IATSE, Low Budget Film Producers Form Working Group to Combat Harassment and Abuse on Set

Rebecca Sun
·3 min read
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Last month, Anita Hill’s Hollywood Commission released the sobering findings from its most recent survey into workplace abuse: Most of the 5,000-plus respondents said that they were now better informed on how to identify misconduct, but they had little faith in employers’ and the industry’s ability to address the behavior.

At the time, Hill told The Hollywood Reporter that the report was only the first step in the journey of systemic change and that raising awareness of where people in the industry stand could lead to the reform or creation of policies and procedures to resolve what is lacking.

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Now, two organizations have taken the first action as a result of the Commission’s survey: IATSE and the low budget film producers with whom the union negotiates for its Low Budget Agreement have formed a subcommittee focused on protecting workers on set. Specifically, the working group is tasked with figuring out how to implement the Hollywood Commission’s Respect on Set program, a set of resources specifically tailored to protect workers on low budget productions, which the survey found experience more abuse than their major-studio counterparts, yet make fewer formal complaints. Half of such workers said that they don’t know how to report misconduct on independent productions, while the remainder said they haven’t reported because they don’t believe anything will be done.

“It is very significant that the producers and IATSE have added this plank to their agreement: Employers have recognized their obligations toward providing a workplace free of harassment and abuse, and the Hollywood Commission ins here to help them with a program that offers a good suite of resources,” Hill said in a statement. “Workers and executives alike routinely tell us that there is a need for an independent reporting system specifically designed for low-budget productions, which have lacked the infrastructure to maintain robust enforcement protocols. Respect on Set fills that void.”

Among Respect on Set’s offerings are a code of conduct, training materials as well as a mechanism for reporting to a third party. The Hollywood Commission says its program is intended to be a “turnkey solution” for low budget productions, which are defined as films made for less than $15 million.

“We want our sets to be free from sexual harassment and abusive conduct,” said INDIE Coalition founding members Monica Levinson, Bart Rosenblatt and Jeanette Volturno, speaking on behalf of independent producers. “The independent community doesn’t have the HR resources of the studio system, so we are thrilled to collaborate on this endeavor. We thank the Hollywood Commission for their leadership and assistance in this area, welcome input from IATSE workers and the community on how we can all best achieve our shared goal, and we look forward to exploring how Respect on Set can continue to assist in this area.”

The provision to create the subcommittee was written into the last Low Budget Agreement, ratified last spring. Chaired by Hollywood Commission executive director Malia Arrington, the working group is meeting now and its recommendations on how to implement Respect on Set and other worker protection protocols are expected to be part of the 2025 LBA. Levinson, Rosenblatt and Volturno are also members of the subcommittee, as are IATSE vice presidents Mike Miller and Vanessa Holtgrewe, international representatives Marisa Shipley and Jamie Fry and IATSE West Coast associate counsel Jacob J. White.

Currently, the LBA requires employers to provide multiple methods for reporting misconduct. Calls to IATSE’s on-set safety hotline (844-IA-AWARE) or other reports to the union are not considered to be reports to the employer unless the union makes the employer aware of the complaint.

“We applaud the steps taken by low budget producers who, understandably, want their sets to be free from sexual harassment and abusive conduct,” IATSE international president Matthew D. Loeb said in a statement. “This collaboration will help ensure we meet that goal through our collective effort.”

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