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That’s what all of us trying to work out here in L.A. have been wondering for awhile now…
The system is changing…unions will slowly dissolve, non-union / ficore work and production is on the rise….I see studio contract players coming back like in the early days of film. Take a salary, shoot x amount of movies…
The commercial production business is a good gauge to draw from…
Interesting times……a real pendulum shift.
Might want to cut down on the talk radio. Unions are not the problem, in fact if we lose unions you might as well goose step into a gulag! Hollywood will pull out of this, they are smart people. What brings the most risk to the movies and the rest of what is left of our economy is the kind of “blame the unions” by people who think this is still the confederate states of America having more in common with fascist Germany when it comes to economic business models abd thinking than with anything remotely American. For Hollywood all the producers have to do is start going with new material and drop the tendency to try to pull a rabbit out of a hat, twice with remakes. Land of the Lost and Year One were epic flops and totally lame and that is what slows down the industry. Hollywood just needs to think outside the box and go with new material, maybe from outside the 310 area code, as for the rest of us we just have to turn off the AM and turn on our brains as the AM radio guys have not only been the spokesman for the people who trashed our economy and gave away all of our jobs but they also stand for exactly what the USA fought to defeat in WW2, neo-fascism. While we all know the holocaust was very real what we fail to realize is the business model and corporate thinking that made Hitler and Germany the evil monster that it was. The kind of corporatist neo facism that was espoused by Mussolini and his elite right wingers is totally foreign to American ideas and American business fair play where we want a level playing field they wanted slave labor and no competition. You might think doing away with unions and going to a temp work force ill paid and uninsured but that is just the modern version of the stalag concentration camp or slavery except for one thing, slavery is more expensive than the facist model that grew up in the south after they lost the civil war, After they lost slavery they found a cheaper model and that cheaper model while destructive for any society without unions and freedom of democracy in the workplace will only fail if fools buy into the hate and fear on AM radio told to them by right wing extremists who have far to many dollars and not a lick of common sense, let alone humanity and civic responsibility.
Land of the Lost? Really? Did you go there? How many people in LA work on a 100 million dollar film? I have only worked on two. I do however work on 2-3 commercials a month most of which are going non-union and it ain’t mom’s bakery shop….we’re talking major global corporations…
so to be fair it’s not AM radio it’s a slow changing of our industry. most people writing about summer blockblusters on this site have only experienced them from a seat in a theatre and not on a studio lot.
You are obviously not one of these smart people you talk about if you think this way…I almost feel sorry for you that instead of being aware of facts you make up your own and sound like a lunatic because you aren’t smart enough to understand how wrong you are.
Just because you want something or think something is true in no way makes it so. But it explains a lot if the “smart people” in Hollywood think like you.
Idiot.
Is this really a surprise? Film and TV consumption always go up when times are tough, and when the big studios can’t be risking money on smaller films that might not work when by focusing on a few tent poles, and really make sure they’ll go over well. It also doesn’t help much that the networks can save so much money and still get ratings by airing all this reality TV that takes 5 dudes and a trip to the liquor store to make, or that the indie film industry is all but gone since none of our rich buddies have the cash to throw at us anymore. It’s just hard times, and the little people who make up most of the workforce get squeezed out. It’s just what happens.
I think it’s because the studios are making less movies now. They rely too heavily on tentpoles.
yea, what are the margins?
Most films are not shot in Hollywood; even most blockbusters that are “made in the US” are often mostly shot overseas, staying local for just a few elements to stay in Oscar contention.
Because the unions and the cost of doing business in California have gotten so high that everyone is filming in Canada, Australia and Eastern Europe. You all priced and regulated yourselves out of jobs.
Sorry, but thats the sad truth of it…
oh yeah, it’s always labor’s fault, right? all the creative talent have priced themselves out of work by wanting a FAIR percentage of the obscene amount of money made in hollywood… sure, whatever you say. it couldn’t possibly be that the assholes at the top are so greedy there’s none left to go around after they’ve handed themselves all those huge salaries and bonuses. but they’re not at fault… it’s all those greedy working writers and actors who actually generate the material.
Whether you like it or not, that’s how capitalism works. There’s a cheaper labor pool outside of this state that, like it or not, do just about as good a job as locals here.
It didn’t use to be that way, for sure, but in the 90′s when all the LA keys were hired here to work out of state with new crew, well they taught those crews how to do Major League work.
In short, California cannot compete with out of state production houses, because of how business is done here. You don’t think if it was more cost effective to shoot here they wouldn’t?!?
