Employment in the entertainment industry in California saw major gains last year, adding nearly 15,000 jobs as it rebounds from sharp contraction leading up to and during the 2023 strikes.
But the latest Otis College Report on the Creative Economy, released on Thursday, shows that work in the sector remains far below pre-strike levels. Only a quarter of jobs lost after 2022, when Peak TV peaked, have come back to the state. Combined with data on production in Los Angeles, the study suggests that employment may not bounce back anytime soon.
At the forefront of questions brought by the findings: Whether the industry in California is settling into what the report calls a “new normal” characterized by lower production levels and employment compared to the years preceding the strike. Data from film permitting office FilmLA suggests that the trend may continue as production in the region last year hit an all-time-low, with 23,480 shoot days. For comparison, the five years from 2017 to 2022 saw an average of 37,624 shoot days (these figures exclude 2020, when filming was halted amid the pandemic).
The erosion of production in California can be attributed to a confluence of factors. Studios in 2022 slashed production budgets after a yearslong race to create original content for their streaming platforms. As penny-pinching became even more vital coming out of the strikes, productions are increasingly opting to shoot in regions with more generous subsidies for Hollywood.
Lawmakers have taken notice of the flight of movies and TV shows out of California. The state’s program that provides tax relief to the industry is now looking at a major revamp amid a tit-for-tat race to host Hollywood. The overhaul includes increasing the cap from $330 million to $750 million a year and vastly boosting the credit to 35 percent while expanding the category of productions that qualify to include shorter TV shows, animated titles and certain types of unscripted projects. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to measurably restore production and work in the state, though there’s skepticism considering the massive drop-off in Los Angeles shooting levels over the past two years.
There’s been a roughly 20 percent decline in film and TV employment in California versus 2022, when work in the sector hit a high point, according to census data.
Still, California is by far the most powerful player in the entertainment industry in the United States. It accounts for 35 percent of all film, TV and sound employment and a quarter of all new media jobs, according to Thursday’s report. It’s also home to 37 percent of managers, independent artists and performers.
Sectors that compromise the creative economy for the report include film, TV and sound; traditional media; new media; fine arts; managers, independent artists and performers; advertising; architecture; fashion; and design and manufacturing. Of these groups, traditional media posted the largest dip in jobs over five years (34,993), while new media posted the largest gain over the same period (22,505). The latter sector now accounts for 31 percent of all creative jobs in California, ahead of film, TV and sound, which accounts for 17 percent.
In a bid to curb runaway production, local industry folk launched the “Stay in L.A.” initiative, which calls for emergency measures to restore local filming. It also urges studios to pledge at least 10 percent more production in L.A. over the next three years.