The post-production editors at NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” have successfully organized with the Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG), IATSE’s local 700, the guild announced in a statement obtained by TheWrap.
The post-production workers come under the “SNL” film unit, which treats pre-recorded segments of the show as musical parody moments.
The editorial team obtained federal accreditation pursuant to a card-check agreement with NBCUniversal. A mediator independently verified that the majority of employees had chosen to represent the union. The size of the “SNL” film unit oscillates weekly, but the group now represented by MPEG will have between a dozen and 20 part-time employees.
“This talented editorial team works at breakneck speed under an extraordinarily tight schedule to ensure that the timely satire of ‘Saturday Night Live’ hits the screens every week,” said MPEG’s second vice president, Louis Bertini in New York. Representing the membership of “We salute them for standing together to give a voice to work. Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, many talented artists and craftspeople help make ‘SNL’ a cultural fixture, and much of that talent already benefits from union contracts. We are delighted that these editorial staff will now join the unionized workforce of ‘SNL’.”
“It’s no laughing matter to raise your voice on the job,” said MPEG president Alan Heim. “‘SNL’ deserves its status as a great comedy series, and the talented people who helped create it deserve all the good things a union will bring. We’re thrilled to welcome them to the Editors Guild family.” “
The Editors Guild represents more than 9,000 post-production professionals nationally, who work in both live-action and animated motion pictures. It is a local affiliate of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE), the largest union of behind-the-scenes entertainment workers.
