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When I published my article Dear Hollywood: We Don’t Want to ‘Go Back to Normal.’ Normal Wasn’t Working I was absolutely floored by the response as I watched it spread like wildfire across social media in all sectors of the entertainment industry. I honestly never thought this message would ever reach beyond my tiny little (windowless) corner of the post-production world.

From 2nd assistant directors in Mexico City to makeup artists in North Carolina to corporate video editors in Germany to accountants in Japan, not to mention countless directors, producers, and even actors (Skinny Pete, yo!), I’ve heard from people on all six continents. From marketing to features to advertising to television to documentary, above-the-line and below-the-line, union and non-union alike - the idea of nobody wanting to go back to ’Normal’ clearly struck a nerve.

Once again, Hollywood...sorry not sorry.

As I said in my interview with Cathy Repola, National Executive Director of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (Local #700):

This is not just a union issue. This is a human issue.

We all seem to be in universal agreement the way we did things pre-pandemic in the entertainment industry wasn’t working. Since sharing my own list of what I believed wasn’t working, I’ve received hundreds of messages and included many of your personal stories about what hasn’t been working in your lives. (Here’s the full list of the personal stories people have shared with me anonymously).

There are countless important issues unique to people’s circumstances that clearly need to be addressed. But regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or otherwise, there is one fundamental core issue driving the vast majority of the problems in the entertainment industry that needs to be addressed now: The hours we work.

Time is the ultimate equalizer. We all have the same 24 hours a day and 7 days per week. And we all universally agree we don’t have enough time to do our jobs properly without sacrificing our relationships, our health, or our sanity in the process (not to mention those who have literally given their lives for the sake of entertainment).

Hollywood, it’s time for a much-needed (and overdue) intervention.

As I stated in my previous article, for the first time in cinema history we’re no longer “building the plane while flying it,” the plane is in the hangar and we have the opportunity to make significant upgrades. And where we need to start is rewiring the expectations of how many hours per week it really takes to create entertainment (Reminder: We’re not curing cancer).

I believe that not only CAN we find a solution to make 45 hours the new standard workweek in Hollywood, but also because of Covid-19 we no longer have any choice; we MUST make 45 hours the new standard.

Both our livelihoods and our lives literally depend on it.

Want your voice to be heard?

Click here to sign the Change.org petition to support a 45-hr week in Hollywood

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