Sylmar haunted venue becomes first escape room to unionize

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The Basement in Sylmar offers a scary escape room where players try to outsmart a dangerous serial killer by cracking codes and solving puzzles.

The actors at the attraction, who play both the game masters and the people being ‘abducted,’ will now be protected by their union while they scare visitors.

This week, workers at The Basement escape room voted to approve their first union contract, making them the only escape room in the country with a union. They are represented by the Actors’ Equity Assn., a union for over 51,000 performers and stage managers.

Jenna Wagner, a performer at the Basement, explained that a new agreement negotiated by twelve employees – including herself – is expected to boost team spirit. The deal focuses on better pay, increased safety measures, and protections related to scheduling and how performers are represented in media.

This is definitely a first for the industry. Many people don’t consider work at an escape room to be a legitimate acting job. Wagner explained that when they tell people they’re an escape room actor, the response is often just a casual ‘Okay.’ Unionizing feels good because they are performers, and they act every day.

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The Basement’s employees unionized two years ago, and management, led by founder Kayden Ressel, quickly agreed to recognize it. Ressel explained that, having previously worked as a scare actor himself, he understood the needs of his employees.

Ressel said he was pleased because the union’s values matched his original vision for the business. He believes the final agreement will set a new, higher standard for escape rooms in general.

The escape room in Sylmar opened its doors in 2014 and currently has a team of 15 people. Within a 3,000-square-foot space, visitors can choose from four different interactive escape rooms, each with a haunted house theme. In three of these experiences, live actors add to the thrill. The Basement is known for using actors in its escape rooms, and you can also find locations in Las Vegas and Kansas City, Missouri.

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I heard Ressel’s thinking about giving union members a break on prices – a discount of somewhere between 10 and 20 percent, which is a really cool idea, if you ask me! It’s great to see businesses supporting workers and their unions.

Escape rooms became popular in the United States around the early 2010s, coinciding with a growing demand for immersive entertainment. Currently, Los Angeles boasts approximately 75 escape rooms, with over 2,000 nationwide. After a decline of more than 10% during the pandemic, the industry has stabilized, with the number of facilities holding steady since 2022, according to data from Room Escape Artist and the Morty app.

Noah Nelson, a professor at CalArts and founder of the immersive arts blog No Proscenium, believes the Actors’ Equity union recognizing the workers at The Basement is a positive move, especially as the union increasingly includes workers in non-traditional performance spaces.

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As a movie and theater lover, it’s really heartening to see live entertainment getting the recognition it deserves. It’s not just about the famous Broadway shows or big concert halls, though those are amazing. It’s about all the venues, big and small, that put on live performances. Honestly, seeing people organize and advocate for these spaces feels like a really positive sign – it tells me the whole industry is doing well, and that’s something to celebrate.

Founded in 1913, the Actors’ Equity Assn. traditionally represents performers in stage productions. However, the definition of ‘live performance’ has broadened recently. As a result, Actors’ Equity now also represents performers at places like the Griffith Observatory, the Drunk Shakespeare show, and even dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood. Currently, the union is also negotiating representation for cast members at Disneyland and entertainers at the Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver.

According to Stefanie Frey, who leads organizing and mobilization at Actors’ Equity, the union considers escape rooms and similar interactive experiences to be essentially live theater. She added that they anticipate more companies in this expanding industry will want to unionize with them.

Brooke Shields, who leads the Actors’ Equity union, explained that reaching a first contract agreement is typically difficult, and this situation was made even harder because no other unionized escape rooms existed as a reference point.

The workers persevered through a difficult process, and their success proves it was all worthwhile, according to a recent statement. Their efforts have set a new standard for a rapidly expanding part of the industry.

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2026-03-06 14:31