Yes, there are good crews in other states other than CA, however it seems that many features shot in Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. bring in the key people; DPs, Camera Operators, Art Directors, Set Designers, Set Decorators, SPFX, etc. from LA. and paying the “union” rates plus per diem.
Perhaps it’s the incentives those states give that CA does not that causes filming to go to those states?
By they way, TV shows and many films shot in Canada pretending to be US locations always look like they were shot in Canada!
I recall, some five or so years ago, that a feature film was being shot in Louisiana. I’m pretty sure it was “Dukes of Hazzard” (but not the point). What is the point is that the producer(s) had bonafide union IA crew coming in from Austin and working as locals. No per diem; paid their own housing; etc. IA didn’t fight for them. They couldn’t afford to fight that for themselves – they needed the work. The producers exploited the crew’s financial position for their own financial gain.
I’m pretty sure that movie made some money, so let’s take a step back and see what might have been…
If those producers had dog-eared just ONE LOUSY MILLION DOLLARS of (potential) profit for crew, everybody could have been better compensated – and at union rates/conditions. One stinkin’ million dollars. (Actually, it would have been well under $200K. Again, not the point.) And please – they could have afforded it. These people (producers) beat down the experienced craftspeople so they can pocket more and more millions. It’s insane!
As Matt continues to remind us (below), solidarity and (threat of) strike are our ONLY true negotiating tools. Some of you blame the writers’ strike for damaging the industry here. What choice did they have? Sooner or later you MUST take a stand against this illegal cartel. We can’t all just sit idly by and bemoan the state of the industry without realizing what’s happening, and letting our so-called “elected leaders” continue to damage the very union(s) they vow to protect.
What’s it gonna take to make everyone wake up and fix the problem?
I agree. I’ve worked in film/television companies that were literally making money hand over fist, but all the profits went to the executives at the top. And the executives spent the money on drugs and hookers, no joke. So I have a real hard time understanding why writers, film crews and character actors can’t be paid a living wage. Also, this is the United States of America. If you have any loyalty to this country at all, you should try to keep jobs here.
I think everyone needs to look in the mirror. I don’t think its labor’s “fault” per se but I do think that members of unions need to ask themselves what benefit thee union is actually providing. Like the rest of the country, the division between have and have nots continues to get larger and a larger % of people in unions are not even working. Feel like too much time is spent complaining about overall deals and trying to bust into unions as opposes to figuring out how to help one another out.
in order for your proposal to happen, the unions/talent pools need to actually do something on their own. Take the executive out of the picture, they are just middle men.
The first Elvis Presley movie cost $1,250,000. Elvis got the million. Now a days production is the cheapest part of the deal and you’re blaming the unions?
First….Just a small percent of Hollywood has always had jobs in the past……Hollywood is now outsourcing jobs because it is too expensive to film in this state….The production companies get tax breaks in other states………The studio system has changed dramatically since I was born here in 1949 without a doubt…………………………Stars are no longer getting big numbers as they used to……………Most of Hollywood simply is not working…………………….REality shows have taken a big bite out of the mix………………………..Very cheap and caters to the lowest mentality…….Below the line talent is no longer needed along with writers…..Want to know more? Ask me……And boring you? I think I have a real grip on whats going on in my town………You are arrogant……….Hows that…..
Because downstream revenues are falling, and thus profit margins for films are down.. Box office is just one small component in a film ultimate. In other words, just because box office is up doesn’t mean movies are more profitable ventures.
Plain and simple. Greed and fear, but mostly greed.
I know I’m out of work because “in these tough economic times” the people running the major media conglomerate I used to work for (rhymes with “ZBS”) decided that the only way to balance the books was with sweeping lay-offs of all the unionized employees… oddly enough all of the $9/hour “temps” in production and post-production were kept on…
For what it’s worth — THIS temp has been out of work from FOX for virtually two years straight — from the Writer’s Strike to the threatened SAG strike to the financial meltdown to who-knows-what now. The temps were first to go….so looks like all of us workers-for-hire are in the same jobless cesspool. Ugh.
I told my mother the other day that the recession does not exist in our business. The lay-offs, the low-pay, no overtime pay…EXPLOITATION. The janitorial staff makes more money than the assistants. FML. I saw an ad for a full-time non-paid apprentice to a CEO. WTF? Disgusting.
Jay Leno.
Because most of the movies and TV shows are done out of town or out of country.
Ok, I’ll go ahead and ask the obvious question.
How many of these films were shot in the country?
Surely that’s a rhetorical question….
- DVD revenue down 20%-30%
- TV revenue and ad market collapsing
- Youngsters today have no respect for anything….especially intellectual property / copyrights
And don’t call me Surely….
