美国国家公共电台 NPR--More shows and films are made in Mexico, where costs are low and unions are few

More shows and films are made in Mexico, where costs are low and unions are few

Transcript¹

The movie business is outsourcing to Mexico, as an increasingly attractive destination for film and television production. (Story first aired on Weekend Edition Sunday on May 21, 2023.)

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Lots of consumer goods, from washing machines to electric cars, are made in Mexico. But there's another industry, one you might not expect, that's increasingly moving its operations to Mexico. James Fredrick has this report from Mexico City.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And roll to you. Roll camera, roll sound.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Three, four - ready for take 13. Mark.

JAMES FREDRICK, BYLINE²: Through the director's monitor, I'm watching a familiar American scene. A millennial³ couple is in their neat middle-class kitchen feeding their baby. Dad gets distracted⁴ by his phone. But take a step back from the camera - this commercial is being filmed in an art deco house in Mexico City's Condesa neighborhood. Dozens of Mexican crew members buzz⁵ around an American photographer and Australian director leading the show.

What's happening behind me right now is that the production designer is moving some spices off a spice rack - their labels are in Spanish - and is replacing them with little plants.

The Mexican production designer Monica Bidault's job is often to make Mexico City look like anywhere USA for commercials like this one.

MONICA BIDAULT: I don't want to say that there's nothing we can't do, but we've done pretty wild things to make it match.

FREDRICK: More and more, American and European production companies are ditching Los Angeles for Mexico City to shoot commercials, TV and films. You've probably seen some of these ads. Six Super Bowl commercials from this year were filmed in Mexico. I'm not allowed to say which company this commercial is for, but trust me, you know the company. It's the second project in Mexico for Australian director Fiona McGee. She said she expected it to be bumpy⁶ at first.

FIONA MCGEE: The language barrier for me, being Australian and not speaking Spanish, even though I wish I did, was a challenge. But the support is pretty amazing here.

FREDRICK: Glued to McGee's side on set is Rodrigo Urbano, her first assistant director and translator.

MCGEE: Putting the phone and spoon down a little bit.

RODRIGO URBANO: (Speaking Spanish).

MCGEE: Dropping the spoon down. Now stay in that position.

URBANO: (Speaking Spanish).

FREDRICK: McGee loves working in Mexico and says some things are easier here.

MCGEE: So you have rolling sets. So if you're shooting multiple days, you're walking into sets that are already dressed and already lit, which is kind of unheard of in a lot of other places.

FREDRICK: Behind this advantage and behind moving any kind of production to Mexico are lower costs and fewer regulations.

AVELINO RODRIGUEZ: We tend to be a third of the cost of a comparable⁷ LA production - non-union, union.

URBANO: That's Avelino Rodriguez, CEO of the production services company The Lift and president of Mexico's National Film Chamber⁸. He said they've been working to bring the country up to global standards.

RODRIGUEZ: So we've made a concerted effort to train up the talent, and we grew the talent in the company, you know? And it paid off for the company and now for other companies.

FREDRICK: On this particular shoot, 97% of the crew was Mexican. But as with any outsourcing, the lingering⁹ question is what this means for American film workers who are heavily unionized in stark¹⁰ contrast to their Mexican counterparts¹¹. NPR reached out to several U.S. film industry unions and none responded to our questions. The other draw is the city itself, which became a destination for artists during COVID quarantine.

RODRIGUEZ: Now you have directors that have stayed here, production designers that have stayed here, from all sorts of jobs from the creative industries that are now permanent residents in Mexico.

FREDRICK: With a business-friendly film commission¹² that makes permitting easy, the film industry in Mexico City is running at all-time highs as more productions come in from abroad. Different labor¹³ standards are sure to be an issue. But regardless of what happens in Hollywood, more and more of what you see on your TV will be made in Mexico.

URBANO: (Speaking Spanish).

FREDRICK: For NPR News, I'm James Fredrick in Mexico City.

(SOUNDBITE OF CITY OF THE SUN'S "SPAGHETTI")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

4 distracted   

a.注意力分散的，思想不集中的

参考例句：

• When working, one should concentrate and not allow oneself to be distracted. 工作时要集中精力，不要分心。
• Noise outside distracted her mind from her studies. 门外的噪音使她心神不宁，无法集中注意力学习。

5 buzz   

v.充满了激动或活动的声音，发出低沉的声音

参考例句：

• My brain was in buzz.我的脑袋嗡嗡响。
• A buzz went through the crowded courtroom.拥挤的法庭里响起了一片乱哄哄的说话声。

6 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

7 comparable   

adj.相似的，同类的，可比的，比得上的

参考例句：

• A fire is comparable with the sun,both give light and heat.火可以和太阳相比，两者都可以发光发热。
• No horse has a speed comparable to that of his.没有一匹马的速度能比得上他的马。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 lingering   

a.拖延的，依依不舍的

参考例句：

• a painful and lingering death 痛苦而拖延时日的死亡
• Unemployment and lingering disease cooperated to make his family broken. 失业加上长期的疾病，使他倾家荡产。

10 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

11 counterparts   

与对方地位相当的人，与另一方作用相当的物( counterpart的名词复数 )； 同仁

参考例句：

• Deep-sea valleys are the counterparts of the mountain chains. 深海里的峡谷相当于陆地上的山脉。
• Many states have enacted their own counterparts to RCRA and CERCLA. 许多州都已经针对《资源保护和恢复法》和《综合性环境反应、赔偿与责任法案》制定了他们各自的实施细则。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

12 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

13 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。