Hollywood assistants are getting a pay raise from CAA

Hollywood assistants, who have led a campaign to improve their pay and working conditions, are getting more money from one of the industry’s biggest talent agencies.

Creative Artists Agency this month raised the starting salary of assistants by as much as $3 an hour.

Entry-level pay for assistants is now $18 an hour, according to a person close to CAA who declined to be identified. In the past, some assistants were earning as low as $15 an hour, the person said.

Assistants will also now be able to qualify for raises throughout the year based on certain job changes. In the past, the salary bumps would occur at the end of the year.

CAA also will launch a student loan wellness program to support employees with outstanding student loans by helping them find better interest rates, the person said. The changes are part of an ongoing effort to provide an innovative and engaging work environment, the person added.

A CAA spokeswoman declined to comment.

The moves follow a push by Hollywood assistants to spotlight their low income and grim work environments. The assistants amplified their concerns through a hashtag on Twitter, #PayUpHollywood.

Businesses in Hollywood are starting to take notice. Talent agency Verve recently increased hourly pay for all mailroom assistants by an unspecified amount and bumped up pay by 25% to 40% for other assistants.

TV writer and #PayUpHollywood co-founder Liz Alper called CAA’s decision “a great start.”

“We’re now seeing that when people speak up and allies help lift their voices, long-overdue change can happen,” Alper said on Twitter.

Alper and her #PayUpHollywood co-founder Deirdre Mangan said there needs to be an ongoing conversation about treating workers fairly across the industry.

“With CAA and Verve’s pay increases, it’s becoming more and more difficult to ignore the fact that other agencies and studios remain silent,” they said in a statement.

Times staff writers Anousha Sakoui and Stacy Perman contributed to this report.