Latest news with #Alper
Los Angeles Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Aspiring screenwriters struggle to break into shrinking industry. ‘It shouldn't be this hard'
Since the start of the year, Brandy Hernandez has applied to nearly 200 entertainment jobs. The 22-year-old film school graduate, who works as a receptionist at the Ross Stores buying office in downtown Los Angeles, said that for most of those applications, she never heard back — not even a rejection. When she did land follow-up interviews, she was almost always ghosted afterward. 'I knew that I wouldn't be a famous screenwriter or anything straight out of college,' said Hernandez, who graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2024. But she thought she'd at least be qualified for an entry-level film industry job. 'It shouldn't be this hard,' she kept thinking. Since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a widespread production slowdown, the entertainment industry's recovery has been delayed by the dual Hollywood strikes, some of the costliest wildfires in California's history and an industry-wide contraction. Studios scrambling to cut costs amid the turbulence were quick to slash low-level positions that historically got rookies in the door. 'You almost feel cursed,' said Ryan Gimeson, who graduated from Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in 2023, in the early days of the writers' strike. And while screenwriting has always been a competitive field, industry veterans attested that the conditions have rarely ever been harsher for young writers. 'In the past 40 years of doing this, this is the most disruptive I've ever seen it,' said Tom Nunan, founder of Bull's Eye Entertainment and a lecturer in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The landscape is especially dry in television writing, according to a jobs report released last month by the Writers Guild of America. TV writing roles dropped 42% in the 2023-2024 season that coincided with the strikes, the report said. About a third of those cuts were to lower-level appointments. It's a far cry from the TV business Liz Alper broke into 15 years ago. Alper, an L.A.-based writer-producer and co-founder of the fair worker treatment movement #PayUpHollywood, came up in the early 2010s, when opportunities in scripted television were still plentiful. The CW, for instance, was putting out three original one-hour shows a night, or about 18 to 21 original pieces of programming a week, Alper said. That translated to anywhere between 100 and 200 staff writer slots. But in the last five years or so, the rise of streaming has essentially done the opposite — poaching cable subscribers, edging out episodic programming with bingeable on-demand series and cutting writing jobs in the process. The job scarcity has driven those in entry-level positions to stay there longer than they used to. A 2021 #PayUpHollywood survey found that most support staffers were in their late twenties, several years older than they were on average a decade ago. Without those employees moving up and creating vacancies, recent graduates have nowhere to come in. 'I think if you have a job, it feels like you've got one of the lifeboats on the Titanic, and you're not willing to give up the seat,' Alper said. The entertainment job market has also suffered from the ongoing exodus of productions from California, where costs are high and tax incentives are low. Legislation that would raise the state's film tax credit to 35% of qualified spending — up from its current 20–25% rates — is pending after winning unanimous votes out of the Senate revenue and taxation committee and the Assembly arts and entertainment committee. Supporters say the move is critical for California to remain competitive with other states and countries, state legislators have argued. Meanwhile, young creatives are questioning whether L.A. is the place to launch their careers. Peter Gerard, 24, moved to L.A. from Maryland two years ago to pursue TV writing. After graduating with a data science degree from the University of Maryland, he sensed it was his last chance to chase his dream. Within weeks of arriving in L.A. in April 2023, he landed a handful of job interviews and even felt hopeful about a few. Then the writers guild went on strike. 'I came moments before disaster, and I had no idea,' he said. During the slowdown, Gerard filled his time by working on independent films, attending writing classes and building his portfolio. He was fine without a full-time gig, he said, figuring L.A. would work its magic on him eventually. Such 'cosmic choreography' touched writer-producer Jill Goldsmith nearly 30 years ago, she said, when she left her job as a public defender in Chicago to pursue TV writing. After seven trying months in L.A., her luck turned when she met 'NYPD Blue' co-creator David Milch in line at a Santa Monica chocolate shop. Goldsmith sent him a script, the show bought it and she got her first credit in 1998. Goldsmith, a lecturer in the UCLA MFA program in the School of Theater, Film and Television, said she tells her students such opportunities only come when they meet fate halfway. But hearing veteran writers mourn their lost jobs and L.A.'s bygone glory led Gerard to question his own bid for success. 'I felt sorry for them, but it also made me realize, like, 'Wow, there's a lot of people who want to do this, and a lot of them are much further along than me, with nothing to show for it,'' he said. As the youngest staff writer in her current writers' room, Lore V. Olivera, 26, has gotten used to her senior counterparts waxing nostalgic about the 'good old times.' 'I think they're definitely romanticizing a bit,' she said, 'but there is some truth in there.' Olivera landed her first staff writer job in 2023, a year after graduating from Stanford University. The process was straightforward: her reps cold-emailed her samples to a showrunner, he liked them, she interviewed and got the job. But Olivera said such success stories are rare. 'I was ridiculously lucky,' she said. Still, getting staffed is no finish line, she added, just a 20-week pause on the panic of finding the next gig. Olivera is also the only staff writer in her current room, with all her colleagues holding higher titles like editor or producer. It's a natural consequence, she said, of showrunners facing pressure to fill limited positions with heavy-hitters already proven capable of creating hits. Olivera said she knows not every 26-year-old was getting hired a few decades ago, but even her elder peers agreed the industry has lost a former air of possibility. 'It's definitely a slap in the face when you get here and you're like, 'Yeah, it's going to be a few miserable years, and then I might not even make it,'' Olivera said. 