Many film and TV writers have been returning to work this week, thanks to a labor agreement between the Writers Guild of America and studio bosses represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. And there’s hope that the deal might foreshadow another breakthrough in the ongoing talks between striking actors and studios.
But even if both strikes end within days of each other, levels of entertainment employment in New York may not recover to what they were during the past decade, when streamers invested heavily in production in order to establish themselves as industry players and to build audiences. And that could have widespread consequences for the city and one of its major industries.
“The strike is kind of a byproduct of the wheels falling off,” said Noah Evslin, a longtime television writer and producer for shows like “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “NCIS: Hawaii.”
Like other industry experts interviewed for this article, Evslin sees this moment as an inflection point that could mark a new, weakened era for the industry – potentially signaling fewer scripted options for viewers, as well as fewer jobs for New Yorkers working in the industry.
The film and TV industry was already beset with a variety of challenges before the strikes. Streaming services and studios were cutting back; Netflix made plans to cut $300 million from its budget this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. On Disney’s most recent earnings call in August, CEO Bob Iger said the company would be cutting $3 billion, or 10%, from its content budget.
Ad buying has declined, while interest payments on mounting media debt have gotten steeper. New York City has also faced growing competition from other locales, such as New Jersey and Georgia, which have lured productions away from the Big Apple with aggressive tax credits.
All these changes have meant fewer jobs in New York City’s film and TV industry. The latest employment data for the city, through…
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