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Alan Davies rants about Jonathan Creek!
Ray_Smith
Posts: 1,372 Forum Member
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His point about the working hours for actors does seem very fair. Why should actors be expected to work very long hours if there are EU laws intended to protect workers?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2656804/Why-I-dont-enjoy-playing-Jonathan-Creek-The-BBCs-cut-pay-hours-crippling-Alan-Davies-VERY-grumpy.html
The entire crew has to work long hours, not just the actors, so perhaps there should be new laws introduced to limit the amount of hours anyone can work on the set of a tv show.
‘I don’t understand how 12-hour days and 11-day fortnights became the norm in the TV industry. By EU law you are only supposed to work 48 hours a week at most but, as soon as you go into this industry, you throw that away.’
And he says that the long hours haven’t even been compensated financially. ‘They paid me less for the last series I did of Creek than they paid me for doing the show in the late 1990s and actually wanted to pay me less than the amount that they finally agreed to,’ he says, eyes wide open.
‘And it’s not just me who gets less, the budgets on Creek as a whole have been massively cut, by two-thirds from how they were ten years ago.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2656804/Why-I-dont-enjoy-playing-Jonathan-Creek-The-BBCs-cut-pay-hours-crippling-Alan-Davies-VERY-grumpy.html
The entire crew has to work long hours, not just the actors, so perhaps there should be new laws introduced to limit the amount of hours anyone can work on the set of a tv show.
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That man can bloody moan.
What he's really admitting to is that he's not powerful enough to make demands as to how long they shoot or to negotiate better pay.
He can't act, either....
...and he's not funny, so how he's ever labelled a 'comedian' is beyond me.
Gizza Job. I could do that.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572164/Jonathan-Creek-star-Davies-bites-tramps-ear.html
And more moaning from Davies:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8500269/Comedian-Alan-Davies-is-not-amused-by-his-shoddy-treatment-by-the-BBC.html
Mind you attacking an agressive beggar raises him in my estimation.
Cramming as much filming as they can into a small number of days cuts the overall costs immensely. He should try his hand at producing (and not just the pretend producing thing that some actors do) to see things from the other side.
For a supposedly clever man he fails to research the vital thing: the opt out clause. Workers throughout the EU have a legal right to opt out of the 48 hour maximum clause and by doing so are saying they are happy to work more than 48 hours. It also only covers contracted staff in fixed, long term employment. An actor who works for a fortnight for instance, is bound by the specific contract that is required for the job about to be undertaken. The series before last of JC consisted of 6 episodes (albeit split) so it's hardly surprising that he was paid less, he made half the episodes! D'oh! I'm pretty certain both BBC, ITV and other broadcasters throughout are aware of the employment laws regarding their "talent", so I don't understand what he is moaning at.
And, as an actor, he will be given a dressing room or trailer which is equipped with furniture and refreshments inwhich to rest for often hours before work starts again.
You could probably do it better then he can too. He's also got so bad on QI that I've stopped watching. He always has to butt in and make his inane comments over those of someone who might just possibly have some knowledge of a subject, or have a funnier story to tell.
You often find you have agreed to an opt-out clause without anyone actually asking you but I think the averaging still applies.
Amuses me that the politicians and union leaders who were behind the WTD don't seem to comply themselves.
The broadcasting industry has lots of exemptions as well, drivers can be exempt from normal driving hour limits.
I suspect he just wants more money.
I wouldn't give any programme in which he appears, the time of day.
It comes with the job, perhaps he needs to look for a new career.
I suppose we all moan privately about our jobs now and then, but yeah, he may have been doing long days without time off but it's only for a short time isn't it? There are quite a few jobs contract where you work intensely for a short period and then get a fair amount of time off whilst the rest of us are doing nine to five for forty odd weeks a year.
Plus , being an actor, presumably he can pick and choose his projects and work when he wants and take time off when he doesn't. Or perhaps not (especially after these comments;-))
I applied for a security job only last week and at the bottom of the application form was a box saying "Do you choose to opt-out of the EU regulations? Yes or No". I bet anyone who answered "No" they didn't bother replying to.
Acting is like working in McDonalds as it's over-subscribed they can easily get people and treat them badly.