'Not even because I'm good or bad... but just because the industry is so dead and so afraid of taking chances.'' Jolaya Gillams, who graduated from Chapman's Dodge college in 2023, said that her class had talent in spades. But the industry hasn't given them anywhere to put it. Instead, studios are pouring money into remakes, the 24-year old said, even as consumers have displayed their appetite for original material. 'I hope that we move into an era of film where it's new, fresh ideas and new perspectives and having an open mind to the voice of our generation,' Gillams said. Until then, the filmmaker said she'll continue to create work for herself. During the strikes, Gillams and a production team with no budget made the short film 'Sincero,' which won the audience award for short documentary at the 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival. As she continues the search for a distributor for the doc, she already has another project in the works. Weary from the 'black hole' of job applications, Hernandez said she, too, is focused on bringing her own work to life. In an ideal world, that leads to a film festival or two, maybe even agency representation. But mostly, what drives her is pride in the work itself. 'If I'm successful in my mind,' said Hernandez, 'I'm content with that.'
CBC
12-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Spotify paid over $10B US to the music industry last year. How much actually makes it to the artists?
Spotify announced in late January that it had paid out a record $10 billion US in royalties in 2024, the largest payout to the music industry in a single year. This amounts to a tenfold jump from $1 billion US in 2014. The Swedish streaming giant on Wednesday released further details in its Loud & Clear report, saying that nearly 1,500 artists earned over $1 million US in royalties from Spotify last year. The report also highlighted how artist generating royalties have tripled since 2017. And though Spotify has absolutely changed the game for artists in terms of exposure and helping them build their fanbase, that doesn't always translate to financial stability, according to music publicist Eric Alper. Spotify doesn't pay artists and songwriters directly and how much they get paid depends on their agreements with rights holders. And after all the pit stops on the revenue chain, he says what makes it into their hands could amount to a very tiny percentage. The streaming giant's report comes amid the ongoing debate about how much money artists and songwriters actually receive in royalties and whether it is actually fair. Many artists, especially songwriters, struggle to see substantial earnings from streaming, even if their songs rack up millions of plays. "While Spotify boasts a $10 billion payout in 2024, only a fraction of that ends up in the pockets of those who create the music. A typical signed artist might see only 10 to 20 per cent of their total earnings after their label takes its cut," Alper told CBC News. "Songwriters have it even worse since mechanical and performance royalties are split among multiple stakeholders. Independent artists fare slightly better, as they avoid label deductions, but they still must navigate distributor fees and publishing splits," he said. How the money flows Spotify breaks down how the money flows in its report. The music platform pays the rights holders, which are typically record labels, distributors, aggregators or collecting societies. Artists and songwriters choose their rights holders and make agreements on their music, including giving them permission to deliver it to Spotify. The streaming giant then pays the rights holders, and they then pay the artists and songwriters. Spotify has different agreements with each of these rights holders and in general Spotify pays them roughly two-thirds of every dollar made from music. "As is the case with other streaming platforms, the payout to music creators and publishers is significantly minimal, especially considering that it is the music itself which initially provided the platform with its value," said Dr. Charlie Wall-Andrews, creative industries professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. Spotify was hit with a lawsuit last year that accused it of underpaying songwriting royalties for tens of millions of songs. Several Grammy-nominated songwriters, including Amy Allen and Jessi Alexander, boycotted a Spotify awards event earlier this year after the platform's decision to cut royalty rates for songwriters and publishers on premium-subscription streams last April. "Spotify continues to announce royalty payout numbers that distort the infinitesimal amount that ends up going to songwriters. To put real Spotify numbers into perspective, in 2024 Daniel Ek cashed out $376 million in stock. In that same period, it is estimated that all songwriters in the U.S. received $320 million from Spotify," National Music Publishers' Association president and CEO David Israelite told CBC News. "To add insult to injury, just last year Spotify enacted a bundling scheme to further slash what little they pay songwriters by unilaterally combining their premium music service with audiobooks. We continue to fight back against these efforts to find solutions that give creators their fair share of the massive value they create for Spotify." CBC News reached out to Spotify for comment, but did not immediately hear back outside of office hours. Pennies per stream The Loud & Clear report also showed music publishing payouts surpassing $4.5 billion US to songwriters and publishing rights holders in the past two years — with double-digit percentage growth from 2023 to 2024 alone. "The numbers are wild — 1,500 artists made over $1 million from Spotify in 2024, and 100,000 artists generated at least $6,000. That sounds great, but when you realize that there are over 12 million uploaders, the competition is staggering," Alper said. "The vast majority of artists are still making pennies per stream, and unless you're in the top few per cent of streamers, you're probably not quitting your day job anytime soon," he added. Alper explained that major-label artists with massive streaming numbers can make substantial money, but for mid-level and emerging artists, streaming income is often unsustainable. "The industry's shift toward streaming has widened access to distribution, but it has also devalued individual streams," he said. Spotify operates on a pro-rata model, where revenue is pooled and divided based on total streams and smaller artists can often get lost in the system. Alper would rather see fees distributed based on what each listener actually plays — and that the per-stream payout be increased. He explains that if Spotify and other platforms shift to a fan-powered, user-centric model, subscription money goes directly to the artists you actually listen to which alone could significantly boost earnings for independent and niche artists. "Spotify isn't the enemy, but the system needs tweaking to ensure that more artists — especially songwriters — can thrive," Alper said.
