As celebrities prepare for their red carpet close-ups at Sunday’s 96th Academy Awards, other parts of Hollywood are working hard to put food on the table, pay the rent, and support their families. I’m worried about finding out.
This is a tale of two Hollywoods. Without wealthy celebrities (and well-paid teams of agents, managers, publicists, and lawyers) and blue-collar staff, stars would be left posing in the dark.
“There was no real work. The industry is not coming back,” one location manager said recently. Said hollywood reporter.
“I can literally count on two hands the number of people I know who are actually working there,” said a set decoration buyer who left the job.
“It has never been this slow. In general the economic situation for many crew members was worse than the pandemic,” said another. Said indie wire.
IATSE and the Teamsters, an organization representing the majority of Hollywood’s “below-the-line” employees, are currently negotiating with studios on issues such as pay, working hours and artificial intelligence technology.
A possible outcome of the talks is a new strike. This is the third such suspension in less than a year, following the suspension of both actors and screenwriters in 2023, which brought historic stagnation to the industry. The current contract is set to expire on July 31st, and a strike could theoretically begin after that.
The Teamsters recently took a militant stance, arguing that the union should commit to withholding work and not grant an extension if a deal is not reached by the deadline.
Both IATSE and the Teamsters endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, and IATSE doubled down on Biden by endorsing him again for re-election.
The past four years have not been kind to blue-collar Hollywood.
As Breitbart News reported, the sharp decline in television advertising has hit major Hollywood studios hard, leading to budget cuts and layoffs. Households, crushed by inflation brought on by the Biden administration, are struggling to afford basic necessities like food and energy and are cutting spending. As a result, companies are buying fewer commercials on TV.
The Walt Disney Company hired 7,000 people last year amid $7.5 billion in spending cuts, with another $2 billion in cuts planned.
Other studios actively working include Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, and Amazon/MGM Studios.
Budget cuts are also impacting the number of TV shows that get greenlit.
According to a recent Indiewire report, FX’s research team recently tallied the number of adult live-action scripted shows released in 2023 at 516, up from 2022’s previous record of 600 series. % decreased. report.
This is the largest decline in the past 20 years.
As a result, crew members who were brimming with job opportunities during the so-called “heyday of television” are now looking for work.
ABC’s Oscars, which airs Sunday, will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who has been a regular on the late-night comedy show. slam trump and his supporters.
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