This Is Hollywood?

And if you think it's bad in L.A....

...don't move to Seattle. After years in the industry here I am looking for work elsewhere. Permanent work elsewhere. The corporate/commercial video work that kept one alive & employed between creative gigs has literally become a non-paying "opportunity" for "future work," for which you will wait in vain. And if corporate clients whom actually expect you to work for free isn't bad enough, there are people with experience, gear, grip trucks and HD production capability who are actually working for less than $200/day just to try and make ends meet.

As far as quality goes, while I no longer can tolerate broadcast television, I find it increasingly difficult to find new release movies on NetFlix that are rated more than 3-stars. As soon as some braniac at Sony or Fox decides to insert pop-up lower-thirds on movies in theatres I will stop watching those, as well.

Like the banking & investment industry, deregulation, corporate control of the "free marketplace" and excessive greed and 'Death by Committee' is destroying the entertainment industry. The Internet is not really a viable answer as of yet, and the sub-penny-per-hit advertising income from websites cannot support even a small crew for indie creative work. And with the whispers of corporatized Internet in the making the last outlet for creative work may yet fall under the control of the media Big Five.

It's hard to be positive about an industry I once loved, and it's heartbreaking to hear of lives & careers of otherwise creative people being destroyed by the failure of American capitalism.

And if you think it's bad in L.A....

...don't move to Seattle. After years in the industry here I am looking for work elsewhere. Permanent work elsewhere. The corporate/commercial video work that kept one alive & employed between creative gigs has literally become a non-paying "opportunity" for "future work," for which you will wait in vain. And if corporate clients whom actually expect you to work for free isn't bad enough, there are people with experience, gear, grip trucks and HD production capability who are actually working for less than $200/day just to try and make ends meet.

As far as quality goes, while I no longer can tolerate broadcast television, I find it increasingly difficult to find new release movies on NetFlix that are rated more than 3-stars. As soon as some braniac at Sony or Fox decides to insert pop-up lower-thirds on movies in theatres I will stop watching those, as well.

Like the banking & investment industry, deregulation, corporate control of the "free marketplace" and excessive greed and 'Death by Committee' is destroying the entertainment industry. The Internet is not really a viable answer as of yet, and the sub-penny-per-hit advertising income from websites cannot support even a small crew for indie creative work. And with the whispers of corporatized Internet in the making the last outlet for creative work may yet fall under the control of the media Big Five.

It's hard to be positive about an industry I once loved, and it's heartbreaking to hear of lives & careers of otherwise creative people being destroyed by the failure of American capitalism.

Working in the entertainment field is a lot trickier than people think. There are misconceptions abounding about the difficulty of the work, the unpredictable and sometimes unfair nature of the business. Trust me, most of the people who are professionals want to work more than 300 hours in 6 months, but sometimes the work simply doesn't exist. In the entertainment industry everyone is essentially an entrepaneur in a day to day struggle to stay in business. Frankly I think reality TV can take a hike, its screwing up its viewers as bad as it is the industry. People are learning social behavior from substandard participants in situations guided by producers. All that belongs on another soap box however. The extremes of the movie industry are part of its failing in my opinion. I recently went to a movie for the first time in a year perhaps and was disgusted by how expensive the evening turned out to be. Is there a backlash among movie goers? With the availability of entertainment on the internet I have difficulty justifying spending 30 or 40 dollars to take my wife out to a movie. Is there a connection between the preposterous sum it requires to enjoy a night at the movies and the trouble in Hollywood?

A great observation on life, today, in America. The same experience applies no matter if you're in LA, Des Moines or Jacksonville. It's not about feeling sorry for your plot in life, it's about watching a quality of life and value system fade in the wake of an economic ship you have just discovered has you booked in steerage. I closed my business in Minneapolis after 25 years, my wife lost her job, we have given up out health insurance for the first time in our working lives. Our house is in foreclosure. This is happening not to the homeless guy under the bridge. It's happening to your neighbor walking her dog past your house. Don't judge because it's about Hollywood. It's not. It's about the middle class in America. Don't judge, understand. That's all anyone can ask.

Wow, harsh comments. I guess it is too much to ask that those of us who are pretty much cutting back and are worried about the same thing to be sympathetic. I just started watching this TV show, only to read today that it has been cancelled. Sucks for them, too, but not everything will strike gold in California.

I have been in the U.S. Army for 22 years and guess what, I have missed tucking my daughter in many times. But good news for you L.A. entertainment folks standing on your sad street corners sipping your wine and wondering how you can work 300 hours in 6 months (which I figure works out to about 12 hours a week) the U.S. Military has raised it's enlistment age to 42!!! If you really want to quit worrying about health insurance, visit your local recruiter today!!

everybody in LA works in the movie business? get a grip! feel sorry for the illegal that used to mow your lawn now you are afraid that you will have to move and your little darlings might end up in the same school his children attend? go ask alec baldwin for a loan till you get back on your feet ha! time to change careers and put in 960 hrs every 6 months to get kaiser if you are lucky, no sympathy for you in case you haven't got it by now

Read some good books people! This Industry used to be an Art, yes an Art, and artists were trained to excel at three things: acting, dancing and singing. Seen some of that lately? Maybe on the history channel and of course old, old movies.

Maybe if your industry wasn't an anti-America propaganda machine you could get people back in the theaters. You despise capitalism but whine about the effect of it's destruction on YOU. Grow up. You morons don't realize it but there are lots of people who are tired of being politically manipulated by the media industry. I avoid films with radical leftists like the plague. I don't have to support your left wing politics and I won't Deal with it. Get a real job.

I agree with Independent. TV is lousy and has been for the last several years - movies are the same. So, please don't blame it on the bad economy - unless you'd like to blame us for no longer supporting junk. Perhaps you can find work in an industry that still has high standards and won't settle for below-mediocrity so easily.

Oh boowho for the entertainment crowd in L.A. No one cares about the terrible movies you put out, the violent video games you produce, the lousy music or the terrible TV shows. Hope all of you Hollywood types go BK and lose your manison(s0, jets, limos and see how the rest of us live for once.

I see things are grim in this and many other communities, but not grim enough yet, it seems, to try flushing defective toilets with buckets of water, or learning about patching roofs from a book at the local public luibrary, rather than one bought at Home Depot. Doubtless these and other comparable skills will come in time. Good luck to them all.

Hello, all... it is important to know that this recession is very different say... than the one that George Herbert Walker Bush denied we were in. That recession was a result of people being unsure of the economy and simply curbing their spending... being tight with their surplus or discretionary income. But, this recession is being fueled by inflation. Today's report on food and consumer goods reports that prices are up 0.4 percent. And, they' ve been going up continually. The supermarkets are one of the main offenders. They have raised their prices when farmers, manufacturers and distributors have either not raised their prices or in some cases... lowered them. But, that has not helped bring the prices down. Raise hell with the supermarkets. Raise hell with your state legislators. With only 3, 4 or 5 major supermarkets in each market... it's easy for the supermarkets to collude. One store charges another .50 a pound for ground beef or chicken breasts... and all the others raise their prices in kind. It. It's collusion without the meetings. Raise hell folks. We can have an impact on our economy ourselves by making ourselves heard. Thanks. V