Hollywood is in trouble. Movie and film shoot days declined 22% over that period in the past year and just 13 TV pilots were made, the lowest tally ever observed by FilmLA.
Meanwhile average occupancy rates for the majority of stages were 63% last year, down from 69% in 2023. And according to the Hollywood Reporter, the number of recording days booked for music scoring stages dropped from 127 in 2022 to just 11 so far this year.
The malaise threatens “below-the-line” crew members such as grips, electricians, carpenters, set decorators, sound engineers, costume designers and makeup artists who came to Hollywood because that was where the work was. If that allure fades they could take their talents elsewhere, sending the ecosystem into a death spiral.
00:05AI created content just to win the clickbait.
00:08Their brand becomes unimportant.
00:12I love going to movie theaters.
00:13I love the popcorn.
00:14I love seeing a big screen experience with strangers,
00:17but we're all unified in this experience.
00:19Anything that's going to promote cinema,
00:21allow people to understand what we are and what we do.
00:24I have a wide range of tastes in movies
00:26and so many filmmakers that I admire
00:29and I like to see everybody get recognized.
00:312024 marked the lowest level of on-location filming activity
00:35in Los Angeles since records began three decades ago.
00:38While streaming services continue to draw significant viewership,
00:42Hollywood is confronting a serious crisis.
00:44Data from Film LA,
00:46the nonprofit responsible for managing film permits
00:49in Los Angeles city and county,
00:51reveal that every segment of production experienced declines
00:54in the first quarter of 2025,
00:56compared to the same period last year.
00:58Shoot days fell by 22% and only 13 television pilots were produced.
01:03The smallest number ever recorded by Film LA.
01:05Community is very resilient and yes,
01:08there's been new technologies and there's always changes
01:11and we just try to take it into stride
01:14and really good storytelling will always be eternal.
01:17With the deep cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts,
01:20the Hollywood entertainment community is under financial pressure now.
01:24Bing Chen says Gold House is stepping up its efforts
01:27to support the Asian artists.
01:29As someone who is complicit in the next wave of streamers
01:31at YouTube with global creators and creating a new creator economy,
01:34we've seen this before.
01:35I think the big lesson in these cyclical contracted phases are
01:39there's no pressure, no diamonds.
01:40So yes, money is shorter.
01:42Yes, it's hard to get things greenlit.
01:43Yes, it's hard to get seen, but the right creators will find a way.
01:46The way we make movies is develop a story that we really believe in
01:50and means everything to us.
01:53We figure out what to do and how to do it
01:55and it's just so close to our hearts.
01:57I think we keep on trucking.
01:58I know that everyone's capable here and everyone's already doing it.
02:01So I'm inspired by them.
02:02We know everybody here, how talented they are.
02:04So we set the agenda, we set the horizon
02:06and we had to make that ourselves.
02:08We were not given that path.
02:10The Hollywood Reporter also reports
02:12a sharp decrease in music scoring stage bookings
02:15from 127 days in 2022 to just 11 so far this year.
02:20Over the past 10 years, film and television production in Los Angeles
02:23has declined by almost 40%, according to Film LA.
02:27This downturn is evident in the fewer job opportunities within the industry.
02:31If you love music, you love the arts.
02:33If you love movies, you love the arts.
02:35If you love theater, you love the arts.
02:37And it doesn't come without a cost.
02:39And as a community, we have to hold up our artists.
02:42We have to hold up our institutions that are supporting our artists.
02:45Right now, I think we have to be firm as a society
02:48that funding for the arts and supporting the arts
02:51is not only critical to bring joy and entertainment to the masses,
02:56but also as a means of advocacy and accountability.
03:01Art speaks for us.
03:02You can escape in a theater for three hours
03:04with people, and that's special because it doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.
03:08So come and have an experience with people that don't look like you,
03:12might not talk like you, or be from the same places that you're from.
03:17It's closer to reality.
03:19It's like we are getting our faces out there.
03:22We're telling our stories.
03:23The cultural imprint is more present.
03:26Our industry has evolved so beautifully in the last 5, 10, 15 years that I'm so excited.
03:31We have a lot of work to go.
03:33Is the old Hollywood studio model no longer working?
03:36Is the vacuum created by the changing audience tastes setting the stage for the streamers and young creators to step in and take charge?
03:44We're seeing a younger generation, you know, expect that content should reflect their daily experience and not necessarily experience that the people think they should be having on a daily basis.
03:55The reality is that short form is here to stay.
03:58And now the question is, is how do you do interesting unique storytelling across short form?
04:03The more we continue to listen to what's coming up and figure out how to associate ourselves in a positive way,
04:09how to be a part of it in a genuine and supportive way, then we can be a part of the culture creation.
04:16And ultimately with our scale and opportunity, we can help amplify that.
04:20Everybody is looking at the utilization of artificial intelligence.
04:23I do want to say the word, not just AI.
04:26And I think that's where we have an opportunity at this inflection point to do things differently.
04:32Today, I don't think you see the word commerce very often, not modified by the word content.
04:38I think if you look at the money spent on some of those blockbusters and what makes them become a success or a fail,
04:45has nothing to do with the content anymore.
04:47It has all to do is it picked up by the right influences on social.
04:51So spending $200 million producing a movie, even with a good lineup, is not a guarantee anymore to be successful.
04:57The process the writers already went through is who owns the IP behind an idea.
05:02So I think we're going to see a flood of garbage that you can't really distinguish from real and unreal.
05:07But that's also an opportunity for brands.
05:09If you're in the publishing industry and you are an established brand, as you are, that's going to be the filter.
05:14The green light to the red carpet.
05:16I've always looked at it as the way to develop the right partnerships between brands and content creators.
05:22From the moment a piece of content is green lit all the way to the day of the red carpet premiere,
05:27you start at the beginning and you're going to have a much more harmonious relationship.
05:31We're all in charge of our own green light.
05:33Anytime you decide to do a project, it's alchemy.
05:36You need all of those ingredients to come together.
05:38We have to be in control of the things that we can control.
05:41That is, our work ethic, our talent, our skill, and to continue to expand regardless of the circumstances around us.
05:48If we can do the best at what we can, that's where we should keep our focus.
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