Steven Poster ASC reflects on the tough times experienced by the industry recently and in the past and how the comradery and compassion the cinematographic industry is so renowned for can help support filmmakers.  

Those of us who have been in the trenches for at least several decades have all experienced some form of hard times. Whether it comes at the beginning, middle or end of a career, you can’t avoid experiencing some difficulty. We are in an uncertain business that fluctuates all the time. 

However, what is different in this horrible downturn we’ve been feeling for over a year now in our end of the business is that it seems universal, in every corner of the world. We are suffering together. From just not getting any possibility of employment, to losing your healthcare (which you don’t have to worry about in the UK) to losing your house or being forced to move to another location to try to find work or leaving the industry altogether. It’s all been very difficult. 

But before I get too dark, I can see that there is a steadying beginning to happen. Small increases of production are starting up in every market. Stages are being built all over the world. Many of these facilities already have long-term commitments for production. Pre-production steps are being taken in every corner. The LA Times is reporting that parking lots at the studios are beginning to fill up. Whether for streaming, or television our Sisters and Brothers are starting to prepare to go back to work. 

It will take some time to find our way back to some kind of normalcy. I’m also reasonably sure there will be changes in the industry. Part of the reason for the extreme slowdown were the two labour strikes that took place last year. Both yielded good outcomes for the members as did the labour negotiations and our new contract for all the craft unions which was accomplished without a labour action. Another reason for the extreme slowdown after the pandemic and the fights for better contracts was a glut of new product produced by the streamers. I’m sure the paradigm will shift soon. But the work will steadily increase as things begin to normalise. 

There is something I’ve noticed throughout our craft communities during these difficult times. People reached out to help each other all over our industry. This is the real meaning of solidarity. There were official assistance programs throughout the craft unions. There were funds for subsistence and accommodations for hours needed for our health plans. On many of the shows that were ongoing some of the standing crews would rotate out to allow a member who only needed a few hours to qualify for benefits to get those hours. I know it’s different in the UK. But this is just an example of how we were able to help our colleagues here. I’m sure similar situations were going on across our worldwide industry, because we are a compassionate bunch of people. And what I have observed amongst cinematographers is that we like each other. I know that sounds like a simplification, but I find it to be true. 

We wouldn’t have our clubhouses if it weren’t true. The ASC and the BSC have places we like to gather to talk and listen to each other and find out what’s going on with our friends. Then there are events like Camerimage and now Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers Film Festival with its growing popularity amongst our colleagues. We like to gather to celebrate our art and craft and be with our friends from around the world. There are trade shows like Cine Gear Expo in Hollywood, Atlanta and New York, your own BSC Expo in the UK and Micro Salon in Paris and Madrid where we can gather to find out about the latest new tools and meet our friends. I don’t know any one of us who doesn’t like sharing discussions about our work. We love talking about our work. 

All this camaraderie isn’t new to our community. In the United States it started officially in 1919 with the Static Club which eventually became the American Society of Cinematographers. The British Society of Cinematographers was founded in 1949. 

And, in tough times we always stick together. In 1980, I was working on a movie called The Border as second unit director of photography for Vilmos Zsigmond ASC. We were on location in the desert near El Paso, Texas when we got word of an impending Screen Actors Guild strike. We all felt that we were so far off the beaten track that we would probably be able to finish the movie. But the next day a pickup truck drove onto our set and a guy stood up on the bed of the truck and with a loudhailer who told us to all go back to our motel and pack up because we were being sent home that night. 

After a week at home my friends Andy Romanoff and Jim Dyer who were on the movie with me decided to have lunch. That day we decided to do this every week that we weren’t working. And we even gave the lunch a name. We became “The Out Of Work For Lunch Bunch.” We started out with three of us and every week we grew bigger until we were over 50 every week until the strike finally was settled. It was fun. It was comforting and it was friends hanging out. We stick together in tough times. And these have been some of the toughest I’ve ever seen.