"Biggest Loser" suspends production due to labor dispute (Update)

“Biggest Loser” suspends production due to labor dispute (Update)

Nov. 10, 2010 7 AM PT

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[UPDATE: IATSE confirmed Wednesday that it was on strike against the show and its producers. IA International President Matthew D. Loeb said: “This is a top-rated prime-time television show, and the crew remains unified. ‘The strike is the result of a unanimous decision by members of the production crew that they get a contract similar to others covering these types of productions, and we are resolute in getting it for them.”]

A labor fracas has shut down production on the reality TV show ‘The Biggest Loser.’

Crew members walked off the Los Angeles set of the show on Monday as part of a campaign to unionize.

The crew members are seeking to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents below-the-line workers in the entertainment industry, but the show’s producers Reveille and 3Ball Productions have opposed the effort.

The standoff halted production Monday and Tuesday and no filming was scheduled for Wednesday, said two people familiar with the dispute.

Now in its 10th season, ‘The Biggest Loser’ is a mainstay of NBC’s lineup. Representatives of NBC and IATSE declined comment Tuesday night on the dispute, which was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

-Richard Verrier

Company Town Blog

Richard Verrier

Richard Verrier is investigations editor for Arts and Entertainment at the Los Angeles Times. He has been with The Times since 2001 and has run our Company Town since 2016. After stints at the St. Petersburg Times and the Orlando Sentinel in Florida, Verrier joined the paper as a reporter, and for many years covered all aspects of the entertainment industry before turning to editing. He oversees the Company Town coverage while working to guide and edit investigative and enterprise reporting across the entertainment team, collaborating with writers and editors from all departments. He is a native of Montreal and a graduate from the University of Toronto and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.