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Teamsters cut
rates for filming
in Hawaii

The same pay scale that keeps
productions in Los Angeles could
help the isles compete for jobs
otherwise sent abroad

"Baywatch" exec plans new Hawaii show

By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin

In an effort to attract more television and film production to Hawaii, a Los Angeles-based Teamsters' local has voluntarily decided to reduce its transportation workers' pay scale about 23 percent for cable, syndicated and movie-of-the-week shows, and another union is considering a similar pay cut.

The same Teamsters rate scale is in force in Hollywood, but this is the first time it's been allowed in another area.

The contract, commonly known as the "Movie of the Week Rate," was originally designed to keep productions in Los Angeles rather than have them flee to less expensive locations like Canada, Florida and Mexico, said Leo Reed, secretary-treasurer for Local 399 in Los Angeles.

"We're doing this to help our members in Hawaii have more consistent work," he said.

It's believed Hawaii frequently loses productions because of the higher cost of filming here. The Teamsters plan hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for television producers if IATSE, the union providing as many as 50 crew members for each show, goes along with the scale. Teamsters provide as many as 25 drivers for a television production.

Al Burns, IATSE business manager, will urge union members at a meeting later this month to adapt the Teamsters' lower rate scale for special productions. In the past, IATSE has agreed to the lower rates on a show-by-show basis.

Teamsters offer three contracts to producers depending on the type and scope of the production:

Feature films provide Teamster workers with the highest wages;

Television series for primetime pay 3 percent less than the feature film agreement, and for first year there's no vacation or holiday pay.

"Movie-of-the-Week" contracts are the least expensive, and are given to non-primetime shows on cable, syndicated programs and movies of the week. The agreement allows a 15 percent discount in wages from the feature film rate and no allocations for vacation or holiday pay.

"I've always said the Teamsters are willing to bend but not bend over," Reed said.

"We believe in jobs, jobs, jobs, and we know Hawaii has been in very bad shape."

Any Hawaii-based production receiving the special rate will be evaluated at the end of each season to see whether ratings will produce more revenue for producers.

If that's the case, producers can expect "progressive increases" in the Teamsters' salary package, Reed said.

The first series likely to enjoy the new Hawaii discount is "Hawaiian Tropic Undercover," a program under development by Doug Schwartz, co-creator of "Baywatch" and several other television shows. It is slated to begin filming a video presentation here in August.

Without the lower rates, "Hawaiian Tropic Undercover" could not be filmed in Hawaii, Schwartz said.

Reed announced the new wage rates during a meeting Wednesday in Los Angeles with April Masini, a producer on "Hawaiian Tropic Undercover."

"This is incredible and absolutely precedent-setting for Hawaii," Masini said. "It will open so many doors."

Georgette Deemer, Hawaii Film Office manager, was ecstatic about the Teamster agreement.

"Costs are always the biggest obstacle in getting shows here," she said.