r/FilmIndustryLA

I really hope TV and film recovers but Hollywood is in such a dark tunnel right now. I really hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here are the reasons that are pissing me off.

1. Social media is taking over the entertainment industry and really did kill peoples attention spans. Now "influencers" stole TV and film and get to make a living for posting a couple 10 second videos per day. Makes me pissed. I wish I could afford a living for only working for a few minutes per day!
2. The US economy is pushing production away from the LA area. I hear people say all the time, "Why are you so mad about this? Who cares where things are filmed?" You have to factor in things like workers in the film industry. They have to pick a place to live. When the film industry is spread all over it's hard to pick a place to live. When everything is filmed in a different place it creates constant expensive travel. Plus when most people of the film industry were in the same area, it was so easy to connect and collaborate with others in the industry.
3. Paramount and Warner bros merger is not good at all. Layoffs, reduced competition, makes it hard for new people in the industry to find work, endless reasons why this merger is shit.
4. AI does have a significant threat to the industry as AI can soon literally generate new episodes of a TV show or create a new one with a story line that a person wants. This reason alone may quite be the end of Hollywood so I pray it doesn't come true (although it partially already has).
5. Death of cable TV is significantly reducing profits in the industry so workers are getting paid less and less. I wish streaming platforms could make more money..

My best friend works at a small production house in LA, mostly corporates and commercials. And his company's latest commercial shoot apparently got flipped by IATSE. He told me this was a $50K all-in (production maybe 40% of that) engagement with a brand. Literally a crew of 7 including him, a couple of non-union actors. He says they basically held his production hostage, and the brand client bailed. Leaving his company to pick up the costs. Now they lost a client forever, and another small client is never going to shoot in LA again. What do you think about that? Also, the editor for that project, who has worked with the prodco on many small jobs over the years, told me personally: "that's why IATSE lets you work non-union, it's our job to flip these productions and get paid!" Also note: I know THAT guy was being paid 20% over union rates to begin with. WTH? Also I know for fact that my buddy's prodco tends to do "easy days" of 10hrs or less. And pays for meals and all the stuff. It's a creampuff gig working with them, I've stepped in and worked on a few myself.