UNM’s Film students & fauclty stand with the strike

By Elizabeth Secor @esecor2003

In early May, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Union soon followed, striking in early June.

As the 2023 fall semester begins at UNM, film students are looking at their future field without regrets despite the strikes, senior Michael Madrigal – who’s in the Film Department – said.

“The people that are holding all the money and holding all the power like to grift and cut corners, and don’t like to pay the small workers like us. And yet … I haven’t really run into anyone (in the film department) that said, ‘I don’t want to do film, I’m making a mistake,” Madrigal said.

In 2022, Netflix expanded to Albuquerque and studios claimed they would bring in job opportunities, as well as millions of dollars to Albuquerque, according to a Deadline article. see Strike page 3

Next to Netflix studios is Mesa del Sol where many of the University’s film classes are housed. The Film Department’s head count has nearly doubled since the fall 2019 enrollment, and many students and faculty are seeing the effects of the strike.

University of New Mexico film professor Matthew McDuffie is passionate about the strike after seeing how the current work environment has impacted his daughter and kids’ godfather. McDuffie cited Mandy Moore as a well known actress who is being paid pennies in residual checks from her shows on streaming platforms.

“It’s about money, in that people aren’t getting paid. And that the careers of an actor and the careers of a writer are not possible anymore,” McDuffie said.

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