Not sure what to think about this article about the minimum wage for actors fight in LA. It would be nice if equity members could do innovative theater AND get paid.
Thank you for posting this article. I don’t think there would be much of a theatre scene left in LA if this goes into effect. The fledgling theatre companies I’ve helped out literally pay the actors as much as they possibly can which ends up being enough to pay for the gas it takes to drive to & from rehearsal.
The Wall Street Journal weighed in too.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/tim-robbins-capitalist-tool-1427412371?KEYWORDS=Tim+Robbins+
As a writer, though, I’ve seen what happens when people are willing to work for free. No one gets paid.
This may be slightly OT, but I’ve been at least tangentially involved in professional theatre for over 40 years and as far as I know in all that time LA has never been counted among the top live theatre towns in the US in spite of its size. I have no idea if that is in any way a product of local wage policies but it seems something unusual happens in that maket (maybe it’s more a function of proximity to the film industry).
I was wondering if the fact that people get paid so much for so little in the film industry made it possible for some to work for free.
http://actingupstage.com/local-news/what-is-an-actor-worth/#post-9084
Some interesting comments from an artistic producer I know.
Thanks for posting that @alwaysamom, interesting to see the financials broken out like that. (And depressing.)
I’ve no time for essaying, but leave it to The Huffington Post to publish the best article …
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hoyt-hilsman/actors-equity-meets-franz-kafka_b_7118470.html
And here are some others from ground zero by those who are actually effected by this … http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/?s=99&x=44&y=14#sthash.6t8jjLGq.dpbs
And the actual Tim Robbins op ed from the LA Times for those who don’t get The Wall Street Journal … http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-robbins-equity-minimum-wage-battle-20150317-story.html
Yes, the financials of producing theatre are interesting and current students who hope to do that one day should be aware of how very difficult it is. How very, very difficult. The amazing young man who wrote that entry is one of the most successful in Toronto, but it is never going to be a big money-making adventure. 
Just a follow-up article about Chicago’s non-equity eco-system from the Trib. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-jeffs-equity-theater-column.html