SCARCITY

1. A lot of people want to be in the biz, every day, people who are mostly young seek out a career in entertainment, they will do anything to get in there. It isn't uncommon to see or hear of people who are willing to have sex with someone for an opportunity, we have all heard of the casting couch for a reason, they are willing to work for free, a multibillion dollar industry makes a lot of money off interns, and eager individuals will even pay money to get their foot in the door. This makes them easy targets for something like this because there aren't a million jobs. A lot of competition is there for what is available for work.

2. Low pay for both the staff and the managers. These jobs don't pay well and average out at about $17.50/hr for the staff and the middle management jobs don't pay very well, either. I think the managers at Coachella make $15 - $10 K, not much when they spend several months working it. Those managers either find other ways out of the biz to supplement their incomes or hustle up more work in the biz in other jobs, in theory. These types of jobs even in management are not really meant to be a career and more of a thing to do for a while to get more skills and experience and then those doing them are supposed to move into management or touring in theory but it isn't happening. These are also jobs to do while in between other bigger better-paying jobs again this is in theory but it doesn't happen much.

3. Consistency is not the norm in much of the production world. You work project to project. A day, here a week there, a month, a couple of months or maybe an entire project. Hustling culture is big in the biz.

1. ZERO REGULATIONS IN THIS INDUSTRY, NO DOT REGULATIONS like drug tests, hourly tracking, labor laws are not even really acknowledged

2. Very hard to track what is going on in this business. Someone from one state might go to another state to work for a company, out of another state, if something goes wrong it is next to impossible to rectify the situation.

3. The actual companies who put on events, festivals, or tours often do not own much of anything. They hire companies to do these things. One company does the stages, one does the garbage, one does the catering, etc. Those companies then continue to farm work out to subcontractors so someone is actually working for someone entirely different than who runs the entire event. Even if the company itself is hiring you they find loopholes and you are not really working for them but for a payroll company. It is set up this way to get around any liability.

1. Most people have no idea what their rights are in any type of work environment.

4. A company can simply go out of biz, file bankruptcy and drop all responsibilities to creditors and employees. Then start another company in the biz doing the same thing and start all over again within months.

Nepotism is so much of this in the biz especially in middle management. But because of the competition to be here, people bring someone is based on how much they can be controlled. Again scarcity is a big motivator, you know that someone is always in your footsteps wanting to do what you do and they are willing to do whatever to get there. No one wants to be outshined by someone else so they find people who really aren't that good to work under them or cover for them. PROBABLY WHY THERE IS SO MUCH VIRTUE SIGNALLING HERE. There is a look to who is in the office and a type for sure.

No management skills - They don't bother to ever develop management skills they don't have to due to the desire of the people to be in the biz

5. Government agencies don't care and in states like CA are ignoring problems because the industry is such a big moneymaker. There is so much red tape in even reporting that most people don't bother. I am sure the oil and gas biz, as well as manufacturing, get far more scrutiny than entertainment does here, so much so that many have left the state.

2. Most management and even the companies that hire them don't know much about what is legal & what isn't. Or if they do then set up hiring so they have no responsibility to the staff, i.e. cast & crew.

4. Fringe of society people, people in recovery. There are so many of these people there are even AA meetings at big events. It is a big attraction for eccentric types who don't fit into office corporate environments. Not many places for them to go for employment. You can have a tattooed neck & wear a goat whore T - shirt, go to work and not get in much trouble.

Disconnect from the company to the event and the departments in them. Again, the company is out of 1 state, but the event is in another state. Crew and staff are from other states & if they have an office on site it is far away from where their department offices are at. Basically the companies have no idea what is going on in their organization & no where for people to go for help.

5. Extremes in all aspects of the biz, from hours to workloads and so much more, it draws in a certain type.

6. Companies are not keeping track of what is going on within their own organizations, they have diversity teams but no one watching these things. Managers are working several jobs including leaving that one to work on another one sometimes in another country or state, their teams are expected to lie to admins about it.
   

