Since Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York” star Bethenny Frankel called for reality stars to join striking writers and actors on the picket line, her “reality TV reckoning” has picked up support from SAG-AFTRA and prompted legal action, but some insiders are cynical how far Frankel’s efforts will go to substantially transform the industry.
“Like anything that is a movement, or a revolution, it takes a lot of different factors to come together, and I don’t know that this time, there are those factors happening,” unscripted producer Justin Hochberg, who has served as an EP on shows including “The Apprentice” and “Buying Beverly Hills,” told TheWrap, adding that the infrastructure for reality doesn’t exist in the same way that unions and guilds support the rest of the industry.