DAYS: NABET crew members (audio/lighting/video depts.) have been laid off

[JAS0N47]

"DAYS" NABET-CWA CREW MEMBERS SET TO BE LAID OFF:

News is coming out that the "Days" NABET-CWA Local 53 crew members have been laid off, effective December 31. NABET comprises most of the positions in the audio, lighting and video departments. Many are long-time veterans of the show. Of the group, technical directors Mike Caruso & J.C. O'Neill have been with the show the longest, since the early 1980's. Lighting director Ted Polmanski and cameramen John Sizemore and Mike Mecartea joined the show full-time after "Santa Barbara" was cancelled in 1992. Jackie Frazier, who "Days" had write a few episodes from 2001-2003, has been a boom operator with the show since the mid-1990's. Overall, the NABET crew members were responsible for 35 of 212 Daytime Emmy nominations that the show has received through the years.

In happier times, here was NABET's advertisement, congratulating "Days" on its 30th anniversary in 1995: http://www.jason47.c...images/hr19.JPG

Here are some quotes regarding the planned layoffs, from the October 29, 2012 edition of The Burbank Leader:

More than 175 employees at entertainment-related companies in Burbank likely will be laid off starting in December...studio representatives said.

NBCUniversal issued 50 layoff notices effective Dec. 31, according to the state. The employees — who primarily fill technical and operations positions — are represented by the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians - Communications Workers of America, Local 53.

Union president Steve Ross said NBCUniversal officials are saying the workers aren’t needed because the company no longer owns the studio lot in Burbank, which it sold in 2007. Some of the air-conditioning and building-services workers have been hired by the lot’s new owner, Ross said. However, production staffers who work on “Days of Our Lives” are still in limbo, he added.

Ross said he has filed grievances against NBCUniversal over the layoffs. “I don’t agree with what they’re doing,” he said.

http://articles.burb...isney-employees

[Y&RWorldTurner]

DAYS is already the worst produced show on daytime, I can't imagine how it's going to look with this fuckery.

[beebs]

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and that's if we're lucky!

[DRW50]

We posted that at the exact same time. Peapack never dies

[beebs]

Great minds think alike!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I have to wonder if some of these people weren't let go long ago. DAYS has some of the worst lighting and audio known to man.

[JackPeyton]

I can not believe Days is still leasing the studio space, honestly. Its too bad they cant get a better, newer studo at universal. You would think being an NBC/Uni show they could get a cheaper rate, then again with sony and corday as owners ya never know.

Anyways, this is sad news all around. I know most of thre crew have been there longer than most of the cast and they are all very close.

[sungrey]

This stinks. You have to wonder if the news that Days was going to stay where it was (at NBC) was a curse rather than a blessing. Nothing else tapes on that lot except Days and Jay Leno, right?

[JackPeyton]

Days, Jay Leno, Last Call, Access Hollywood, NBC 4 News, and i think a few lots are leased out to other productions.

[Toups]

That sucks. I hate to see long time employees depart. It's going to be weird to not see their names in the DAYS credits anymore.

[chicklitsandfantasies]

Are they planning to ship the show to Mexico next?

[marceline]

These things always suck but I especially hate seeing this happen at the holidays. I understand the accounting reasons for it but it's still awful.

[Khan]

THAT IS NOT FUNNY.

(Okay, it is. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell.)

[Khan]

Look on the bright side: if they start taping in Mexico, Shawn Christian can get his tan from the real sun and not an artificial one.

You bet it does. It's also the last nail in DAYS' coffin.

[Khan]

Same. Just think: if DAYS had moved to Universal, and if Compact Video still were around, it'd "look" a lot like those NBC sitcoms from the '80's (i.e., "Diff'rent Strokes," "Facts of Life," "Silver Spoons," etc.). That would have been awesome.