Talked to a producer colleague — he said that although DVD revenue is down, so are the offers to big stars because they are hungry for work (down 50%). So, you still make a tidy profit in the end. He was salivating as he told me this, citing a straight-to-DVD model as an example that didn’t even need a theatrical run to make them money. He couldn’t wait to make another film with an A-lister at this time because he felt that everything was so cheap right now.
I think no one wants to talk about it but the truth of the matter is that internally the entertainment industry went from boom to bust too. Wall Street executives are still making a fortune — guess what, media congloms are Wall Streeters too.
But the bigger problem is that media congloms are so large and so powerful that they are like the big banks and doing whatever they want, paying themselves whatever they want. Too big to fail? Why would shareholders buy into this?
Holy crap? Are you serious?
Here’s 3 reasons off the top of my head as to why current revenue is a dumb metric for industry health:
1 – Cash cycle. 2009′s releases were the result of financing secured years ago (in the case of Avatar, MANY years ago). If current financing has dried up, then you get no work.
2 – Revenue is not profit. Having a record haul doesn’t mean jack if you have record costs too.
3 – Change in risk. Dumping the 2008 and 2009 domestic grosses into excel shows that there is both increase in variance and shift in skew. What does that mean? It means that all the money is going to a couple of box office smashes. As an analogy (and this isn’t accurate – it’s just to illustrate the point) in 2008 50% of movies lost money, 40% of movies made money, 10% of movies were box office smashes. In 2009, 60% of movies lost money, 25% of movies made money, 15% of movies were box office smashes. Yes, your chance of being a smash went up but so did your chance of getting your house repossessed.
I don’t like mismanaging moguls any more than rank and file union members, but using domestic box office is like claiming your team had their best year ever because the quarterback set a new passing record – you still need to convert those passes into touchdowns to make the playoffs.
Nice to see a constructive, objective comment on one of these boards.
This is priceless– (ditto)
“I don’t like mismanaging moguls any more than rank and file union members, but using domestic box office is like claiming your team had their best year ever because the quarterback set a new passing record – you still need to convert those passes into touchdowns to make the playoffs.”
I think it’s because studios/networks are seeing that those employees they have kept around are working harder and they are getting the same amount if not more work done with reduced numbers because everyone is trying to keep their job. Same with my company, we haven’t hired anyone in over 18 months, but we’re still managing to handle all the things we need to.
Well hmm…maybe it’s because more money is being made off of less product. The fact that movies that 2 years ago would open in 4,000 theaters now open in 9,000 might have something to do with it.
Also the fact that networks are getting by with L&O franchise reruns instead of original product, maybe?
Because studios have finally figured out less films in the market = more money for everyone
Boxoffice and production are two different animals Nikki. Throw in the fact that all these movies are being made in Boston, New Mexico, Michigan…get the picture?
Answer: Because the REAL story is in the actual number of tickets sold, not this inflation-jacked “record” box office. It really would be a story if actual ticket sales improved over last year.
Good point. FACT: “Gone With the Wind” has sold more tickets (albeit in several theatrical releases) than any other film in cinema history.
Yet, it doesn’t hold the record for biggest all-time BO simply because of inflated ticket prices (say from the late 80′s to now). I would love it, Nikki, if you could investigate & report on the difference between the actual # of tickets sold in 1939 v. 2009 – let’s keep it to U.S. only since the international market in the 30′s was substantially less. I’m sure the % difference would be staggering.
Because a select few circled the f****g wagons. You have to know the secret handshake now.
You mean with the new SAG agreement, and IATSE rolling over, and the AMPTP promises of jobs, there are no jobs???!!!!
Something is fishy in the Town of Nepotism…
Rev has increased but so have costs
Yes, when revenue is at record highs, and the CEOs are still making 30-50 million dollars a year… why has everything else been cut back?
The answer is: because the studios are all owned by multi-national conglomerates now, who view the bottom line (profits) as the only goal, and since they can’t guarantee future revenue (since it is a speculative business), what they CAN do is cut costs.
It’s short-sighted and moronic, and it’s the kind of thinking that got us into the mess we’ve been in for thirty years in this country, but that’s who’s in charge.
And as the CEOs get absurdly richer, the rest of the business suffers. To paraphrase James Brooks’ character in Broadcast News… I certainly hope they die soon.
Easy, just because the entertainment industry is making more money doesn’t mean they’re making more product in Hollywood. That’s why most of Hollywood is out of work.
Because most of Hollywood is filled with people who are only in it for the fame, fortune, etc. Only the true artists who are passionate about their craft have “made it”.