The french highest court recently requalified the contracts of TV reality show participants as regular work contracts:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/business/media/08iht-reality.html << The Reality of Reality TV: It’s Acting, Court Rules By ERIC PFANNER Published: June 7, 2009 PARIS — A sunset walk on a tropical beach, followed by a massage and, perhaps, a fling with an attractive member of the opposite sex. For some people, it’s the perfect vacation. In France, it’s work. The highest court in France ruled last week that contestants on the French version of the reality television show “Temptation Island” were entitled to employment contracts and financial compensation — just as professional actors would be. The show, which ran from 2002 through 2008 in France, placed young couples on sunny islands for 12 days, where partners were separated from each other and confronted with scantily clad tentateurs and tentatrices , to test their fidelity. The judgment upheld a previous ruling, by a lower body, that “tempting a person of the opposite sex requires concentration and attention.” Along with the predictable chuckles, the decision prompted laments from French broadcasters, worried that it might put a damper on reality television and other programs that rely on amateurs, like talent shows or game shows, by making them more costly and cumbersome to produce. “Producers aren’t above the law,” said Jérémie Assous, a Paris lawyer who argued the case on behalf of three participants in the show. “They have to respect the law, just like Michelin or McDonald’s.” While French labor law is known for being worker-friendly, France is not the only place where unscripted television programming has come under scrutiny lately for the way it treats its amateur participants. [...] >> Laurent On Sun, 2009-08-02 at 13:19 -0700, Jim Devine wrote: > New York TIMES / August 2, 2009 > TV Contestants: Tired, Tipsy and Pushed to Brink > By EDWARD WYATT > > LOS ANGELES — In the first episode of this season’s “Hell’s Kitchen,” > the 16 aspiring chefs clamber out of a bus and canter into the kitchen > of Gordon Ramsay’s reality show restaurant like convicts on a > jailbreak. If the current season is like earlier ones, that is not so > far from the truth. > > “They locked me in a hotel room for three or four days” before > production started, said Jen Yemola, a Pennsylvania pastry chef who > was on the 2007 season of “Hell’s Kitchen,” a cooking competition. > “They took all my books, my CDs, my phone, any newspapers. I was > allowed to leave the room only with an escort. It was like I was in > prison.” > > Long workdays and communication blackouts are largely the rule for > contestants on reality shows, a highly lucrative genre that has > evolved arguably into Hollywood’s sweatshop. Unscripted series now > account for more than one-quarter of all primetime broadcast > programming — and essentially the entire day on cable channels like > Discovery, Bravo and A&E. The most popular reality series, “American > Idol,” has commanded advertising rates as high as $1 million for a > 30-second spot. > > But with no union representation, participants on reality series are > not covered by Hollywood workplace rules governing meal breaks, > minimum time off between shoots or even minimum wages. Most of them, > in fact, receive little to no pay for their work. > > It can make for a miserable experience but compelling entertainment, > creating a sort of televised psychological experiment that keeps > contestants off-balance and vulnerable. > > Most reality series have contestants sign nondisclosure agreements > that include million-dollar penalties if they reveal what happened on > set. But interviews with two dozen former contestants — most of whose > agreements expired after three years — from half a dozen reality > series suggest that the programs routinely use isolation, > sleeplessness and alcohol to encourage wild behavior. > > During the 2006 season of the popular ABC dating show “The Bachelor,” > the contestants waited in vans for several hours while the crew set up > for a 12-hour “arrival” party where, two contestants said, there was > little food but bottomless glasses of wine. When producers judged the > proceedings too boring, they sent out a production assistant with a > tray of shots. > > “If you combine no sleep with alcohol and no food, emotions are going > to run high and people are going to be acting crazy,” said Erica Rose, > a contestant that year. > > <clip> continued at > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/media/02reality.html > _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
