The Business Manager position for IATSE Local 476 has drawn interest from several qualified candidates in this election year, each bringing unique backgrounds and goals focused on supporting the union’s growth and initiatives.
We interviewed the four candidates, giving each a forum to voice their goals for the coming term.
The election is taking place on December 9, 2024, during a period of significant growth for Local 476, which represents many key crew positions in Chicago’s film, TV and commercial production industry.
The incumbent Business Manager, Tony Barracca, has been at the helm through three years of historic hardships caused by the aftermath of COVID, and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Barracca, was elected on January 1, 2022 following Mark Hogan who served in the position from January 2007 until his retirement in December 31, 2021. During his tenure, Hogan served multiple consecutive terms, significantly expanding membership and improving conditions for union members.
The Local 476 election ballots were mailed to the members on Monday. The election is scheduled for December 9, 2024, when members will cast their votes to fill this significant leadership role.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
Tony Barraca
What’s your origin story?
I grew up on the southwest side of the city by Midway Airport. We moved out to Orland Park in my high school days. My first job was in the seventh grade, getting up every day to deliver the Tribune at about 5 in the morning before people went to work. My first on-staff job was working in the kitchen at a banquet hall in Orland Park called the Riviera Country Club.
I got married at the age of 20 and moved to Tinley Park. I have been married for 40 years and have eight children. Six are married, one is soon to be married, and the other one still lives at home. Out of all those 16 people, counting my son’ s girlfriend, two of those are working actively in the local. We have 14 grandkids with one on the way in January.
What was your first job in film?
My first film was a movie called Chain Reaction. I did the wrap. It was a three-month wrap to shut the show down and pack it up. My first job as a lead man was on the television series, Early Edition.
You spent a good amount of your career working on set. How did you benefit from that when you made the transition into a position of leadership in IATSE?
I was boots on the ground up until three short years ago so I do understand what the members are going through. And I continue to be boots on the ground by going out to the to the studios and sets to visit the shooting crews and the off-production teams, like construction, paint, effects, set dressing.
Although I get a lot of calls from members, I find that many of the members will not take the time to call the office. They’re so busy and their lifestyles are so demanding, they don’t have time to call. And they don’t even want to call on the weekends because they feel like I won’t pick up the call on the weekends. But I do.
There’s a big benefit to walking around the studios or the sets. It’s amazing how I learn something new about a concern, or some information that I would have never got if I sat in the office all the time. They see you, they ask you, and we address it.
The IATSE motto is Stand Up, Fight Back. What have you had to face in this last term and what do you feel you are facing in this new term?
I’ve spent my past term just putting out fires. Getting us through the double strikes, saving health insurance, acquiring grants, holding fundraisers and food drives to help our members get through a historical low point in our industry.
There were tough decisions to make, but I feel a strong leadership has to make tough decisions, and those decisions affected me too.
We were at a point where our health care was in serious trouble with no contributions coming in and we managed in a short ten months to reduce our cost by 50% per month and also built the funds up immensely. We have about ten months of reserves in the coverage now, where before we were down to one and a half months. The government likes to see you stabilize at about seven months, that’s the benchmark. We are well past the benchmark and we’re going to continue to grow that fund.
The page has turned. In this next term, we can really focus on the things that we couldn’t get to, and we are moving forward. Definitely a number one goal of mine is to continue building our members’ resumes up, and for those who want a shot at becoming department heads, giving them every opportunity to do that. Number two, addressing non-union commercials and non-union features. We’ve done a lot of work in that over the last three years. We didn’t get them all, but we got numerous projects and commercials flipped to union jobs. And that is amazing. It’s a major focus moving forward and enhancing that ability. And then third, putting forward a plan to get the federal tax credit for the film industry as well. That process has already started. And, of course, enhancing our Illinois film tax credit so we can compete more effectively with some of these other states that are a little heavier than us. We’ve built teams to address that. We have to stand together and be partners on this.
As a whole, what do you feel is priority #1 in this position?
I’ve gone through my list of priorities, but overall at the end of the day, you have to respect everybody around you. And as far as verbal abuse, racism, all that stuff, there’s no place for it in life especially in the workforce because nobody should have to go to work with that hanging over their heads. The job is hard enough.
Nobody should have to deal with that because you can’t be the best you can be. And it divides the local. I will not support that at all. I want this local to be unified, just like my crews. We always worked together as a crew. We always respected each other. Otherwise, it’s a broken system.
It’s easy to poke fun and cut people down to build yourself up. But I just don’t have any room for that.
Why do you feel you are the better candidate for the role of Local 476 Business Manager/Secretary Treasurer?
