L.A.’s entertainment economy is looking like a disaster movie

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Wall Street Journal or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Los Angeles’ entertainment sector is undergoing a severe contraction, with jobs vanishing, businesses shuttering, and many creative professionals leaving the city
• The industry, once a reliable engine of economic and cultural vitality, is struggling amid prolonged strikes, rising production costs, and a disrupted streaming economy

🔭 The context: Following the dual strikes by writers and actors in 2023, many studios scaled back production, and the industry has yet to recover
• Streaming platforms, once seen as saviors, are tightening budgets and reducing content output
• Combined with the high cost of living in L.A., this has left many in the creative middle class — animators, set designers, writers — facing economic precarity or forced relocation

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The collapse of L.A.'s entertainment economy has broader implications for global cultural production and urban sustainability
• A weakened creative sector could shift production to less regulated environments, undermining labor standards and carbon accountability
• Additionally, the trend spotlights the need for economic diversification in climate-vulnerable urban centers heavily reliant on one industry

⏭️ What's next: Without targeted support or reforms in the entertainment sector’s labor and financial models, the exodus of talent may accelerate, weakening L.A.'s cultural infrastructure
• Stakeholders — including unions, studios, and local government — face pressure to reimagine industry resilience in a digital-first, cost-conscious landscape
• The next six to twelve months will be critical in determining whether L.A. can retain its global status or face deeper decline

💬 One quote: “It’s starting to feel like the dream is over — not just for me, but for the city,” said Brian Mainolfi, a veteran animator with credits at Disney and Fox

📈 One stat: California’s film and TV production employment is down over 20% from pre-pandemic levels, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance of entertaiment companies like Disney, Comcast, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros.

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