Hustle culture the production side of things is very much a hustle culture which means you form a lot of relationships with people who can get you work. There is no job board (really), it is all in who you know. If you specialize in something it helps but it is all in who you know.

LEGALITITES

7. Things are very fly by night and short in duration by the time the event or project is over everything is torn down and the people you work for have gone onto another project in another state with another company very hard to track anything.
   

8. Managers are monopolizing all the work in the biz. There is no union or job board really to keep track of anything many of these companies have a scant HR department. The job sites that cater to this biz are also scams and no one gets any real work.

3. The only education you get from any of them is sexual harassment training, occasionally that is missing a lot & stops no sexual harassment. No protocols for handling money, dealing with serious issues like security or a terror attack. Managing vehicles & heavy equipment. Zero training on much of anything.

Girl boss culture - The middle managers of the biz are women, mostly white, upper-middle-class, educated, heavyset, heavily tattooed with facial piercings, wearing leggings, colored hair, not many are married or have kids and those that do are often married to foreign men looking for green cards and a US passport for their careers. While US citizens doesn't get such luxuries in other countries.

Tough culture the attitude that you have to be "tough" and roll with the punches you do, but if you get abused, physically, financially or mentally and if you speak up about the amount of work etc you get called weak. The irony is that so many of the managers in this biz are asking for money and super dependent upon their staff for emotional support out of work.

DRUGS & SEX AND ROCK & ROLL - Mental health issues are common due to the hours, the extremes and the types who seek out the biz. Massive drug abuse mostly of prescription drugs. Ambient, Adderall, benzos. I know 5 women with serious thyroid issues and things like H-Pylori are common. Not a lot of sleep, moving in and out of time zones all the time. No one has time to really take care of themselves with the hours they keep so they self medicate with drugs and alcohol, bad alcoholics. Booze is used to buy off people.

TELESCOPIC PHILANTHROPY - LEFT-WING WOKE MENTALITY AMONG SO MANY IN THE BIZ ESPECIALLY AMONG THE MANAGERS & TALENT. GIRLBOSS AGAIN. YET FINANCIAL AND MENTAL EXPLOITATION OF LOW WAGE PEOPLE IS GOING ON, THESE PEOPLE WILL GO ON STAGE OR SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROTEST INJUSTICE IN THE WORLD BUT IGNORE IT GOING ON IN THEIR OWN WORLD.

VICTIM MENTALITY AMONG MANAGERS VICTIMS TO THE "MALE DOMINATED" INDUSTRY THEY ARE IN, VICTIMS TO "MANSPLAINING". ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS, IT IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT DESPITE THEM CHOOSING ENTRY LEVEL WORK AS A CAREER WHEN THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS.

CrewNation & Musicares are now these companies profit tax free while appearing to provide care to people in the biz. They do nothing. No real mental health services, financial services. Actually you don't have time to really focus on health at all.

How legal is it employment wise to have an entire industry doing this? Sure this is entertainment but these companies are still corporate at the end of the day so you have very corporate companies taking money from their own staff for future work and payment from their clients for future services. How many other industries would be given this much ignorance from media had they been caught doing it?

The talent is never allowed to know this goes on for plenty of reasons. They should know it is happening in their name & with their advances.

WRISTBANDS - THE AMAZON WAREHOUSE ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT - They can track you however they want through phones & the RFID chip. Much of the work is hard physical labor only the office workers get AC and comfort & they make all decisions. The jobs are not glamourous and if you took them out of this industry you would have to beg people to do them.

NO REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE USE OF PHONES ETC. A LOT OF LABOR IS UNPAID. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO WORK WITHOUT PAY OFTEN, SOMETIMES A LOT, SOMETIMES A LITTLE.

FIERCE COMPETITION EVERYONE WANTS TO BE IN THE BIZ WHICH IS A BIG PART OF THE HUSTLE. No consistency. You don't go to the same job everyday or even the same place.

POWER - The middle management in this biz have tremendous power despite their low pay and complaints that they suffer in a male-dominated world. They are the gate keepers to the biz they control entry-level work and those who do those jobs. They can decide if you move up and where or if you get called back at all for another job at all.

