MTV Staffer: "The Hills" Didn't Pay My Bills

yawn

not suprising. MTV pays dirt and hire non-union so what do these
people expect. MTV will fight it just because they can.

ARE these P.A.'s for real?? In Hollywood P.A.s put in 14, 15 16 hours a day, on a base pay. Never complaining, see in Hollywood thats how you put in your dues. P.A's are a non union job. However the production staff should NOT fill out there time cards. MTV is very low budget and it does take advantage of young staff. But way is to move on, Hollywood is a small town, these kids will NOT be hired again. There the lowest on the totum pole. NEVER complain, just move on. BAD MOVE< sorry to say so , but I've been in the business for over 15 years. You do learn to survive.

This is standard operating (illegal) procedure for all commercial production companies. These cases are usually swept under the rug and KEPT QUIET. Nobody says anything and everyone carries on the charade. I cannot wait until ALLthe production companies get sued and justice is served. As you might have guessed i have been a (bitter) production assistant for eight years on music videos and commercials.

Moved to LA with my GF of seven years....she became a PA....broke up 3 months later....never was around.....I was pissed....thanks MTV! ....

I just passed Jared and Sarah driving on the 10 eastbound in a packed U-Haul.

You know who pays their staff really well?
Harvey Levin, that's who, you know I hear he takes really good care of all those lovely young men and really ugly young women who work for him. Those boys Harvey, they are to die for! But those poor girls they are so homely and sad. I wish I could teach them some simple make-up techniques that would help them out with their ever so drab appearance but alas I believe they are a lost cause, tragic. But back to those lovely young men, they are wonderful Harvey and I know you pay them well, don'tcha darling? Coarse you do!
I love Harvey!
XOXOXO

one of my friends is a PA in NY,and put in more than 16 hours it's horrible the things they have to do etc....
this does not surprise me one bit.

having to deal with Heidi AND Spencer is pain and bad enough, so give them the money, they deserve it, LMAO.

Industry standard.

It is standard that you are taken advantage of as a PA. People should simply just NOT do it. Have some respect for yourselves. NO ONE should work for free, especially not for a big company or studio. Labors of love are one thing. Anyway, it is an industry standard, but MTV is especially evil. Really. They insist you spend your own money and they later refuse reimbursement among other things. I'm glad that someone is finally doing something about it. I think that ALL PAs should rise up and start suing the pants off of studios. Just because it's the standard doesn't mean it's fair.

Hopefully some enterprising lawyers are reading TMZ and see the potential for a huge class action lawsuit against ALL the production companies in los angeles. These companies keep meticulous callsheets which contain all the information needed for these lawsuits to start happening. This illegal activity has been going on for years. MTV is the tip of this s*it iceberg. I'm sure all the other commercial production companies are angry that NOW the spotlight is on them because MTV and viacom are too cheap to payoff the pa's and keep this out of court and public domain.

It's not just the PA's who work crazy hours with no breaks or overtime pay, it is also the production coordinators and production manager's who work on TV commercials & music videos.

Fair Labor Standards laws are among the most violated laws in the nation. People get screwed over regarding mandatory overtime constantly. I am glad to see these people saying they aren't going to put up with it anymore. If more companies lose a few lawsuits like this, maybe people will start getting paid the OT they deserve.

Thank god for the Unions, I use to be a PA and have to work those crazy long days with very little pay. I hope these guys get what they are asking for and it wakes up MTV who is known in the industry to be one of the worst places to work. they are known for their cheapness!