There are many facets to this position. I don’t know the other candidates’ strengths and experience in leadership, or what kind of Business Manager/secretary treasurer these gentlemen could be. I can’t speak about them, but I have three years as the Business Manager during some of the most difficult times in our history, and I’ve been on the board for 12 years. So I have 15 years of hands on experience with the union office and I fully understand what is expected of me.
More importantly, I feel like one of my strengths is being a voice for people who don’t have a voice. I am very willing to speak up on behalf of other folks and that’s really what motivates me more than anything. We’re fighting for the right reasons. What we’re supporting is the right thing to do. That’s why I got into leadership.
Ed Donoghue
What’s your origin story?
I have been a member of local 476 for 17 years, working mostly in the Rigging Grip department and as of late in First Aid department. I am proud to be a second-generation member following in the footsteps of my late uncle Peter Donoghue. I am a lifelong Chicagoan growing up in the Taylor Street neighborhood, very close to Cinespace studio. I am a proud graduate of a CPS grammar school which is currently named Chicago World Language Academy. I graduated from Mt. Carmel high school on the south side. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, where I was a member of the football team for 3 years. I then attended Lumpkin school of business at Eastern Illinois University where I studied in the MBA program and played football for my final 2 years of eligibility. I have a medical degree from Southwestern University, College of Medicine. Currently I live with my girlfriend, Juliete, also on the near west side of Chicago.
What was your first job in film?
My first job in the film industry was actually in the stunt department for a movie filmed in Chicago called, The Express. If you haven’t seen it you really should, it’s an inspiring true story and Im very proud to have been a part of it. The first show I work on in our local, which is also probably the most well-known show I have worked on was, The Dark Knight as a permit in the Rigging Electrical department. It was coincidently on this show and crew that I first met Dan Gianneschi my opponent in this race and Chris Hudecek the President of our union. Even though I do not always see eye to eye with them on union politics I consider both to be good friends.
What position or set have you worked that was the most challenging?
The most challenging position or set I have worked on without a doubt was, Public Enemies. It was my first feature film as a card member. Up to that point I had only worked a couple of pilots in the Rigging Grip department for Kelly Borisy, who by the way is one of the most knowledgeable and generous people I have encountered in this business. He really went above and beyond to teach me from the ground up. I try remembering how helpful he was to me whenever I work with someone new to the business and try to pay that forward.
Public Enemies was by far the most challenging. If my memory serves me correctly it was the largest production in the country that year. It was filmed in multiple locations throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. It was more like a touring rock show. We were on the road for weeks at a time, filming in as many of the actual locations as possible. I made lifelong friends on that show and even though it was stressful, extremely long hours, and away from home, I look back on it with only fond memories.
What makes you want to move into a position of leadership in IATSE?
I have to be honest I never envisioned myself running for a position of leadership in the Local. I was one of those members who was content to let someone else take care of it when things where running smoothly. But then our health care crisis hit and that changed everything. It was a wake up call for me. I started attending every meeting and asking tough questions to our current business manager. Far to often the answers given were convoluted and less than straight forward, in my opinion. As anger and frustration grew among the members, I began to have conversations about who should run to replace Tony. No one I spoke to seemed excited about the prospect of a rematch between Brother Connelly and Brother Barracca. Several members told me I should run but I brushed it off. However, after some more time and some soul searching, and a long conversation with my girlfriend, she encouraged me to run. She pointed out that talking to her about the problems (I am sure way more than she wanted to hear) and practical solutions accomplished nothing. That if I really wanted to make positive contribution that I need to obtain a leadership position in the union.
The IATSE motto is Stand Up, Fight Back. What do you feel are the threats facing your members that you want to address in this new term?
I should have that tattooed somewhere on my body. Anyone who knows me well, knows that is basically the motto I live my life by. The number one issue we must address is bringing more work to Chicago. You can trace our lack of work directly back to the failure to get the enhanced tax incentive pushed through last spring. We really need to step up our game in terms of lobbying to keep our tax incentive competitive and selling our area as a prime location to film. To do this I believe we have to organize the stake holders; the other IATSE locals, the Teamsters and the studios to invest in a professional team consisting of lobbyist, marketing, and sales personal. We cannot continue the old way of letting work come to us. We must go out and make it happen!
As a whole, what do you feel is priority #1 in this position?
