Blaming Arnold
Filed under: TV News > Politik > Arnold Schwarzenegger
It's been u-g-l-y on the set of Ugly Betty since the suits announced on Tuesday that the show is moving its production to New York City.
And, according to reports, the 300 production people who are losing their jobs because of the move blame California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
New York passed a host of new new tax credits to lure more showbiz productions — Ugly Betty took the bait and is headed their way.
Many argue that the Governator has not done much to save and/or grow California's showbiz production business.
Unfortunately, there are small business owners like dry cleaners, caterers, construction supply folk who will be financially crippled by Ugly Betty's move to NYC. These vendors have banded together to buy a one page ad in Variety, the entertainment industry's trade paper, on behalf of the soon-to-be unemployed folks as a show of support and to help call attention to changes that need to be made at the state level for their own sake.
Here's what the ad appearing in Variety will say:
To Whom it Should Concern
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Members of the State Senate and State Assembly, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:We are writing to you because we just lost our jobs. We are the 300 plus members of the crew of the television show Ugly Betty. We were informed this Tuesday that the production of our show is moving to New York primarily because of the 35% tax incentives being offered by the state of New York. Instead of making good wages and paying our fair share of California state income tax, we will all be collecting Unemployment Benefits. In addition, we will certainly be cutting our spending back to the bone, which will not only cut back our sales tax contributions substantially, but it could end up costing the jobs of the people who provide services and products to us. Not only are these crew positions being lost; all of our local vendors are losing our business.
Our production buys: lumber, paint, wallpaper, cabinets, other building materials, office products, fabric, art supplies, computer equipment, food, beverages, flowers, film, makeup & hair products, wigs, insurance, jewelry, clothing, etc.
Our production rents: lighting equipment, sound equipment, video playback equipment, heavy machinery, office equipment, backdrops, costumes, furniture, scenery, props, soundstages, offices, parking facilities, cars, trucks, storage facilities, computers, camera equipment, grip equipment, editing equipment, drafting equipment, cell phones, computers, toilets, dumpsters, live plants, production trailers, tools, hardware, artwork, walkie talkies, etc.
Our production also uses the services of: dry cleaners, printers, location companies, Special Effects companies, utilities, caterers, payroll services, restaurants, security, Post Production Services, Clearance Houses, etc.
When we shoot on locations around Los Angeles we pay for permits; we pay homeowners & businesses for the use of their property, we hire police and fire department personnel, we pay for facility engineers, etc.
So, while the loss of our individual positions may be insignificant, the loss of this production is staggering. Now multiply this by all the other productions going to New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina and other states with incentives, not to mention Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Europe, etc. and the cost to the California state economy is monumental. We implore you to do everything in your power to level the playing field and bring our jobs back to California by enacting meaningful incentives to keep film and television production in our state.
Sincerely yours
The Crew of Ugly Betty
Word!
We're sure Arnie will hear you loud and clear now!
[Image via WENN.]
LOL I have to laugh when people say that oh this economy is so and so's fault. It shows how much people really know. It has nothing to do with whether a democrat or a republican is in office. The economy goes through series of peaks and troughs. It's more or less luck of the draw when you come into office. The economy has done this and always will do this. It's not Bush's fault nor is it Clintons or any other recent previous President….and whoever wins in 08 or 12 for that matter whether it be a Republican or a Democrat will probably have a better economy bc it will be on the rise again since we have hit a trough. We all like to point fingers but in this instance its a basic common principle of economics. It's not that difficult to understand….
he has the slumpiest shoulders ever. it makes him looks like an old lady
Isn't he cute for a guy my dad's age but pleeeeze don't tell my dad ’cause he's a pastor!
welcome to the real world….business is business….poor them, they lost their jobs……………………….i feel so unsad.
Re: aneurysm – same can be said of george bush regarding oil in iraq
With that posture, he should be cast as the title character in the remake of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
Boo fucking hoo…..everyone in the film industry is suffering from the fucking screen writer's guild strike and now the Screen Actor's guild strikes. Fuck them.
