As Los Angeles is gripped by wildfires that resemble a Hollywood disaster movie, the city’s vast entertainment industry is already counting the costs of yet another drastic setback that its workers can ill-afford.
Actors, crew, writers and producers have lost their homes; film and
television productions have been temporarily halted; and calls are mounting for Hollywood’s award season to be canceled.
It comes with Los Angeles’s entertainment sector — worth $115 billion to the region’s economy — already in dire straits, as some film and TV productions abandon the city over high costs. The pandemic and recent labor upheavals have also taken their toll in recent years.
“Hollywood, as everyone, was hit by the pandemic with severe consequences. The strikes, obviously, affected the industry, probably forever,” said Marc Malkin, senior culture and events editor for trade magazine Variety.
Stars including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal have lost their homes to the past week’s blazes.
But that is only the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of houses destroyed across a city that is home to 680,000 people employed in the entertainment industry or service jobs directly supporting it.
“Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS,” “Hacks” and “Fallout” are among more than a dozen Los Angeles-based TV productions that have seen their sets go dark since the fires broke out.
Parts of the city where major soundstages are located, including Burbank, were threatened by the fires, but have so far been spared.
But Film LA, which handles permissions for outdoor movie and TV shoots, warned producers working in or near evacuation zones to “expect to have your permit canceled,” and advised others that on-set safety supervisors would be in short supply.
With dense smoke and soot cloaking the entire region, even productions hoping to film further afield are affected.
“Add the fires to that, and Hollywood is just being hit over and over again.”