Number one our membership is suffering from a crisis of confidence in our Business manager position. I would say the biggest scar that came out of the health plan crisis was that we were kept in the dark for so long. I don’t think there is anyone in our membership that is happy in the way that things transpired. We were given weeks to make major life decisions concerning our heath coverage. We should have been warned far in advance of the strike that our plan was in trouble. Our members are reasonable people, we would have accepted that the plan was not yet recovered from the essential emergency measures taken by Brother Hogan when he was business manager during COVID. We could have prepared our membership; the whole industry knew there was a work stoppage coming, granted no one knew how long it would last. But that is not relevant to this argument because our plan was on the verge of collapse within weeks of the strike starting. You cannot blame past leaders for you yourself not being honest and forthright with the membership. It does not hold water. Tony was the business manager for a year and a half at that point. He chose to keep us in the dark and in doing so he destroyed confidence in his ability to lead and make important decisions for our members. So, to the point, it is imperative that we elect a new business manager that has a clean slate and can restore faith and trust in the office.
Why do you feel you are the better candidate for the role of Local 476 Business Manager/Secretary Treasurer?
I think I bring a unique skill set to the position that none of my opponents possess. My Medical degree and business school experience will be invaluable in evaluating the health plans viability and restoring our members confidence in it. I will see more than numbers on our health plan ledger. I see the humanity of the situation. I promise to always be honest and forthright with our membership. I started in this business at the very end of the movie era in this city, just a couple of years before the emergence of Cinespace ushered in the TV era. I see myself as a bridge between those two eras. Someone with a clean slate to start moving our Local forward again. I hope to get the opportunity to make our local the shining star it once was and can be again.
Daniel Gianneschi
What’s your origin story?
I began my career with apprenticeships in IATSE Local 476 at Tyler Recording and Fred Niles Studios in Chicago, helping to launch the local’s first videotape facility.
After working extensively as an electrician on various feature films in the ’70s, I transitioned to sound and joined CBS News in Chicago. I spent a decade there before moving into freelance work as a videotape and documentary technician and documentary film producer, contributing to CBS Sunday Morning. Throughout my career, I have been honored with multiple Emmys, including one for A Conversation with Andrew Wyeth and another with the Detroit Free Press. Alongside my family, I produced an award-winning documentary, Cowboys, which took top honors at the Breckenridge Festival of Films.
Afterward, I returned to work in Local 476 as a rigging electrician, eventually working my way up to rigging gaffer, where, over the past few years, I have had the honor of working alongside Addae Shelby. Looking to the road ahead, I am running for business manager of IATSE 476 because I believe I have so much to give back to this union.
What was your first job in film?
I still remember it because I got lost going to Essanay-Argyle Studios, no cell phones or Waze then, just a pay phone to call home lol! It was a corporate film for an appliance maker and Dan Aykryod and Steve Martin were in it. Jimmy Miller was the gaffer, Joe Tompko, Johnny Miller, I think Bob Swander were the journeymen on site. Let’s just say arriving late, 18 yrs. old, long hair, no idea of what was going on! Oh, I was warmly welcomed, it was a very special and inauspicious start!
What position or set have you worked that was the most challenging?
It’s not a specific position. It’s when I’m being a day player working off the availability list. Nothing is more challenging personally to a Studio Mechanic because the stakes are so high. You must try and fall in, not draw attention but be seen, and have your presence felt and appreciated. Given the recent changes, it’s especially important to be professional and adaptable on set. Often, day players are hired through relationships with crew members outside formal union channels, which means building rapport without overstepping is crucial for earning trust and being asked back. There is nothing more challenging than that — especially if you have a family to provide for.
What makes you want to move into a position of leadership in IATSE?
It’s my opportunity to give back to my Union. The men and women who trained me and oversaw my progress, who were quick to correct me without criticism but humor and shared their knowledge so that Local 476 would always have the best technicians in the industry regardless of who you were. You were 476 and belonged to them and would be a representing of our Local. It is their name that I chose to run to keep the spirit of Local 476 and our Union alive, strong, and prosperous.
The IATSE motto is Stand Up, Fight Back. What do you feel are the threats facing your members that you want to address in this new term?
Let’s first just say that the Motto is out of date at best. As I spoke of earlier, the IA gave up hundreds and hundreds of jobs that were held by IA technicians from the very beginning of television news. Our technicians created the techniques and equipment that built the tv news industry, and the IA simply walked away gave it to the IBEW and NABET. No fight, no strike, just a handshake and hundreds of our members were unemployed. I still remember how crowded that meeting was. No fight back.
In the production industry, IA negotiations in the late ’80s caused many changes in working conditions i.e., drastic changes in meal penalties, two-tiered wage scales for day players, and more. The IA just signed a new contract but still have not restored our meal penalties, our day players still work under a two-tiered wage scale. Good wage increases were made but have not nearly addressed wage stagnation when compared to other National Unions like the UAW or Boeing. Add in the no strike clauses to our contracts and fighting back must wait till the next round of negotiations.
