California congressman Eric Swalwell is a busy man these days. So busy, in fact, that he's managed to skip more roll call votes on Capitol Hill this year that Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died back in March. The anti-gunner has been spending a lot of time chumming around Hollywood and courting celebrities in his bid to succeed Gavin Newsom as California governor, according to the New York Post, which noted he missed two votes so he could make an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show a couple of weeks ago.
Swalwell isn't just courting Hollywood in his gubernatorial campaign, though. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, Swalwell is getting personally involved in the entertainment industry by co-executive producing a movie along with his fellow gun control fan Sean Penn.
The Gun on Second Street is being billed as an "allegory of the gun crisis in the United States," and stars noted thespians Tom Arnold and Rumer Willis. It's currently filming in Wheeling, West Virginia... or at least it was before some crew members staged a walkout on Thursday after producers reportedly refused to recognize their union.
The crew formed a chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees after what Deadline Hollywood describes as a "series of labor issues."
Crew members have reported below-industry-standard wages and health/retirement benefits and also say they’ve been misclassified as independent contractors.
... Per IATSE, crew members gave a deadline of 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday for production leadership to engage in talks before going on strike. The international union has also ordered all of its members not to cross the picket line or accept work from the production, should they try to replace striking crew.
"Every production, regardless of budget or political connections, must respect the rights of the people who make film and television possible. The Alliance is prepared to support this crew as they take collective action to secure safe working conditions, fair compensation, proper classification and a voice on the job," IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb said in a statement Thursday. "These workers deserve the same rights and protections film and tv workers have across the country. I'm proud of this crew for standing together in this moment and fighting for what's right in the face of tremendous pressure. It is now the producers' responsibility to meet them at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith."
Supposedly Swalwell is one of the least wealthy members of Congress, so you'd think he'd be more sympathetic to the salary concerns of crew members of the independently produced film (though his alleged lack of financial resources raises questions about, exactly his executive producer position actually entails).
The good news for these crew members is that, with Swalwell actively wooing Hollywood celebrities to back the goober's gubernatorial campaign, the last thing he needs is to get crosswise with a union that has sizable clout in the entertainment industry. It's in Swalwell's best interest to resolve this dispute quickly, even if he's not the only person on the production team.
The bad news for everyone else is that this stinker is probably going to get released at some point, and even if it doesn't make Swalwel any money it will almost certainly generate some free media for the anti-gun politician.
This isn't Swalwell's first foray into movie-making. It's actually the second flick he's co-produced with Sean Penn, though almost every one in the United States missed their first effort. Words of War, a biopic about Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, was released in May of this year and earned a whopping total of $574 (no, I didn't forget any zeros) worldwide according to Box Office Mojo.
Words of War actually has an interesting premise, unlike his new gun control film, which supposedly centers a pair of Pittsburgh police partners who are also best friends. One of them is killed by his partner, though, when responding to a domestic dispute on Second Street, and he leaves Pittsburgh in an attempt to escape his trauma. Several years later (and after leaving law enforcement altogether), he comes back to the 'Burgh, only to fall in love with the widow of the best friend he killed.
It's hard to imagine a movie being less successful than War of Words, but The Gun on Second Street sounds so terrible it wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't even make $100 in its release. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if its never released in theaters at all given the schlocky plot and casting choices like Tom Arnold, who has recently starred in instant classics like Ape v. Mecha Ape, Alien Storm, and Good Mourning (written, produced, directed, and starring Machine Gun Kelly). That last movie was apparently so awful that even with Kelly and Megan Fox, it took in less than $22,000 at the box office.
That still blows Swalwell's filmography out of the water, so maybe Arnold will give Swalwell the boost he needs to make $1,000 off of The Gun on Second Street... if Swalwell, Penn, and the production team can come to any kind of agreement with crew members over safe working conditions and fair compensation for their jobs, that is.
Editor’s Note: The entertainment industry is already pretty hostile to our Second Amendment rights, even without Swalwell's involvement, and the anti-gunners will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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