Hollywood is seeing a wave of staff reductions from the corporate suites to the theme park turnstiles as entertainment giants including the Walt Disney Co. and Endeavor implement layoffs and furloughs in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Just how bad is the carnage? In Los Angeles County alone, 14,000 entertainment-related workers saw their jobs evaporate in less than two months, according to a new report from tech news outlet dot.LA. Meanwhile, Tinseltown could see even more bloodshed in the second quarter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Endeavor — the largest Hollywood talent agency, as well as a studio — recently said that it will lay off or furlough up to a third of its staff. Disney has furloughed more than 100,000 employees worldwide, mostly in the company’s parks division.
Hollywood has been hit on multiple fronts, including the closure of cinemas and the suspension of live sports, which is usually a cash cow for broadcasters. The L.A. office of Fox Sports Productions saw 3,595 people temporarily laid off at the end of April, according to dot.LA.
SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots
House GOP targeting vulnerable Dems over DHS shutdown, TSA chaos
Atlanta airport asks travelers to arrive four hours early as ICE comes to help
Despite Trump Policies, Stanford Still Has This Woke DEI Program
Breaking: Trump Orders Halt to All Strikes on Iranian Energy Infrastructure as End to Conflict Near
Supreme Court reverses lower court on qualified immunity for Vermont police sergeant who arrested protester
CNN Tries To Rebrand Anderson Cooper As Podcaster In Sad Grab For Relevance
Taylor Lorenz Wants to Bring Back Masking in the Name of ‘Basic Solidarity’: ‘We’re 6 Years Into a Pandemic’
Power Couple of Chaos: How a tycoon and activist built a ‘Revolutionary Base’ at the House of Singham
Trump orders War Dept to postpone strikes on Iranian energy sites, citing ‘productive’ talks to end war
Two pilots dead after plane collides with fire truck on LaGuardia Airport runway and more top headlines
Iran’s Alarming Long-Range Missile Capacity Revealed After Regime Fired at US-UK Base 2,500 Miles Away
Dem Senate candidate in the hot seat after anti-meat comment resurfaces: ‘This will haunt him’
Trump Reacts to Robert Mueller’s Death: ‘Good, I’m Glad He’s Dead’
Biden officials who backed Microsoft software breached by China now work for Microsoft
Some of the biggest job losses have come from the production sector, which consists of below-the-line crew members who typically toil year round on crowded movie and TV sets. Hollywood’s trade unions have seen their members idle without work as soundstages around the country remain empty.
Breitbart News reported last week that Hollywood studios are currently working on ways to make sets safe when production ultimately resumes. While no major studio has yet to announce a timetable, one source told Breitbart that U.S. production may resume in June at the earliest.
But L.A. County’s decision to prolong its stay-at-home order for an additional three months is only creating more uncertainty.
Tyler Perry recently announced that his Atlanta studio will resume limited production in July. Countries including New Zealand, Poland, the Czech Republic have also announced that shooting can resume.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that individual studios are remaining vague about potential future layoffs. But some executives have spoken about coronavirus-related cost savings.
SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots
House GOP targeting vulnerable Dems over DHS shutdown, TSA chaos
Atlanta airport asks travelers to arrive four hours early as ICE comes to help
Despite Trump Policies, Stanford Still Has This Woke DEI Program
Breaking: Trump Orders Halt to All Strikes on Iranian Energy Infrastructure as End to Conflict Near
Supreme Court reverses lower court on qualified immunity for Vermont police sergeant who arrested protester
CNN Tries To Rebrand Anderson Cooper As Podcaster In Sad Grab For Relevance
Taylor Lorenz Wants to Bring Back Masking in the Name of ‘Basic Solidarity’: ‘We’re 6 Years Into a Pandemic’
Power Couple of Chaos: How a tycoon and activist built a ‘Revolutionary Base’ at the House of Singham
Trump orders War Dept to postpone strikes on Iranian energy sites, citing ‘productive’ talks to end war
Two pilots dead after plane collides with fire truck on LaGuardia Airport runway and more top headlines
Iran’s Alarming Long-Range Missile Capacity Revealed After Regime Fired at US-UK Base 2,500 Miles Away
Dem Senate candidate in the hot seat after anti-meat comment resurfaces: ‘This will haunt him’
Trump Reacts to Robert Mueller’s Death: ‘Good, I’m Glad He’s Dead’
Biden officials who backed Microsoft software breached by China now work for Microsoft
ViacomCBS has indicated that it will take more cost-cutting steps in addition to the ones already realized from the re-merger of Viacom and CBS.
Chief financial officer Christina Spade said the company was “taking additional cost-cutting actions and implementing initiatives to reduce discretionary expenses” amid the pandemic. “We are learning from this crisis and finding ways that we can operate more efficiently,” she said during a recent earnings call.
Meanwhile, Disney has begun the gradual process of re-opening its theme parks and resorts. Disney Springs in Orlando is set to partially re-open on May 20, though the adjacent Walt Disney World remains closed. Shanghai Disney Resort recently opened again with visitors required to take special precautions, including social distancing and masks.
Story cited here.