No, we must FIGHT FORWARD, I must fight forward if I am to improve conditions and opportunities for my members.
As to the threats, there are two threats. First, without question we must be honest and sincere about finding out what went wrong with our Health Insurance and what is the best path and plan forward. Do we stay Self Insured? Do we join the International, the Carpenters, or the Teamsters’ plans? I don’t have the answer now, and this is not the time for blame and recriminations, but diligence and investigation are necessary. The Membership demands answers and options, and the next administration must be sincere about transparency as a practice not a policy with this Fund and the other’s as well. This election is the only time in the next three years for the membership to influence the future of our healthcare and continuing doing the same things and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
Equally important is increasing work for all our members. we cannot count on having the incentive alone. We must think outside the box. We cannot just assume that every producer or creator of content is aware of our incredible workforce and the incentive that helps their hiring! We are competing against the WORLD! This is JOB 1 and Chicago’s presence must be felt consistently where content is created.
We must work with our International and Sister Illinois IA Mixed Locals and secure all of Illinois under Local 476’s jurisdiction. The incentive covers the State of Illinois and so must Local 476. There are many Studio Mechanic locals in the International that have far greater areas under their jurisdiction. Few have the History of success and contributions to the International as Local 476 and the time for us to begin our expansion is long overdue.
As a whole, what do you feel is priority #1 in this position?
The Business Manager must be on the phone, in meetings, knocking on doors and most importantly building a collation of advocates for our Union and its members, our city, our state. We must sell, sell, sell the incentive our fellow Illinoisans have seen fit to support us with. The BA has an obligation to prioritize this mission. It is critical to addressing the first threat of which I spoke.
Why do you feel you are the better candidate for the role of Local 476 Business Manager/Secretary Treasurer?
I feel like I have been training for this all my career. I have an extensive knowledge of where we have been, what we have lost, and what we have yet to reclaim.
I have watched for decades the inability and resistance of our leadership to embrace change. The membership continues to be kept at arm’s length for almost anything to do with the functioning of our Union.
“Doing it the same we have always done it” should no longer be acceptable to our membership. Every new administration has promised transparency and change yet didn’t deliver. The names change yet things always stay the same.
Working for CBS News provided me with the confidence to walk anywhere and make people feel comfortable and respected, which is vital to productive discussions. For 25 years I was welcomed into people’s homes and offices, the great, near great and everyone in between from George Burns to Andrew Wyeth, Reagan to Barak and Willie Nelson to Winton Marsalis.
I’m single with only my dog Patch to answer to right now. I’m ready to dedicate myself to finishing my career by ensuring that every member will have the same chance I had to build a legacy for their family in Local 476. I’m ready to Stand and Fight Forward!
Joseph Connelly
Joe has chosen to submit a written statement:
Education: BA in Industrial Design at Southern Illinois University.
I have been married for 25 years to Jodi Connelly and we have two sons, Joseph and Owen. Joseph and Owen are both members of Local 476. We reside in Riverside, IL.
I have served two terms as Sergeant at Arms and three terms as Vice President.
28 years ago, I was accepted into Local IATSE 476 after seven years of working on permit.
I was unsure of why that process took so long. After three years of membership, I first ran for office. The membership was growing, and we had just successfully organized a large non-union commercial market; many of whom had given up hope of ever being accepted into IATSE 476.
My experience gave me insight which I was able to share and answer questions and promote unionism. It is a part of holding office that I take great pride in. If I’m not sure of something I will always try to get the answer.
My most challenging job in the Union was navigating Covid in 2020. I had just started full-time assisting Business Manager Mark Hogan in January of 2020. Mark Hogan asked me to help with the unprecedented number of projects on the books when in early March 2020 we shut down every single show. This was a difficult time and I was up for the task.
Mark Hogan (Business Manager), Bradley Mathys (President) and I started to learn everything there was to learn about Zoom meetings. We pulled together department heads and figured out training possibilities and worked very hard at keeping members informed and engaged through Zoom.
As 2020 came to a close, the back to work protocols were in place and all those jobs returned along with many more. The number of shows at this time was at an all-time high and I was assigned to be the Union Representative who would handle all union matters on set and off production. Covid testing was required for every show! I have served 15 years on the Executive Board serving under two Business Managers, working many years in commercials and countless movies and television. Both on production and off production. This has given me the experience needed to be the next leader of Motion Pictures Studio Mechanics Union 476.
The Local 476 election is scheduled for December 9, 2024, when members will cast their votes to fill this significant leadership role.
