The glamorous image of a Hollywood scriptwriter's lifestyle as an endless round of leisurely lunches and celebrity parties has been challenged by a class action lawsuit filed against one of the US' biggest television networks.
Fox TV is accused of overseeing and airing shows that were produced by writers who endured intolerable working conditions, being forced to skip meals, submit fake time cards and work more than 80 hours a week in cramped and overheated offices.
"The conditions in this industry resemble sweatshops," said the suit on behalf of writers on seven reality TV series.
Daniel Petrie, western area president of the Writers Guild of America, which is backing the action launched by 10 writers and editors on such shows as Trading Spouses, Joe Millionaire and Married by America, said working conditions had pushed some writers to the brink.
"We've heard stories of people breaking down from the strain, of men and women working from nine in the morning until after midnight with no meal breaks, of location shoots where eight people were required to work in hot trailers meant for four," he said.
Fox TV, and Rocket Science Laboratories, the company it contracted to hire the writers, have refused to comment on the lawsuit, which was lodged with the superior court in Los Angeles and seeks unpaid wages, compensation and punitive damages.
Last month, 12 writers backed by the union launched an action making similar allegations against other large TV companies including ABC, CBS and Turner Broadcasting.
It marks an escalation of the Writers Guild's campaign for the adoption of an industry-wide contract guaranteeing minimum rates of pay and better conditions for writers on reality TV shows which, it says, are among the fastest-growing areas of the Hollywood economy.
The lawsuit accuses Fox of hiding its violations with fictitious overtime entries on workers' pay stubs. Zachary Isenberg, 32, one of the plaintiffs in the Fox lawsuit, claims he was ordered to fill in a timesheet for three weeks' work on his first day as a story assistant for the show Renovate My Family last year. Because he was keen to get on in television, he complied. Soon, he said, he felt "dazed" because of the "unbearable" demands of work.
"I spent almost my entire waking time at work," he said. "I enjoy my job and want to keep doing it, but I also know there comes a certain point where you have to stand up for yourself."
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