Hollywood Assistants Speak Out Over Low Pay, Start Hashtag (John August)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hollywood Assistants Speak Out Over Low Pay, Start Hashtag

Another article that seems to think the Depp/DS film is one of John August's major credits...

[Patti Feinberg]

I (thought) I've always wanted to be a PA on a show or movie.

This is terrible, especially if you factor in the main stars, directors & producer's salaries...they would NOT be able to do much without their assistants; set dressers, people to 'fetch this & that', copies of scripts, then updated scripts, so much we can't even imagine.

Someone making what another made 25 years ago....

Patti

[Gerard]

I don't want to create a political firestorm here.  But several years ago, I wrote to a highly popular TV host who made hundreds-of-millions dollars a year and said. in his defense at that outrageous salary, look at all the jobs "he" created.  I asked him what would happen to his show if everyone who did the actual work walked off.  Who would do his makeup?  Who would run the cameras and lighting?  Who would air it?  I actually heard back from him.  He called me a communist.  His show is now gone. 

"Little does she appreciate how hard other people work to make me money...It's creeping socialism." - Thurston Howell III, Gilligan'sIsland

Gerard (Off his soap box)

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Aw, come on, Gerard.  Who was it?

[Uncle Roger]

Some personal assistants are treated better than others. The recent stories about Faye Dunaway show one extreme. The late Joan Rivers was the opposite, very kind and generous to her staff. 

[Gerard]

Aw, come on, Gerard.  Who was it?

I won't tell you, Bob, unless you give me a million dollars!

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

A million dollars, Gerard?  How about my personally autographed photograph of “JP” instead?

[Gerard]

Hey, Bob, I've to eat, too!  Here's what I look like.   

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Well, as the Duchess of York once said, “You can never be too rich or too thin.”

[Gerard]

Some personal assistants are treated better than others. The recent stories about Faye Dunaway show one extreme. The late Joan Rivers was the opposite, very kind and generous to her staff. 

I've read and seen stuff about Joan Rivers' generosity to her staff.  One of my guilty pleasures is Say Yes to the Dress.  Not only did she pay for her employee's dress, but most of the rest of her wedding.  My god, was she funny.  She objected to the young woman's refusal to weir a veil, saying "it's the only time you can be a nun," but to a beach ceremony.  Ms. Rivers stated:  "You wear this beautiful gown and you're dragging along lobster and crabs."  Damn, she was funny.  RIP, Joan.  We miss you.

Gerard
P.S.  When I lived in Las Vegas, my very conservative mom, along with my dad and aunt, went to her show.  When they came back, I asked my mom what she thought.  She said:  "Eh, she talks dirty but she was funny."

[Uncle Roger]

I briefly crossed paths with Joan in NYC. I had gone to see a Charles Busch play in Greenwich Village and she happened to be in the audience as well. As expected, she was impeccably dressed. But she was also very quiet and subdued. She didn't try to call attention to herself but was extremely polite and gracious to everyone who spoke to her. I think that I got to see the real Joan Rivers that night and not her stage persona.

Oh, and I had better seats than she did.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Gerard,

I enjoyed your recollection of your mother’s reaction to Joan River’s performance.  My mother saw Ms. Rivers on stage while the Monica Lewinski scandal was in the news.  Ms. Rivers took no prisoners as she opined on Monica and her notorious dress.

I think my mother would agree with your mother’s opinion of Joan Rivers’ comedic sense.  Oh yeah, Don Rickles was the opening act for Joan Rivers’ show.  And according to my mother, “Mr. Warmth” was tame in comparison to the great Ms. Rivers!

 Bob

PS I wonder what Abigail Collins would have thought about Joan Rivers’ act?

[Gerard]

Hey, Bob,

My very conservative mom said that the line that made her laugh the most from Ms. Rivers (also repeated on The Tonight Show) was:  "I put some Fresca on my tampon and I can go all night."  The other was when she described going to her ob-gyn.  She said he wore a snorkel and said:  "Hey, Nurse Schmikel, come and look at this - cobwebs."  I couldn't believe my mom found that funny, but she did.

Gerard 
PS - You know those conservative moms - they have their secrets. 

[Uncle Roger]

Apparently Joan took things a little too far with Victoria Principal. She thought that she had caught Victoria lying about her true age during an interview and tried to get her to admit it. But Victoria didn't budge and matched Joan barb for barb. And it didn't end there. On a later appearance, Joan decided to call Victoria on the air and "accidentally" gave out Victoria's private phone number. Victoria promptly sued. The matter was settled out of court. Sometime later, a reporter inquired about the lawsuit. Victoria said that she was legally forbidden to discuss it but coyly asked the reporter if he would like to see her Picasso.