Though many core crafts in Hollywood have been members of organized labor organizations for decades and decades — some around a century — casting directors unionized for the first time just 19 years ago. Their vote to join two Teamsters Locals in 2005 was a watershed moment for the group responsible for scouting the next class of bankable movie and television stars and matchmaking actors and projects. In their first union contract, reached the next year, casting directors secured protections like union health and pension benefits, paid vacation days and grievance and arbitration procedures.
But one typical component for a Hollywood union contract was missing from that first deal that is now having ramifications for the group, according to some members: minimum wage rates. Just like they had before they were union-represented, these freelancers negotiated their own rates in the years that followed. And now, at a moment of intense anxiety and strict cost-cutting regimens in Hollywood, that system is no longer benefiting the majority, say several members of the casting union’s negotiating team.
“There has been such a decline and a decrease in casting director salaries and the way that we have been paid. Some casting directors are making less than what they were in the late eighties and the early nineties” in real dollars (adjusted for inflation), before the group unionized, argues Teamsters Local 399 casting director and negotiating committee member Sherry Thomas, who has worked on Breaking Bad, Barry and The Righteous Gemstones.
“We were so happy [18] years ago to get a contract after a few years of needing it,” adds Teamsters Local 817 casting director and negotiating committee member Bernie Telsey (The Gilded Age, In the Heights), who was a participant in the organizing drive in the 2000s. “But we didn’t know enough at the time.”
On Monday, casting professionals will be back at the bargaining table with the aim of addressing that issue, as well as other top compensation concerns for their membership, which includes casting associates (a kind of junior casting director) and assistants (who often handle administrative and technical work). Leaders of Teamsters Locals 817 and 399, which represent a group of around 700 casting professionals based in the New York City and Los Angeles areas, have another two scheduled days to negotiate with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the bargaining representative for major studios and streamers, before their contract expires on Sept. 30.
In addition to establishing minimum wage rates for casting directors, union leaders are attempting to significantly elevate associate casting directors’ standard wages (unlike casting directors, associates have secured wage floors for episodic television which can help determine their pay for features) and establish inaugural contract language for casting assistants, who successfully unionized with the Teamsters in a National Labor Relations Board vote just last month: establishing annual wage increases and health and pension benefits are on the docket for the group. Negotiators are additionally advocating to institute protective language for casting directors so that companies can’t suddenly end their employment early. (Though the casting directors didn’t say so, THR understands this is a minimum duration of employment proposal. Some casting directors do negotiate time-related salary structures on their own.)
The recent addition of casting assistants to the union may offer something of a strategic advantage. With a new, more entry-level position added to the unionized group, labor leaders are advocating to significantly elevate associate casting director wages in order to make that group more of a middle tier. (Associates, whose minimums on TV are $26/hr, rarely can negotiate above scale wages, according to a Teamsters representative.)
The incorporation of casting assistants into the union also solidifies a less precarious career path for the field, which could help to diversify and open up a craft that will have an Oscar category for the first time starting in 2026, casting directors argue. “Prior, with assistants, there were a lot of people who had to get out of the business because it just wasn’t a sustainable option,” says casting director and negotiating committee member Rachel Tenner (Fargo, Severance, Wolfs). “With these new changes, we’re hoping to make it something real to move into.”
So far, according to the group, the negotiations have given them hope. During the initial week of talks, which took place between Aug. 26 and Aug. 30, the group made progress on reaching a consensus on issues related to casting assistants. “It does feel like they [AMPTP negotiators] already acknowledge that the assistants are a major force and deserve to have healthcare, a pension and a place at the table,” says Telsey. (Employers’ offers aren’t set in stone until a final tentative agreement is reached, he stipulates.) The group would not discuss specifics of where the parties still have differences but returned several times, conversationally, to their goal of getting casting professionals compensated in a “fair” manner and further educating employers on their responsibilities.
With just a week until their contract expires, the pressure is on for leaders to negotiate a deal that will be recommended for ratification by the Teamsters’ member committees. Like so many other craftspeople at a moment of contraction of Hollywood, some casting directors the downward pressure on their wages, say negotiators. “It’s hard out there,” says Telsey.
When asked for their plans if an agreement is not reached by Sept. 30, the group demurred, saying they are taking the talks step by step. Adds Thomas, “We know where our boundaries are, and I think we are all willing to stand firm in those boundaries. We know our worth.”