Why Hollywood Professionals Struggle to Find Work In and Out of the Business

Published: November 15, 2024

Why Hollywood Professionals Struggle to Find Work In and Out of the Business

By Movieguide® Contributor

As Hollywood continues to falter following the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, many industry professionals struggle to find jobs — in and out of the entertainment business.

“Between the first quarters of 2022 and 2024 — during which time the industry sustained two crippling strikes and the bursting of the streaming bubble — employment in California’s film, television and sound sector dropped nearly 30 percent, according to Otis College of Art and Design research,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “This year, production levels are still lagging behind their pre-strike highs: On-location filming in the L.A. area during the third quarter of 2024 dropped more than 36 percent compared to the five-year average of that same period.”

Deadline reported that the “L.A. County’s film-permitting office said it was the region’s second-slowest summer period as industry output and employment continued to fall below expectations set during the post-Covid, streaming-bubble era.”

Additionally, layoffs are plaguing the industry; Deadline reported that The CW, ABC News, Disney, Paramount, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN and more have let go of employees across all divisions.

Many industry workers are turning to jobs outside the industry to tide them over between gigs, but even that isn’t a guarantee.

Sidnee Lewis-Avila, a production manager with 24 years of experience, interviewed for a stock position at Whole Foods and was asked, “What happens if you get a call for a show or the industry bounces back?”

“They fear that I’m going to put in my notice and bounce,” she explained to THR.

Beth Kushnick, a set decorator, has been taking interior decorating jobs between movie and TV gigs but says she missed out on “a very big job out east.”

“They were afraid that I was going to get a movie,” she shared.

Many industry workers are getting creative with their side jobs, pursuing photography, professional coaching and podcasting.

Alexis Walker, a makeup artist and host of “The Hollywood Second Act Club Podcast,” has high hopes for the future, though.

“I think you’re going to start seeing a lot more inspired action as people come awake to the moment and what that means for them,” Walked explained.