With #PayUpHollywood, assistants speak out

In Hollywood, working as an assistant is a time-honored way to break into the business. No one should expect those jobs to be glamorous, but now assistants are saying that their working conditions are intolerable and even detrimental to the industry. While the cost of living in LA has gone up, assistants’ wages have not. Add to that unpaid overtime and abusive bosses, and you have a toxic stew, says writer and former assistant Liz Alper, who created the #PayUpHollyood hashtag. Alper and a current assistant share stories from the trenches, and explain why assistants feel now is the time to demand change, for the sake of the assistants themselves and the future of the industry.