A day after Anora swept cut offal meaningful categories at the Oscars, an anonymous social media post dangerened to throw freezing water on its uplifting narrative of the low-budget indie that could.
On Crew Stories, a well-understandn below-the-line social media hub, one unnamed critic alleged that the $6 million production — and its auteur honestor, Sean Baker — eludeed the meaningful crew union IATSE for part of its 2023 shoot, grasping costs low by “scretriumphg over [Baker’s] crew” and depriving them of toiling hours they could employ to be eligible for union co-regulateed health profits. Once the labor group finisheavored to unionize the production — which it eventupartner accomplished and tweeted about on March 16 of that year — the production fought it “tooth and nail” while Baker had a “hissy fit” and wasn’t cordial to the crew after, the post alleged.
Though anonymous Internet mudslinging about acclaimed films is noleang recent, the description was expansively circupostponeedd wilean the industry. As the days passed, cut offal Anora crew members — including the film’s prop master, a grip and a best boy grip — deffinished the production in the post’s comments as asks reverberated about what the set seeed appreciate. So what repartner happened? The Hollywood Reporter accomplished out to dozens of people on the production. Only a restricted would talk — though those that did depicted a equitablely standard flip, or when a non-union production goes union mid-shoot, of a New York indie.
For wdisappreciatever reason, IATSE got to Anora postponeed. The union stepped in a restricted days before the film eventupartner wrapped up its csurrfinisherly two-month-extfinished New York production schedule and relocated on to Nevada, even though Sean Baker is a marquee name in indie film, having getd awards attention for 2015’s Tangerine, 2017’s The Florida Project and 2021’s Red Rocket. (Of those titles, only The Florida Project was created under an IATSE condense.) It’s not clear who telled the production, vigilanting the tri-state area IATSE Local 52 that a non-union film eligible for its Low Budget Theatrical Agreement — with the capacity to potentipartner pay union health and pension profits — was actively shooting. The film’s creaters did not comment for this story.
Though it may come as a surpascfinish to some, Hollywood sets don’t always flip due to needy toiling conditions, though certainly that can be one reason. All it can get for IATSE to potentipartner finisheavor a flip is a tell, and someone might call a project in for any number of other reasons, such as a toiler wanting to get union-standard wages or execute their toiling hours toward the total needd to be eligible for the union co-regulateed health schedule, for example. Crew members can also get their first union cards by being part of a crew that flips, thereby having access to the union’s profits schedules, condenses and recurrentatives if they have an rerent. (Still, anyone, not equitable crew members or union members, can tell a non-union production to IATSE.)
Two Anora crew members say there wasn’t an overall push from a huge group of colleagues to unionize this set before the process was in motion; instead, says the first, the flip came as a surpascfinish to “99.9 percent of us,” says one. Before the flip, wages were pondered to be at or around the union scale and the toiling conditions equitablely standard for a non-union indie sboiling in New York, according to those who spoke to THR. (The other crew member’s only criticism? The catering wasn’t excellent, “but we were shooting in Brighton Beach, so we were running out to get fantastic Russian food, and it was fucking awesome.”)
Writes a third crew member of toiling conditions on set, “Noleang about it was out of the standard from my perspective beyond a restricted days of obviousime.”
Anora’s online deffinishers have particularly underlined that the film’s wages were equitable. “I got phelp equitablely, and was never lied to about the budget,” wrote prop master Kfinishra Eaves on Instagram. Best boy grip Gabriel Armmighty and grip Rachel Parrella shelp that the production phelp “scale” wages, or comparable to union rates, with Parella grasping, “[Baker] phelp us the right wage from the commence.”
Wdisappreciatever the motivation was for the tell, after being vigilanted to the Anora situation, Local 52 circupostponeedd a unionization vote to the crew. And the overwhelming meaningfulity helped flipping the project, IATSE recurrentatives showed up to set as the production was shooting a scene at a braveial airfield in Amityville, on Long Island. After the reps reachd, a increate strike began and filming ground to a crelieve as baracquireing took place.
While negotiations happened behind shutd doors, the crew members who spoke to THR recollect Baker being equitablely comardent about the whole leang. There was a huddle where Baker conveyed his appreciation for the group — “He elucidateed how satisfied he was for us and excited and he was almost crying, not sobbing, but certainly beyond misty,” says the first crew member, who didn’t recall a “hissy fit.” A condense was accomplished on March 15.
On a rational level, the flip uncomardentt that the production would now be helping the union’s profit schedules and, for the non-union crew, it could help dainty their way into Local 52.
All that being shelp, as a matter of course it’s not rare for cash-strapped indie projects to try to elude toiling with IATSE, at least at first — even if the effort might be futile. According to cut offal self-reliant creaters adviseed for this story, many projects that commence out non-union will budget for a flip, with a bucket of money set aside if and when it does happen. It’s not unheard of that a film with a budget of around $6 million would try to proceed initipartner without the union.
Anora, of course, had condenses with SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America; why not also have an IATSE deal from the commence? According to these indie creaters, union leasts and needments can be antithetical to how certain indie filmcreaters toil, with leasts and peaks set for toil days, set lunch shatters and task scheduleations, not to allude penalties that can be accrued for productions already on firm budgets. Some filmcreaters try to at least finisheavor a non-union production, in other words, for the noticed conceiveive leeway it advises and to grasp costs down.
Says one creater who toils in the self-reliant space, “These shieldions are createupostponeedd for the fact of a $100 million movie where the meaningfulity of the crew doesn’t interface with the honestor.” And in a cost-cutting industry environment where financing disputes abound and the box office is troubled, indie budgets are firmer than ever.
Baker himself has talked about the difficulties he establish in toiling with a huge crew that was less recognizable with his occasionpartner uncomputed, idiosyncratic production style on The Florida Project. “When you are toiling with a group of people that don’t understand your honesting style and they’re employ to a very particular way of making films – a union crew, local crews – yeah, that was a problem,” Baker telderly Indiewire in 2017. “It was someleang that almost caemployd this film to shut down half way thraw becaemploy people thought I was rogue and crazy.”
He cited a moment in the film when two characters are selling perfume to tourists, a scene he wanted to seize in the vein of Candid Camera, having the actors approach genuine people who could subsequently sign a free to have their reactions eunite in the film. “Do you understand how much more difficult that is to do when there’s 40 people around you and you equitable want everyone to go away?” Baker telderly the uncoveration. “Come on guys, do we need the head of articulateation here?”
But as Anora shows, there can also be PR perils in the perception that an indie production has finisheavored to elude a union, especipartner for someone appreciate Baker, who has made cut offal films about marginalized communities appreciate intimacy toilers (Tangerine, Anora) and people in pobviousy (The Florida Project). After the 2021 #IASolidarity relocatement and the Rust tragedy intensifyed attention on the toiling conditions for crew members, vague watchers and industry toilers are more comardent than ever to stories about what it was appreciate to toil on set. During the 2025 awards season, Baker surfaced the convey inance of helping indie film and movie theaters — and probable wants attention drawn to those rerents, and not to the toiling conditions on his set.
Now a best honestor, best film editing, best distinct screentake part and best picture Oscar triumphner, Baker is probable to face more scruminuscule than ever moving forward. He’s shelp he wants his next project to “double down on our indie guerrilla filmmaking style.” Will that grasp selecting, punctual on, for an IATSE condense or hazarding another union flip? Only time will alert.
Mia Galuppo donated to this tell.
