Will Los Angeles fires reduce Hollywood in rubble?

Posted: January 28, 2025

Will Los Angeles fires reduce Hollywood in rubble?

By MovieGuide® contributor

Even before fire Struck at the earliest this month, Hollywood already had trouble with the effects of COVID-19, strikes and competition.

Production almost dropped to a record hollow last year, and it fell 5.6% from one year to the next in 2024.

The fires that burn in the southern part of California now greatly threaten the career of those in the film industry or those whose careers support it.

The director of photography John W. Rutland, his wife, Marta Géné Camps, a screenwriter, and their daughter are among the many families in the industry who have experienced the devastation of fires.

A week before the start of the fires, they examined their mortgage documents to ensure that their house had good equity. Then the fires came and their house and their chickens were completely destroyed.

Now it’s “a strip without charred value”, Rutland said. “Who knows when he is sure to come back again?” What if we want to build again?

Despite the setbacks, Hollywood is still a great actor in the economy. It produces more than $ 115 billion and employs 681,000.

When production continued after the strikes of writers and actors in 2023, the television series fell for the second consecutive year. There are 23% less shows now than there have been since 2022. Reality TV shows are also much less than in previous years, according to the New York Times.

The fires only affected two major cinematographic productions because only two turned when the fires struck, which says something about Hollywood.

Hollywood leaders believe that fires may increase the auxiliary costs. Studios can see higher costs for supplies, insurance and permits.

“We are talking about rebuilding the palisades and the Altadena, and this takes construction supplies – wood, dry partitions and all the things we use in the film industry to build sets,” said the former chief chief of the Steve Dayan team union said. “It will be very expensive to get these materials.”

Last year, the location filming dropped 40%.

“More and more jurisdictions are online to compete and ward off the business of Los Angeles and the United States, and they expand what is eligible for these credits or reimbursements,” said Paul Audley, president of Filmla.

Find out more: ‘We have confidence in God ‘: Chris Pratt reflects on the devastation of forest fires

California has tried to follow the competition for incentives. Governor Gavin Newsom recently proposed to double the current funds to keep business in the state.

Before the strikes, the County of Los Angeles held 35% of American television jobs. Now it only has 27%.

“The truth is that people want to shoot in California,” said Colleen Bell, the cinema commissioner. “I hear this again and again, the depth and talent of our teams, our equipment, innovation, our infrastructure.”

Last week, thousands of people signed the #stayinlapetition, which requires a bottomless tax incentive program for the next three years for production in the county. He also asks studios and streamers to help increase local production by 10%.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Municipal Council approved $ 1 billion to build and improve production facilities and the solid stages of the television complex.

Even with these efforts, many must now decide if they should stay in the industry or try something else.

The international alliance of employees of the theatrical scene had 8,100 of its members in evacuation areas – at least 300 members have lost houses.

“We all know so many people who have not worked very long, who leave industry, planning to do it or move elsewhere, where the cost of living is lower,” said a Hollywood professional ” Because the amount of the quantity of work that was there to support them is no longer here.

“Everyone was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said an artist of special effects who lost his house. “The negotiations are carried out, the strikes are carried out. Newsom will finance certain incentives so that we can perform the shooting here. We were all full of hope – and then it happens. »»

Some workers obtain the support of studios, unions and banners.

Olivia Newman, director of the next film Notikly Bright Creatures, lost her house. Netflix provided a house in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the film is shot.

Unions create pop-up donation centers, offering basic supplies and opportunities to meet emergency officials.

A producer said his burning house was almost the last straw. The last 12 months have been “the worst exercise in my life,” she said, adding that she had taken jobs to do babysitting and cleaning to reach both ends.

But she turned her situation using her producer skills to attack money for herself and her neighbors, which has even led to track tracks. She received $ 30,000 in donations. She knows that she is where she wants to be.

“It caught me,” she said. “The came and presented itself.”

Find out more: Hallmark Star says “There is still hope” in the middle of forest fires in California

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