Hollywood IQ 111: Navigating the Path to Union Membership w/ DeJon Ellis Jr.

Synopsis:

In Hollywood, those who work on stagecraft positions (including costuming, lighting, editing, and production roles) typically jump from gig to gig. With such intermittent jobs, there’s no consistent employer to provide benefits like health insurance, sick pay or retirement savings. That’s where unions come in: union membership gives below-the-line workers access to health benefits and retirement savings and positions that typically provide increased wages. For crews in Hollywood, membership is key.

In this episode, Hollywood IQ host Ri-Karlo Handy talks with DeJon Ellis Jr., a career key grip and IATSE Union leader who brings more than 25 years of expertise in each role to the conversation. The pair discuss how to rise the ranks in Hollywood as a grip, the benefits of union membership, how to become a union member and union leader, and the importance of diversity in union leadership. Whether you’re looking to work on TV or film sets or aim to produce studio-quality content on YouTube, this episode lays out how to take advantage of newly-formed training programs and time-honored union benefits on offer.

Episode Highlights:

Hollywood IQ podcast Host Ri-Karlo Handy and DeJon Ellis Jr discuss:

• benefits of union membership (including becoming “gang work” eligible — which isn’t at all like what it sounds).
• how union membership helped elevates careers
• navigating the path to union leadership
• the vintage (and exclusive) title of “best boy” for second-company grips
• new and emerging training programs available that are setting much-needed standards for skills training — and where to find them
• union history (including an eye-opening conversation on segregation within unions — it didn’t happen as long ago as you’d think)
• how the music video genre in the eighties and nineties helped the Black and other POC, and women producers and filmmakers to grow in Hollywood