While many were excited to return to the Paramount lot for the first time since the pandemic, others were nervous. Would attending Cine Gear 2023 mean crossing a picket line? In the weeks leading up to CineGear, there was a bit of confusion about whether or not event attendance on a lot owned by a member of the AMPTP would render said attendee a scab. A similar confusion had arisen at the beginning of May regarding another event. Right after the WGA membership voted to strike, Chanel hosted a fashion show at the Paramount Pictures lot, leaving many an A-Lister in a tizzy of to show or not to show. One month later anyone clambering to see what new tech crews would be donning in the coming year would find her way into the same ambiguity. Neither the WGA or Paramount officially released statements to relieve that stress, so that task fell to the events themselves. Image: CineD/Graham Ehlers Sheldon First came Chanel. In a Deadline article released on the day of the show, unnamed sources relayed that Chanel exacted clarification from the WGA directly. A spokesperson from the fashion house said their chosen location was merely a rental space booked months prior to the strike at hand. “The Writers Guild of America’s labor dispute against the alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers applies to unionized Film and Television productions, not the physical property of the studio.” Despite this statement, many chose not to go, taking to social media...
Published By: CineD - Saturday, 10 June, 2023