Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Pacific
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM: Introduction to Art and Labor in a Gig Economy with Michelle Beltran, Director, COEH Continuing Education, UC Berkeley
9:10 AM - 9:15 AM: Opening Remarks with Joely Fisher, Secretary-Treasurer and Co-Chair, National Government Affairs and Public Policy Committee, SAG-AFTRA
9:15 AM - 9:45 AM: Art Works with Deborah Cullinan, Vice President for the Arts, Stanford University
In California, arts and cultural production contribute significant value to our economy and fuel our collective wellbeing. Advances in technology, new ways of working, rising inequity, and social and political shifts bring uncertainty and also possibility to our current and future ways of working. Understanding the challenges and opportunities facing our creative workforce will help us shape a vital future for all Californians.
9:45 AM - 10:15 AM: Employment in the Arts in California: Scope and Challenges with Edward Yelin, PhD, Director, California Labor Laboratory, UC San Francisco
The California Labor Lab administered the California Work and Health Survey to a random sample of the State's residents in late 2022 and early 2023. In the survey, respondents characterized their occupations and industries for both a main and second job. Using the results, we show the extent of arts-related employment, how individuals are hired to work in the arts, who does this kind of work and where they live, and the effect on economic well-being.
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM: Joint Q&A with Deborah Cullinan and Edward Yelin, PhD, moderated by Laura Stock, MPH, Director Emeritus, Labor Occupational Health Program
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM: Break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM: Specworld: Creator Supply-Lines and Aspirational Labor in Hollywood and Media with John Caldwell, MFA, PhD, Distinguished Research Professor, UC Los Angeles
Hollywood has long been shaped by powerful media conglomerates, but in today's entertainment industry, corporate influence extends beyond production budgets and box office—it structures the very way the workforce is harvested and incentivized to make unpaid spec-work part of their profession. Dr. John Caldwell will unpack the industrial logic of underemployment and aspiration in film production, examining how conglomerates oversee the oversupply of creative labor to maximize intellectual property value, franchise potential, and global marketability. Drawing from his research on "Specworld," he will explore how industry practices shape the uncredited labor of filmmakers, writers, and below-the-line workers, shedding light on the hidden hierarchies, precarity, and speculative economics that monetize modern media-making.
11:15 AM - 11:45 PM: Below the Stars: How Working Actors and Extras Navigate the Competitive Media Landscape with Kate Fortmueller, PhD, Associate Professor, Georgia State University
Dr. Kate Fortmueller will explore the diversity of employment within the acting profession, the role of unions in supporting performers, and how actors serve as a model for navigating precarity in creative work. As more people pursue careers in the arts and media, understanding the structures that sustain (or fail to sustain) working actors provides critical insight into the broader landscape of artistic labor today.
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM: Joint Q&A with John Caldwell, MFA, PhD and Kate Fortmueller, PhD, moderated by Laura Stock, MPH
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM: Lunch
12:45 PM - 1:25 PM: Why Community is Your Greatest Asset: Collaboration & Careers in The Music Industry with Stefan Aronsen, MFA, Co-Founder, Balanced Breakfast; Loryn Barbeau, MM, Leader of Balanced Breakfast San Francisco; and Michael Bang, MA, Leader of Balanced Breakfast Oakland; moderated by Michelle Beltran
For many music industry professionals, building a sustainable career means navigating a landscape of freelance work, unpredictable income, and ever-changing opportunities. How can industry professionals turn project-based work into long-term success? What role does community play in accessing new opportunities? Drawing from the Balanced Breakfast model—where music professionals connect through informal meetups to share strategies—this discussion will explore how collaboration, relationship-building, and creative entrepreneurship are essential for thriving in a dynamic industry. Panelists will share insights on adapting to industry shifts, leveraging partnerships, and creating stability in an unpredictable market.
1:25 PM - 1:40 PM: Theater Work is Real Work: A Journalist's Perspective with Lily Janiak, MA, Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle
For many, theater is a cultural cornerstone—an art form that inspires, entertains, and challenges audiences. But behind the curtain, the financial reality for theater artists tells a different story. Even top regional theater professionals often struggle to earn a living wage, and as funding dwindles and venues close, the precarity of theater work is only growing. In this talk, journalist Lily Janiak shares insights from her recent reporting on the economic challenges facing theater artists today. From dwindling paychecks to the gig-to-gig hustle, this session will explore how the industry’s structural issues mirror broader labor struggles and what can be done to support the professionals who bring stories to life on stage.
