E! to Offer Health Coverage to Some Freelance TV Producers
After meetings with representatives of the Producers Guild of America, the cable channel E! has decided to provide health insurance benefits to freelance producers who work for at least 200 consecutive days. It also decided to make more than 100 associate producers, who previously were classified as exempt, eligible for overtime pay, retroactive for the last three years.
The agreement marks the first time the Producers Guild of America has taken on such an active role to improve working conditions of producers.
The guild, which has more than 3,600 members, hopes the development will shed light on the little-known plight of producers, associate producers and production coordinators who work on low-cost cable shows, where programmers have been squeezed by competition and reduced licensing fees. To cut costs, many cable channels have replaced permanent staffs with freelance employees who aren't eligible for health insurance and other benefits.
"We've been quite distressed over the last couple of years as reports come in from all over town about the conditions of our members who work on nonfiction television programs, not just those at E!" said Producers Guild President Marshall Herskovitz, whose credits include the film "Blood Diamond" and the ABC-TV series "thirtysomething."
"Because we're a trade association, we can only attempt to influence the powers that be, but that doesn't mean we're any less concerned about the welfare of our members."
In an open letter to the guild's membership this week, Vance Van Petten, the group's executive director, praised E! and Comcast Entertainment Group President Ted Harbert.
"E! has again dealt in good faith with its employees, and chosen to recognize the true value of their labor," he wrote.
The guild has received many complaints over the last several years from producers and associate producers working at E! and Style Network. Most said they had to work 12- to-16-hour days with virtually no breaks and without overtime pay.
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