Actually, in the old studio system, actors and musicians were (and are) 
both paid happily quite well, but that only came about when they became 
unionized.  Before the unions, the studios almost owned the talent with 
very tight controls on what they could and couldn't do, what they were 
paid and what hours (many twelve or more hour days) they worked . 

But today, Hollywood now remains as one of the best paid dominions for 
talent, although as in any type of creative endeavor, the cream doesn't 
always rise to the top.  But, if you think about the MGM musicals made 
in the "golden days" of  movies, the results were and still are quite 
wonderful.  We all were (and are) able to visit Oz, because of the 
technical, creative, and musical  side of the Hollywood industry.  And, 
as a legacy,  today we still have some excellent Broadway recreations 
such as "Chicago".

Needless to say, I worked union and have benefited from it even today as 
a retiree with one of those vanishing pensions and health coverage.  The 
Hollywood union motto is, "We Take Care of Our Own", and I can attest to 
that being true. 

I'm sure I'll get some reverse comments regarding the Hollywood "closed 
shop", but that has changed since I first started (the fifties), and 
many can and have entered the industry if they can show that they have 
worked in the given profession even for a number of months.  The "Catch 
22" is whether some Hollywood company will hire them.  Today, a person 
must constantly "network" to stay on the "inside" if they're lucky 
enough to get that initial break and knowing someone on the inside is 
almost a necessity.  In my day, I and others got their lucky break by 
getting a job in the mailroom (it still happens).

As far as I know, there are very few union jurisdictional conflicts 
today, because those details and boundaries have been in place for decades.

Rod Stephens

Lou Judson wrote:

> What a mess that would be...
>
> Lou Judson • Intuitive Audio
> 415-883-2689
>
> On Apr 14, 2006, at 4:58 PM, steven c wrote:
>
>>>
>> What would be really interesting is to watch the Actors' union and the
>> Musicians' union battle over which group would represent them and which
>> wage scale they should be paid!
>
>