CBC
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
WATCH — Xavier Trudeau responds to haters after dropping debut single
PM's 17-year-old son launches music career Xavier Trudeau, the 17-year-old son of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has just launched his music career under the name Xav. He dropped his debut single on Friday, an R&B track titled Til The Nights Done. The track was released on major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, along with a music video on YouTube. Reactions poured in, with many comments praising the track and congratulating Xav. Others, however, were quick to hate. Many of the negative comments focused on Xav's father rather than the music itself. Want to see how Xav responded to the haters? CBC Kids News contributor Sophia Smoke interviewed him, so watch the video below to find out. Does the Trudeau name help or hurt? While Xav may have to navigate some negativity related to his dad, music industry expert Eric Alper said he could also use his father's fame to his advantage. 'He absolutely should trade on the name,' Alper told CBC News in a previous interview. 'The curiosity factor will open some opportunities.' But Xav will also have to prove himself, Alper said. According to Xav, his next opportunity to do that isn't too far away. He hinted that a new single, called Everything I Know, would be coming out soon. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
CBC
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Justin Trudeau's son Xavier, forays into music with debut R&B single
Social Sharing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 17-year-old son Xavier Trudeau marked his official launch into the world of music on Friday with the debut single of his R&B track Til The Nights Done. "What you know about me, I ain't like him," young Trudeau sings. "We could roll sum, we could light one." "It's hard to escape the shadow of a famous parent or sibling, and he acknowledges that head-on in the lyric, 'What you know about me, I ain't like him'," music publicist Eric Alper told CBC News. "That kind of self-awareness is key when stepping into the public eye." The song, which draws inspiration from fellow Canadian artists Drake, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber, was released at 12 a.m. ET across all major streaming platforms and features additional vocals from younger sister Ella-Grace Trudeau. The music video is set to be released on Xav's YouTube channel at 4:30 p.m. ET. Til The Nights Done was produced by Vishal "Duava" Daluwatte and Joey "Tekika" Boyer, co-founders of Ottawa-based Pathway Music Group. What is interesting is that he had the option to go the major-label route — Universal would have likely been an easy path —but he chose to stay independent, saying a lot about his artistic spirit, says Alper. "He absolutely should trade on the name; it'll get him in the door … the curiosity factor will open some opportunities, but from there, it's on him to prove himself as a compelling artist beyond the last name. And I think he's got the vibe and chops to do it," Alper said. Xav's music release comes amid his father's tumultuous political career, with the comments section on social media filled with a mix of praise for his music and dislike toward the outgoing prime minister. "We let the music speak for itself and we just want Xav to do what Xav wants to do," Daluwatte told CBC News. Dark, moody and ambient Til The Nights Done, which leans into that dark, moody R&B space that artists such as Don Toliver and Post Malone have mastered, was first teased on Instagram and YouTube in January, with mother Sophie Grégoire commenting, "Good work guys!" The song is written like a love letter to somebody you know you have a connection with, reflecting a romance that can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster, knowing that despite good times or bad, the love always stays there, co-writer Daluwatte told CBC News. "We could dim em all down or leave the lights on," Xav croons. "Baby we could move in slow motion till the nights done." Xav will be releasing his next song within the next month, Daluwatte said, with a lot more music lined up for release, and plans for concerts and performances to follow. "If he can back up the intrigue with strong songwriting and consistent releases, he has a real shot at carving out his own space in the industry," Alper said. Though the song alludes to smoking marijuana, Xav is technically too young to "roll sum" or "light one" as the legal age to use cannabis is 19 in Ontario and 21 in Quebec, after Trudeau's Liberal government legalized the recreational use of the drug in 2018.
