In the midst of multiple strikes over how the film and television industries treat the people who create the stories that generate wealth for big studios, stand-up comedian Cristela Alonzo has revealed that a studio tried to trademark her own name.
On Twitter, she wrote that after her show, Cristela, was canceled in 2015, people had asked her time and again why she had not written or created another show. Now, she has explained what happened.
“I had a sitcom I created about my life. I was not the highest-paid actor. I was not the highest-paid writer,” she began. “The show was named after me. People ask why I haven’t done created another show. Sometimes I get close but then remember how I was treated and I stick to stand-up.”
Cristela aired on ABC for one season of 22 episodes and was canceled a year after it premiered. Cristela was the first Latina to create, write, star in, and produce a prime time comedy series. She went on to say that she got the trademark herself, beating the studio by one week: “My lawyers suggested getting my name copyrighted because the studio would try to own it because of the show. I paid money I didn’t have to do it. A WEEK LATER…the studio tried! I beat them by a week!”
She explained that she made the move to trademark as she knew that the same thing had previously happened to country singer and actress Reba McIntyre, though Reba luckily already owned her name’s trademark. This is hardly surprising in the midst of reports that studios have been manipulating background actors into selling the rights to their likenesses for incredibly low, one-time fees, despite stipulations that they would be able to use that imagery in other scenes and projects with no end in sight, allowing them to perpetually reuse the actors without paying them.
If there aren’t protections in place for workers, big businesses will take advantage of them to the greatest extent possible. That’s why the strikes going on right now are so important. Alonzo also tweeted about the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, saying that both of her unions were on strike and that “maybe things will eventually get better and will inspire me to do something again.”
(featured image: Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
