A lighting technician is mowing lawns. A camera assistant is teaching guitar again. An actor has thought about shifting careers. For more than a decade, work had been nonstop in Atlanta's booming film industry, thanks to Georgia's extremely generous tax break. Dubbed the "Hollywood of the South," metro Atlanta became a ubiquitous backdrop for huge projects, including Marvel films and Netflix's Stranger Things. As soundstages sprouted up, the insatiable need for crews turned the city into a prime destination for both behind-the-scenes workers seeking to break into the entertainment industry and "journeymen" actors wanting a reprieve from the hustle of Los Angeles or New York. But work dried up last winter and has been at a near-standstill ever since the industry's writers went on strike in May and actors joined them in July, per the AP.
Writers reached a deal late last month, but with the actors strike still ongoing, countless Atlanta-based performers, as well as members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, are grappling for financial survival and with whether they'll even return to the industry. "I wake up every morning and I'm like, s---, I wish I could be on set right now," says Ed O'Hare, a 29-year-old set lighting technician who broke into the industry shortly after college by doing janitorial work at a local studio. O'Hare said he rose through the ranks thanks to his eagerness to learn the crafts, eventually discovering a passion for lighting. Fellow technicians quickly took him under their wing and helped him get hired on productions, including the Benicio Del Toro-led thriller Reptile, despite his lack of experience. "I've been told by multiple people that I couldn't have done that in LA or New York," he says.
Having now gone nearly five months without film work, O'Hare has been relying on a combination of savings, unemployment checks, and odd jobs he's been doing for his grandmother's neighbors, including lawn mowing and pressure washing. It's been enough for him to scrape by, though he's also considering getting a bartender job like he had in college. In the meantime, O'Hare has attended some classes hosted by IATSE, reuniting with industry colleagues as they brush up on technical skills and learn new ones, including soldering. Like his union, which has held unity rallies, O'Hare said he supports the writers and actors for fighting for what they deserve. He hopes the actors will soon reach a deal, though a recent breakdown in negotiations quelled some optimism. Even with a deal, O'Hare knows it could still be months before he's back on set.
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Despite Atlanta's large role in the industry, the local chapter of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has only about 3,700 members—less than 3% of total membership. Yet Atlanta's actors praise the sense of community and the relatively low cost of living—though affordability has taken a big hit in recent years. "I have found more community here in the city of Atlanta [over the past five years] than I had in LA in 40," actor Ethan Embry told cheering rallygoers this summer. Embry, who started as a child actor before starring in the teen rom-com Can't Hardly Wait and Netflix's Grace and Frankie, later told the AP: "It's not the same fight for survival that Los Angeles has. Everything in Los Angeles feels like a competition. Here, everything feels like you're in it together." Much more here. (More Atlanta stories.)
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