Aussie crew in Real World wage fight
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
MTV’s ultimate reality show, The Real World has come under fire by the Media and Entertainment Alliance of Australia for failing to pay its crew enough.
The series is shooting in Sydney at the moment but is paying its Aussie crew members via Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) while the American crew receive MPPA rates, which are recognised by all other Aussie productions.
Some crew members are paid less than $15 an hour.
The series, which has been in production since 1992, is a fore-runner to Big Brother and houses a bunch of frat-house kids in a house together and watches them interact. Unlike BB the participants are not confined to the household. MTV practically invented the reality genre via this show and Cops.
The Sydney shoot is the third time the series has travelled outside the US.
According to the MEAA:
“Australian crew on this production, if they sign the AWAs, will have lost all entitlements to normal working conditions on set such as –
- Night loadings
- Higher duty allowances
- Public
Holiday pay - Saturday and Sunday loadings
- Overtime being paid at double time or triple time
- Turn around times
- Any travel, accommodation or per diem allowances
- Safety code”