One TV show in which the wages paid to Alaska residents exceeded the wages paid to Outsiders is “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” in which $1.1 million was paid to Alaska residents and $1 million was paid to Outsiders. The subsidy to “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” was $1.2 million.
The producers spent $367,000 on instate transportation and $424,000 on food and lodging.
On “Deadliest Catch,” there is little money paid to Alaska residents. The state subsidy for season seven was $786,000, but only $44,000 was paid in wages to Alaskans. The wages to Outsiders were $1.3 million. The TV show spent close to $1 million more on food, lodging, locations, transportation and “other expenses.”
On “Deadliest Catch,” season six, the wages paid to Alaskans totaled $19,000, while $1 million was paid to people from Outside.
The first season of “Alaska State Troopers” qualified for a subsidy of $30,709. The show paid no money to Alaska residents and $66,204 to people who are not from Alaska. The second season also shows no wages and salaries to Alaskans and a subsidy of $93,000.
The state subsidy for “Ice Road Truckers,” season five, was $492,000. The Alaska wages were $295,000. The show spent more than a half-million on location expenses, food and lodging, etc. For season four, the show received a subsidy of $899,000 and paid $103,000 in wages to Alaskans and $1.3 million to Outsiders.
On every production there are expenses for food, lodging, transportation and locations, but the major costs are wages and salaries.
Without getting into the particulars, my daily routine was impacted by a commercial ( of some note that never aired ) for a day.
* Huge crew maybe 50 people
* disrupted the routine of the physical plant for their needs
* Breakfast and Lunch Buffet on site by Caterer, in all fairness, they invited us in the area to partake after they were fed, their was that much food.
* Spoke with a makeup artist, loved the job and noted she had to join the Union.
* Did I mention they were all Union "Grips" if you will....
So the question begs, are all these State Subsidies for these shows are not a Legislator / Governor based bone throw to the Film Unions....