Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-23)

76

ILLUSTRATION

BY

GEORGE

WYLESOL.

DATA:

U.S.

BUREAU

OF

LABOR

STATISTICS

ThattheCovid-19pandemichasbeena disasterforthose

whoworkinliveentertainmentis nosurprise.Butit’salso

beendevastatingforthoseemployedinmovieandvideo

production.Peoplehavebeenconsumingtheindustry’s

goodsatrecordrates—mostlyviastreamingservices—yet

employmentfellalmostassharplyfromFebruarytoMay

asit didinthearts,liveentertainment,andrecreation

sector(49%vs.52%).ThroughSeptemberonlya thirdof

thelostjobshadcomeback.

InSeptember,Hollywoodstudiosandindustryunions

announcedtheirreturn-to-workagreement—withsafety

protocols,you’llbehappytolearn,designedinpartby

ContagiondirectorStevenSoderbergh—soonewould

expectmorehiringinthefuture.Still,therewasn’tmuch

sign ofthatinOctober’sjobsnumbers,whichdidn’tbreak

out motionpictureandvideoproductionbutdidshowa

slightemploymentdeclineforthebroaderindustrythat

includestheaters.LosAngeles-areapermitdatashows

filmingactivitystabilizingatabouthalfitsnormallevels

asoflateOctober.

Thatthose coronavirussafety protocolsincrease

filmingcostsby10%to20%isonereasonfortheslow

revival,oneproducerestimates.Anotheristhatsome

productionhasshiftedfromtheU.S.toCanadaandother

placeswhereCovidis lessrampant.Finally,there’scause

to worrythatrevenueaddedbythestreamingservices

to theexistingflowsfromtheaters,cable,andbroadcast

televisionwon’tcontinueasstreamingmatures,cable

and broadcastdecline,andmanytheatersdon’tsurvive

their pandemicshutdowns.<BW>�Foxisa columnistfor

BloombergOpinion

◼ LAST THING

●SHORTCUTS

Therewere

1,967productions

withpermitsto

shootin andaround

LosAngelesatthe

endofOctober,

about47%of

thenormallevel,

accordingtoFilmLA,

thecounty’sfilm

office.Only4%were

featurefilms.

WithBloombergOpinion

●9 TO 5

Theaverageweekly

wagein motion

pictureandvideo

productionwas

$1.9K

in thefirstquarter.

Theprivate-sector

averagewasjust

under$1,000.

● TOP GUN

The highest-paid occupation in the motion picture

industry in 2019 was lawyer, at $216,800 a year.

The average annual wage for actors, producers,

and directors was $91,350.

● LA-LA LAND

Before the

pandemic, 52% of

U.S. jobs in motion

picture and video

production were

in the Los Angeles

metropolitan area,

16% in New York,

and 5% in Atlanta.

By Justin Fox

Boom Times for Streaming,

Not for Hollywood Jobs

Bloomberg

Businessweek

(USPS 080 900) November 23, 2020 (ISSN 0007-7135) H Issue no. 4679 Published weekly, except one week in January, February, March, May, July, August, September, October, November and December

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250k

200

150

100

1/2000 9/2020

● Employment in motion picture and video

production, seasonally adjusted