If the writers actually had any natural talents and would stop re-writing shitty old television shows and basing movie scripts on video games, maybe I'd have sympathy for them.
No wonder everyone is moving up North.
Fuck Arnie, fuck his atomic grenade, fuck whiny film people and fuck this shit.
So..when Republicans were talking about the bad atmosphere in CA for businesses all you liberals yawned and said everyone must pay their fair share..screw you. NOW, it's affecting you and you're outraged. So typical…only care if it effect you. Well, SUFFER. California is a dying state, my friends…it will soon be only the super rich and illegals catering to their needs. Nice going, Californians.
What a second! If my memory serves me right…was it not "showbusiness" that made Arnold a star? No he's some big time Governor and he's turning his back on the very same industry who launched his acting career?
WOW!!!
Re: whatever – An economy is the realized system of human activities related to the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area. Economy refers also to the measure of how a country or region is progressing in terms of product. There are number of ways to measure economic activity of a nation. These methods of measuring economic activity include:Consumer spending, Exchange rate,Gross domestic product, GDP per capita, GNP, Interest rate, National debt, rate of inflation, UNEMPLOYMENT, BALANCE OF TRADE.
Re: aneurysm – Hold up…wait a minute. To call Perez simple is a slap in the face! Why? Because he's the "Queen of all Media"!!! HELLOOOOO…he's doing his job by reporting what's the up n' up in the biz. Duh! If you actually read, he reported the situation that's affecting people who work hard in our State and quoted directly from those people who wrote to Variety! Again, DUH!!
They all must be pretty shitty workers if they think that they won't find work because ONE show out of hundreds leaves LA.
what happened to him?! he really let himself go! hes so fat now and he used to have a hot bod!
Why do his hands look swollen?
My neighbor Giovanni just lost his job, he worked on Ugly Betty. He used to tell me confidential information about where the show was filming that day so I could sell the tip to paparazzi agencies. Now what am I supposed to do????
You know what, life's like that. It happens. People lose their jobs all the time. If a show stops production and goes off air, all those people lose their jobs too. Get over it. I'm sure that being in california, their shouldn't be a lack of business opportunities for people in show business.
I can sympathize though, yeah it sucks to lose your job. My parents are in a business that is being shut down too so I know exactly how it is. However, you just need to move on and do what you can.
SIDE QUESTION…. Can any watch fans out there ID the watch Arnold is wearing in this pic???
Actually Now Michigan has the lowest production costs in the USA and Canada with a new set of bills that were passed a month or so ago. And apparently scripts have gone from 5 in 2007 to 70 thus far in 2008…….Money talks apparently
What tiny little hands you have Terminator!!! Is everything else as tiny as well?
Just wondering….
California is incapable of offering help or tax incentives to huge industry, and it certainly should not be doing so. (If the sate were propping up the oil industry, there would be no end to the protests, right?) The state has elected to pay for the education of those who are not legal residents of the state of California (millions of them?) The state has also elected to pay for the healthcare of anyone who chooses to set up camp in the state, regardless whether they are legal residents of the state or not. These two initiatives that the California legislature pursued and passed have placed a GIGANTIC burden on the taxpayers of the state. If they were to profer special tax breaks on one industry or another, the tax deficit would need to be taken from some other source of tax income (most likely in the form of increased sales or income tax) Why should one of the most prosperous industries in the world be 'propped up' by the taxpayers of California? Let the 'free market' reign - UGLY BETTY should go where it is most aesthetically and economically advantageous, and Californian tax payers should rejoice that they're not forced to pay for Ugly Betty to stay in CA.
Arnold looks like a deflated version of himself. A good example of what happens when a toned body quits working out. Bleh.
Re: Fo Realz – Since you already know this industry is the only one left in the state of California and it already does pay for the poor and you assholes that are sitting at home writing this shit!