly successful and made California the safest (state) to make movies,” argues ASEPO Secretary and Visual Effects Supervisor and Coordinator Clark James (It’s always sunny in Philadelphia, Danger Force). “This bill does not recognize that.”

Adds ASEPO Vice President and Local 44 member Streett, speaking for himself and not any organization: “The bill was not written by anyone who knows the film industry and it is clunky at best. And I’m afraid it will drive business out of Southern California.”

Like ASEPO, Local 44’s board of directors was concerned about the potential to add further bureaucracy and cost to production in the state, say sources present at the meeting where they discussed a potential letter of opposition. (Local 44 did not return a request for comment.) This awkwardly puts the union’s board of directors at odds with the California IATSE Council, a coalition of 18 local unions across the state, which is sponsoring the bill. When asked for comment, a representative from the California IATSE Board referred THR to the Entertainment Union Coalition statement on Wednesday, after the proposed legislation passed through the Senate Labor Committee. In his remarks, EUC President Thom Davis noted that member unions worked closely with Senator Cortese to tighten the bill, adding that “the safety advisory/risk assessment has always been our goal.”

Despite this opposition, SB 735 still has a good chance of getting to the governor. After the MPA and several unions reached a tentative agreement earlier this month on the language of the bill and it was passed by the labor committee on Wednesday, it will make its way to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The MPA has remained neutral on the bill, with Melissa Patack, vice president of the state government, stating at the committee hearing on Wednesday that “there are still some issues that need to be addressed, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration.” to put.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on April 14, Cortese called the bill’s chances “excellent” and said the governor’s office had “no objections” to the proposal.