Hollywood Biz on upswing
Report: Industry jobs should increase
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Key contributors will be gains in domestic and foreign box office, the installation of 3-D theater equipment and growth of cable TV production, according to LAEDC chief economist Jack Kyser. In a report issued Wednesday, Kyser raised the entertainment industry's grade from a C-minus last year to a B-plus for 2009.
The showbiz workforce should edge up 0.8% to 126,000 this year, after declining 3% to 125,000 in 2008, the report said.
"The increases in box office and cable are enough to offset the uncertainty this year," Kyser told Daily Variety. "2009 has gotten off to a very strong start. Maybe moviegoing is recession proof."
Negative factors cited by Kyser include the industry's ongoing labor problems, the recession and its impact on advertising, cuts in specialty film units, job cuts by media congloms, the slowing of outside funding to the film biz, the lack of state incentives for producers, the potential reduction of primetime drama series, the weakening DVD market and piracy.
Kyser said the creation of California incentives would have a significant impact on showbiz. Tax incentives are under consideration by the state Legislature, which has been mired in a budget deadlock.
The recent shifts in total showbiz jobs are relatively small compared with the four-year meltdown between 1999 and 2003, when runaway production led to jobs falling from 146,000 to 113,600.
