Everyone has the right to a safe work environment free from discrimination and harassment. Below are some helpful resources for dealing with workplace conflict. Please contact our office if you have any questions or need assistance.
Workplace Harassment
Everyone has the right to a work environment free from discrimination and harassment based on race, religion, national origin, color, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, or protected activity or class under state or federal law.
Workplace harassment can include conduct that is unwelcome, pervasive, demeaning, ridiculing, derisive, or coercive, and results in a hostile, offensive, or intimidating work environment.
The Utah Film Commission requests all production companies receiving a film incentive have a workplace harassment prevention policy in place and provide a safe work environment.
If you feel you are being subjected to workplace harassment, retaliation, or both you should do the following:
- document the occurrence;
- continue to report to work;
- identify a witness(es), if applicable; and
- file an oral or written complaint with your immediate supervisor, or any other supervisor within your chain of command.
Additional Resources
Set Safety
While set safety is often attributed to the AD and the Key Grip’s responsibilities, safety should be the concern of everyone on set. Safety is common sense, but sometimes in the film industry when the goal is to ‘get the shot’ or ‘make the day’ – common sense can go out the window.
If you feel you are being put in a foreseeably dangerous situation by a production, don’t be afraid to speak up and point it out.
Your first step should be to bring it to the attention of the 1st AD. If you don’t feel you are being heard, then go to your UPM. If they don’t listen, contact the Utah Film Commission at film@utah.gov. We are not a regulatory agency, but will be happy to address any safety concerns with the producers and can do so without revealing the identity of the caller.
Additional Resources
Learn more about what it means to be safe with firearms on set.
Payment Disputes
If you feel you did not receive the agreed-upon payment for your work, your first step should always be to contact your supervisor. If they can’t help, you should reach out to the project’s UPM or the production Accountant. Be sure to have a copy of your timecard, deal memo, call sheets and any other corroborating paperwork; emails, texts, etc. in hand.
If the production company’s representatives are still unwilling or unable to pay you for your work, the next step would be to contact the Utah Labor Commission and file a Wage Claim form with the Utah Labor Commission’s Utah Anti-discrimination and Labor Division (UALD). More information can be found on Utah Labor Commission’s website here.
You may also want to notify our office about your labor dispute. While the Utah Film Commission is not a regulatory agency like the UALD, we may be able to help mediate.
