Crew members of The Ellen DeGeneres Show are furious after they, allegedly, left in the dark by their bosses amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The show's stage crew claimed they haven't received any written communication about the status of their working hours and pay. Moreover, the show's producers, reportedly, hired a remote production crew for Ellen's filming at home.
According to two sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to Variety, some production executives would occasionally answer phone calls from the crew but reveal little information about their queries particularly about if and how much they would be paid. Apparently, this has been their situation for more than two weeks.
The poor communication of needed information from producers created anxiety among crew members. The sources said they are worried that they would be furloughed. If this would be the case, they would need to explore unemployment benefits.
When production executives finally reached out to them, the crew was, reportedly, told to expect a 60 percent reduction in pay, even though the show continues to air. Under normal week, The Ellen DeGeneres Show would film episodes four days a week. The show last taped their studio episodes on the week of March 9. The crew was last paid in full for the week of March 16. The following week was a planned spring break hiatus.
Warner Bros. spokesperson told Variety that the crew was paid the week of March 30th despite having no clear plans for when their production will resume. The show returned on air on April 7 with DeGeneres hosting from her home. However, only four core crew members currently work on the remote version of Ellen.
The source said it was because the show hired Key Code Media, a Burbank-based audiovisual house, to help in the technical aspects of the show. This is even though the day-time talk show has a crew with the same skills set but were instead left out of work.
According to Variety, the crew was told on April 10 to expect a reduced compensation of two, 8-hour work days per week. This is despite Ellen expanded from four shows a week to five.
Rep of the local International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union, to which the crew are affiliated, spoke with Ellen's producers about their people's concerns about the week of April 7 and have been told that the crew would continue to be paid. Warner Bros. added that the third-party hire was cleared with union reps.
"Due to social distancing requirements, technical changes in the way the show is produced had to be made to comply with city ordinances and public health protocols," said the studio spokesperson and added that no crew member lost a job in the hiring of Key Code.
Some of Ellen crew members were also, reportedly, upset that the show's executives haven't checked their employees amid the coronavirus crisis. Many of the crew members have been with Ellen DeGeneres since the show's pilot aired 17 years ago.