4. Lack of financial control or literacy. That is why the staff are always paying for the managers lives. FAST MONEY GOES FAST! They don't save, the work is inconsistent and contracts about what you will actually get paid are flighty. No support for people in the biz with this.

The transientness of the biz is how this has happened. A small group of people manage the same thing for several companies so who you work for changes all the time as far as what name is on the payroll but it is the same managers. A small group of women who control it all. It is easy to get lost and create your own little world in a situation like this with everything else around you changing. Location, company, days.

Many, but not all people there think it is okay to be like this, they don't see problems with how things are going. They just shrug their shoulders and go along with it. They see nothing wrong with it, but definitely have opinions of how other industries are or should be.

Any questioning or disagreeability on your part is viewed very negatively. You are not to question your managers at all. Even if you are asked to do things that are illegal or unethical, dangerous etc. You are expected to work for free as much as they can get out of you.

You spend so much time with these people, often more than with you own family, friends etc. They call you family a lot.

If you dare to challenge or disagree you are at first targeted, they needle you constantly, finding fault with anything you do, even if you do nothing wrong at all. Then they stop calling you and then spread rumors about you to everyone making it very difficult find work. You get black listed. So people don't speak up out of fear of losing work. You learn about the rumors way after and have no recourse to defend yourself.

You are expected to be available whenever, wherever with the managers. Paid or not, when they call you better answer immediately. Your answer better be yes and if it isn't that also puts you on a type of list where they stop calling so much.

You are supposed to surrender your whole life to the work, they want to know all kinds of aspects of your personal life and if you keep your personal life private they don't trust you. They use social media to follow up with you and all the jobs are there as well in FB groups. You are supposed to put your personal life on display for them as well often on social medial

No legit job sites or agencies for the work. Bobnet, scam. Crewspace, probably a scam. Work is offered through FB groups etc. If you work with these companies you are actually an employee of the payroll company but people don't know it.

code of silence people don't talk in that industry.

team building exercises to do meanial jobs? Really? EXPECTED TO SHARE VERY PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH PEOPLE

extreme hours, extreme behavior is expected. Not getting to eat, not enough sleep.

PEOPLE ARE MADE AN EXAMPLE OF AND YOU DON'T WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM.

IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THEN IT IS YOUR ISSUE THEY TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING AND WILL EVEN BLAME YOU FOR MAKING ACCUSATIONS ETC.
EVEN IF SAFETY AND WELL BEING ARE AT STAKE.

The companies who are continually hiring these managers "know" that they are simply hiring their friends and they know it keeps them distracted. They don't have to deal with real HR stuff or actually paying someone more because they are occupied by the "family" they have created. They win by not having to deal with managers asking for more because they don't put much effort into asking as they are caught up with their dramatics from their families and it is one thing less for these major corporate companies to bother with but by not paying attention it is actually making things worse.

INFLUENCER CULTURE - MANAGERS ARE ALWAYS USING THE CREW AND THE SITE AS WELL AS SOME OF THE TALENT AS A BACKDROPS TO THEIR LIVES ONLINE. THEY ARE LIKE INFLUENCERS IN THE INDUSTRY AND DEFINITELY IN THE PRODUCTION WORLD. YOU ARE ALWAYS EXPECTED TO GO TAKE PICTURES WITH THEM ALL THE TIME.

Undue influence - family, cult like behavior, you learn quickly never to disagree or you are tortured for the duration of the project and then blacklisted. If you dare to actually do that with any of these managers you are accused of terrible things even if what needs to be addressed is dangerous.

WOKE RELIGIOUS REVIVALS IN THE PRODUCTION OFFICE:

DOCTRINES OF FEMINISM, ANTI RACISM, SOME LGBT+, ARE being used to control entire industries in entertainment. The big one here is feminism belief system and if you don't go along with it you will get sued. Workers are forced to follow dogmas at work and no one is willing to call it out & most don't realize that is what is happening to them. Even HR departments are on board.