Not many publicists will talk about the strikes – especially not publicly. It is our job to stay in the background and navigate the public-facing and oftentimes private worlds of the talent we represent.
It’s a career that I have loved for nearly two decades. Publicists are paid a fee to deliver impactful campaigns that can move the needle for our clients’ careers, but my journey is much deeper than media placement, making sure that photo approvals are completed, or ensuring that a plane arrives on time for an overseas premiere. Representation is a responsibility, and not one that I take lightly.
In 2010, I launched Persona PR out of my apartment with no larger agency experience and have worked to build my business from the ground up. As my company has expanded over the years, I have grown into more than a talent representative, and am now a full-fledged business owner, taking on employees and their livelihoods and wellbeing. I work to be a great partner for the companies we share business with, aspire to be a mentor to publicists coming up-the-ranks and became a wife and a mother to two children, as Persona PR has grown.
Cut to January 2023, and we — and this is a collective we – survived the Covid shutdown. We complied with extreme testing standards that the entertainment industry was held to for years, while much of the country went about living their daily lives as normal. In 2020, we pivoted from in-person press junkets and red carpet events to virtual, and worked tooth-and-nail to remain valuable and impactful on our clients’ teams. As a boutique publicity firm owner, I kept my doors open, kept people employed in Los Angeles and New York City, paid my health insurance bills to keep benefits active and made our 401(k) contributions on time. I paid my staff before I paid myself. I worked around the clock on nights and weekends to survive, and continued to support my staff and service our clients within the Persona PR family.
Now, we are being told we cannot do our jobs at all. This is different than Covid. This is worse.
Let me be clear: I support the strikes. I support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, and after reading through the items that the AMPTP rejected, I better understand the necessity of these strikes, which are critical. Basic business principles and rights that the AMPTP is rejecting include paying people on time, sharing revenue, protecting children in the entertainment industry, protecting people from AI and continuing to honor their craft. Actors, writers, and the various members who make up these guilds have been working unprotected for years.
I love my clients, and I want them to be paid and treated fairly. They deserve it. The time has come, and it is well overdue.
However, in this process, we cannot forget the slew of people outside of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA who are not able to work until these strikes are over. Not just publicists like me whose main body of work is representing talent — but hair stylists, makeup artists, stylists, photographers, talent bookers, caterers, drivers and event-driven PR companies (to name a few) that are getting decimated. And it is only the first week.
Many of us just started making real money again, post-pandemic, and many of us just lost most or all jobs immediately, as of Friday, July 14. These losses are not just in Los Angeles, but in every major city where productions are running.
As for where I sit today, I will continue to keep this machine running, put in the nights and weekends, pivot where possible and work to keep my staff employed as long as possible. But in full transparency, I am tired. Covid PTSD is real.
The heads of these massive corporations and studios who rake in $100 million a year don’t care about us. They will let us starve and lose our homes. Maybe if enough people make noise, we can limit the damage of these shutdowns and come to agreements sooner rather than later.
As a publicist – a representative of these hard-working artists, who are out in the summer heat protesting for basic rights to be given to them – and as a business owner, a wife, a mom and a small voice in this ecosystem we love, which is the entertainment industry, I remain hopeful that a deal will be made. And soon.
Jordyn Palos is the founder of Persona PR, which she launched in 2010. With offices in Los Angeles and New York City, Persona has a clientele that includes award-winning film and television actors, New York Times bestselling authors, influencers, beauty and lifestyle experts, comedians, production companies, and musicians. Palos was named one of Variety’s “Hollywood’s New Leaders” 2015.
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