1:40 PM - 1:55 PM: Break
1:55 PM - 2:50 PM: The Future of Work in the Arts Panel Discussion with Jack Plotnick, Actor/Director/Writer/Teacher; Erica Knox, Research & Public Policy Director, Writers Guild of America West; Jillian Arnold, Recording and Workflow Engineer / President of Local 695 / IATSE AI Subcommittee Chair; and Victor Rubin, MCP, PhD, Policy Researcher and Consultant; moderated by Lily Janiak, MA
The arts have always been a precarious profession, but in an era of rapid technological change, industry-wide strikes, and shifting labor structures, working in creative fields has become more uncertain than ever. This closing panel brings together artists, union leaders, and policy experts to explore what it means to build a career in the arts today. Panelists will discuss the evolving landscape of artistic labor, including how unionization has shaped recent labor actions, what gains and compromises came out of the strikes, and how technology—especially AI—is influencing job security and artistic integrity. Panelists will also explore how efforts to enhance community health and development through arts and culture have created new sources of support for artists' work and stronger connections to local populations. Through firsthand accounts and broader industry analysis, this discussion will offer a candid look at what’s working, what isn’t, and where the arts economy is headed.
2:50 PM - 3:00 PM: Day 1 Summary & Wrap Up with Edward Yelin, PhD
Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Pacific
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM: Revisiting Key Themes from Day 1 with Cristina Banks, PhD, Associate Director, California Labor Lab, UC San Francisco
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM: Tipwork on Television: Service Work and Precarity in Popular Media with Annie McClanahan, PhD, Associate Professor, UC Irvine
This talk explores the history of service work as represented on popular television, arguing that contemporary TV registers the rise of tipwork’s economic uncertainty not just in its content but in its very form—through fragmented narratives and precarious protagonists. Dr. Annie McClanahan examines what these portrayals reveal about enduring anxieties surrounding service work: its uniquely intimate yet deeply exploitative nature, its domination of the worker’s time and selfhood, and its precarious position in an increasingly unstable economy.
9:40 AM - 10:10 AM: Comedy Against Work: Laughter as Resistance with Madeline Lane-McKinley, PhD, Adjunct Professor, UC Santa Cruz and Pacific Northwest College of Art
What does it mean to laugh at work? This talk explores comedy as a form of critical negation—how humor in cultural representations of labor can serve as an anti-work practice. Dr. Madeline Lane-McKinley examines how satire, absurdity, and comedic portrayals of work challenge dominant narratives about labor, productivity, and exploitation, offering a space for resistance and refusal.
10:10 AM - 10:45 AM: Panel Discussion with Annie McClanahan, PhD; Madeline Lane, PhD; and Willy Friedman, TV Producer; moderated by Cristina Banks, PhD
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM: Break
11:00 AM - 11:40 AM: Working for a Living: Work Songs and Songs of Labor with Maureen Russell, MA, MLIS, CPhil, Archivist, UC Los Angeles
Work has long been a subject of song, but not all labor music is the same. This talk explores the distinction between work songs—music used to coordinate labor—and songs about labor, which reflect on the struggles, victories, and identities of working people. Drawing from the discipline of ethnomusicology, Maureen Russell examines how these traditions shape cultural memory and labor movements. The discussion will also highlight the many career paths in the arts beyond performance and academia, underscoring the broader landscape of labor in the creative industries.
11:40 AM - 12:25 PM: Labor on Screen and in Song: A Clips Session
Note: This presentation is not available for continuing education credit.
From television and film to music, popular media has long reflected the realities of work—its struggles, absurdities, and moments of resistance. This session features curated clips and songs that highlight the evolving portrayal of labor, gig work, and economic precarity. Through selected scenes and soundtracks, we’ll explore how media captures the contradictions of working life, offering both critique and catharsis.
12:25 PM - 1:10 PM: Lunch
1:10 PM - 1:40 PM: Precarity TV: Veena Sud and the Work of Writing for Television in the 21st Century with Joel Burges, PhD, Associate Professor of English and Visual & Cultural Studies, Director of Film & Media Studies, University of Rochester
What can an archive of scripts, emails, pitch notes, and whiteboards reveal about the hidden labor of television writing? Focusing on the work of Veena Sud (The Killing, Seven Seconds, The Stranger), this talk explores the creative and economic realities of writing for TV in the 21st century. Drawing from production materials Sud donated to the Writers Guild Foundation, Joel Burges examines how the writers' room functions as both a collaborative and contested space, shaped by the demands of prestige TV and the increasing instability of the industry. Connecting these insights to the rise of “precarity TV” on-screen and off, this talk considers how shifting labor conditions—including the unprecedented solidarity of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes—are transforming the future of television work.
1:40 PM - 2:10 PM: Contemporary Fiction and the Representational Problem of Labor with John Macintosh, PhD, Lecturer, University of Maryland, College Park
The representation of labor has long posed a challenge in literary studies—a challenge that has only deepened with the rise of diffuse and fragmented work in the service economy. This talk explores how contemporary fiction struggles to grapple with changes in the labor market while also developing new strategies to represent it. John Macintosh examines how novelists navigate the complexities of precarious work, shedding light on the evolving relationship between fiction and the realities of labor in the 21st century.
2:10 PM - 2:40 PM: Join Q&A with Joel Burges, PhD and John Macintosh, PhD; moderated by Cristina Banks, PhD
2:40 PM - 2:50 PM: Day 2 Summary & Wrap Up with Cristina Banks, PhD
