Ugly Betty Production In Danger After NYC Move.

6 months ago 09th May 22:01

Ugly Betty Production In Danger After NYC Move....

Furious crewmembers on sitcom Ugly Betty are protesting the loss of hundreds of jobs on the hit TV show, when production moves from Los Angeles to New York City.

Plans to transfer the programme's production to the Big Apple were announced on Tuesday (06May08), but 300 people who currently contribute to the making of the programme - ranging from the dry cleaners and caterers to the construction firms - have slammed the show's bosses for the move.

And they are making their feelings known by taking out a full-page advert in Hollywood's top trade paper Variety, hitting out at the shock decision, which aims to take advantage of New York's new tax credits for Hollywood productions.

The disgruntled staff have all rallied together to raise the cash for the eye-catching ad, in which they write an open letter addressed to Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other local authorities to help stop the loss of more business.

The letter reads: "We are writing to you because we just lost our jobs. We are the 300 plus members of the crew of the television show Ugly Betty. We were informed this Tuesday that the production of our show is moving to New York primarily because of the 35 per cent tax incentives being offered by the state of New York.

"Instead of making good wages and paying our fair share of California state income tax, we will all be collecting Unemployment Benefits. In addition, we will certainly be cutting our spending back to the bone, which will not only cut back our sales tax contributions substantially, but it could end up costing the jobs of the people who provide services and products to us. Not only are these crew positions being lost; all of our local vendors are losing our business...

"So, while the loss of our individual positions may be insignificant, the loss of this production is staggering. Now multiply this by all the other productions going to New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina and other states with incentives, not to mention Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Europe, etc. and the cost to the California state economy is monumental.

We implore you to do everything in your power to level the playing field and bring our jobs back to California by enacting meaningful incentives to keep film and television production in our state.".