According to a grim new research by ProdPro, the film and TV production drought that has plagued the US entertainment sector appears to be “here to stay.”
The tracking business discovered that production in the United States fell by around 40% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to peak-TV levels of filming activity in the same period in 2022. For nearly two years, Hollywood has experienced a sharp fall in film and television shootings, resulting in widespread unemployment and mental health crises among entertainment professionals.
Globally, production in the second quarter of the year fell by roughly 20% compared to 2022.
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Though domestic film and television output increased by 30% in the second quarter compared to 2023, the year-ago figures are distorted by a production slowdown induced by the Hollywood writers’ strike, which began in May and ended in September of last year.
Movies have been particularly challenged. While the number of TV shows in production climbed by 20% globally from the second quarter of 2023, the number of movie shoots fell by 18% this year.
According to the ProdPro report, the overall slow production recovery following the writers’ and actors’ strikes, particularly for feature films, “can be partially attributed to the risk of another” work stoppage by crew members in 2024.
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Industry insiders and experts suggested early this year that studios were taking precautions by not moving forward with as many projects in preparation of a third strike.
At this moment, however, a crew member walkout appears increasingly unlikely, as the industry’s largest below-the-line union reached a contract agreement with the studios and streamers with little drama.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents costume designers, lighting technicians, makeup artists, cinematographers, and other craftspeople on film and television sets, signed a tentative contract agreement with the major Hollywood studios last month.
The pact, which is pending approval, includes salary hikes, health and pension benefits, and artificial intelligence protections for approximately 50,000 union members. The union has never gone on strike in its 131-year history.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood Basic Crafts, a combination of unions that represents drivers, electricians, location managers, animal trainers, and other below-the-line workers, is still negotiating contracts with the corporations. All current crew member agreements expire on July 31.
Entertainment workers have been harmed as studios continue to cut back on production in an effort to recoup their financial losses from the streaming battles.
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The so-called peak TV era, which allowed 600 scripted series to debut in a single year, has passed, cinema theaters are still chasing pre-pandemic levels of attendance with narrow release slates, and countless industry workers have been unemployed since before the strikes began.
Furthermore, Los Angeles has been losing ground to other production hubs in the United States and abroad, which provide more generous tax breaks to firms filming there. Nonetheless, Los Angeles is by far the most important engine of domestic film and television employment, trailing only New York, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, and other major cities.
ProdPro also analyzed studio spending habits, finding that in the second quarter of 2024, they promised to investing a total of $11.3 billion in film and TV productions, a 39% increase over the same time in 2023 but still 20% behind 2022. The report states that “returning episodic projects and mid-budget studio films” have received the most investment.
Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary,” starring Ryan Gosling and shooting in London; director Ryan Coogler’s “Grilled Cheese,” starring Michael B. Jordan and filming in New Orleans; Amazon MGM’s “Mercy,” starring Chris Pratt at Culver Studios in Los Angeles; HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spin-off “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” in Belfast; and Amazon Prime Video’s “Blade Runner 2099,”.
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