Local film industry eager to get back to work as strike ends

Nov. 9—Marc Sotkin remembers when DVDs replaced VHS tapes, a technological advance that Hollywood moviemakers at the time characterized as a passing fancy.

Although the Screen Actors Guild called an end to its 118-day strike on Wednesday — a strike largely driven by disagreements about how to share revenue generated by the streaming platforms that are now the main way many Americans consume TV and movies — Sotkin's memories of Hollywood's past don't give the Santa Fe television producer much hope that there won't be another strike as technology advances.

A producer of beloved TV series such as The Golden Girls and Laverne and Shirley, Sotkin recalls the days when Hollywood studios also downplayed the the evolution to VHS, a move that then nearly rallied writers and actors to strike.

"At the time, the studio said, 'There's no money in videotape.' Six months later, everyone had a VCR and were renting movies," Sotkin said. "So that was the last time we were fooled. Then they said, 'There's no money in DVDs.' "

Since joining the Writers Guild of America in 1976 and the Screen Actors Guild two years later, Sotkin has weathered nine strikes and has spent nearly two years without pay over the course of his career to demand fair wages and better contract terms.

"The strikes happen whenever there is a big technological change," Sotkin said. "When the internet happened, they said, 'There's not going to be any money in the internet.' The writers said, 'Well, if there's not going to be any money in the internet, then let us have all the internet money.' They didn't go for that."

Although actors don't yet know the terms of the tentative settlement between the actors' union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Santa Fe Film Commissioner Jennifer LaBar-Tapia said industry professionals are eager to get back to work.

Some smaller productions had still been underway, she said, and one feature-length film, whose producers acquired a waiver from the union, has been in preproduction for several weeks in Santa Fe. LaBar-Tapia said after union writers held out for 148 days, it was only a matter of time before the producers had to negotiate with the actors.

"When the [writers' guild] negotiated, it opened up the floodgates that we knew would be coming," she said, adding that when the writers' strike ended, eight productions immediately went into preproduction.

"AMC picked up Season 3 for Dark Winds, and they're ramping up preproduction now," she said. "They're getting things ready. And a major studio will be here for six to seven months pretty soon. I'm super excited for all the folks in the industry and the supporting businesses this has affected. I'm super excited for our local New Mexico crews and business that will be getting back to work."

Faith Hibbs-Clark, a casting director and acting coach who trains talent in New Mexico and Arizona, said her clients used their time off during the strike to perfect marketing materials and continued with classes.

"This has affected many actors in this market," said Hibbs-Clark. "I think everyone is excited about getting back to being on set and doing what they love doing. It's also really important for the economy here in New Mexico. That affects everyone, not just the actors."

In July 2022, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that film, television and digital media impacted New Mexico's economy by $855.4 million in fiscal year 2022, an increase of 36% over fiscal year 2021.

Bruce Krasnow, a spokesman for the state Economic Development Department, said his office has not yet conducted an analysis on lost spending due to the strikes or their impact on the state economy.

"That type of microdata is really hard to track because of the overlap," Krasnow said. "If you are a carpenter or electrician that works on sets, for instance, you may have shifted to do something else — homebuilding has been really strong over the past summer, for instance. If you did transportation work for a production, maybe you picked up extra Uber shifts. ... it's a marble cake."

New Mexico Film Office Director Amber Dodson said her staff is thrilled.

"Our pipeline of projects indicates a very busy stretch ahead," Dobson wrote in an email, adding that announcements about upcoming productions will come soon. "We are especially pleased for the film workforce and the hundreds of small businesses and industry vendors throughout New Mexico who may now see a resumption of industry spending in time for the holidays."