Latest news with #JoelyFisher
Express Tribune
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Return showbiz to Hollywood, plead workers
Hundreds of Hollywood crew members, producers and actors on Sunday urged California legislators to increase tax incentives and enact other measures to encourage more film and TV production in and around Los Angeles. Advocates gathered at a local sound stage to make their case to reverse the flight of production to other states. "Make Hollywood Hollywood again," Joely Fisher, an actor and secretary-treasurer of the SAG-AFTRA actors union, said to cheers. Costume designers, set builders, musicians, producers and business owners attended the rally. Several wore T-shirts with a quote from The Wizard of Oz: "There's no place like home." Workers were hoping for a production rebound in Los Angeles after the 2023 strikes by writers and actors, but the comeback has been slow. Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor, has proposed boosting the state's film and TV tax credits to $750 million a year, up from $330 million. Advocates support the expansion but also want other measures including making permitting easier. "California needs to stop taking Hollywood for granted," said filmmaker Sarah Adina Smith, an organiser of the "Stay in LA" campaign that has pushed studios to increase their filming in the city. Many speakers said Hollywood was filled with middle-class workers, not the wealthy celebrities that are the public face of the industry. They also noted that less production takes a toll on local businesses such as caterers and dry cleaners. Songa Lee, a violinist who has played on film scores for the last 25 years, said work opportunities on union productions in the area had fallen from roughly 30 a year to fewer than 10. "Musicians across the globe moved to LA because there was always the idea that you could actually have a decent living," she said. "As soon as the work's not here, that talent won't come here anymore, which we're beginning to see. We're losing talent." Reuters
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
At 'Stay in L.A.' Rally, Working Hollywood Fights to Improve Incentives for Southern California's Signature Industry
As Hollywood's employment crisis deepens with no relief in sight, more than one thousand rallied on Sunday in support of amplified incentives intended to convince more film and TV productions to stay in Southern California. At the 'Stay in L.A.' event at a studio services complex in Sun Valley, politicians shared stories of constituents in dire circumstances, industry professionals detailed parenting struggles stemming from working in other jurisdictions, and a labor leader described receiving calls every day from desperate union members as production work has dried up in Southern California in the last few years. More from The Hollywood Reporter SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contracts Expiration Date Extended Again With Paramount Deal in the Balance, Teamsters Meet With FCC Chair Over Job Protections Video Game Workers Authorize Strike at Microsoft-Owned ZeniMax Media More than 25 speakers, from policymakers to union officers to workaday performers, painted the picture of an unlevel tax incentives playing field that is jeopardizing the livelihoods of working-class and middle-class creatives and crew members who may not front a film or show but are crucial to their creation. The goal: to emphasize a pressing need for California legislators to greenlight Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal, which would more than double the state's ceiling for its film and television production incentives program, from $330 million to $750 million a year. Also on the table: legislation to increase the film and television credit to 35 percent and expand eligibility to include animation, large-scale competition shows and shorter television series. 'This is Hollywood, California. We have to stay competitive to stay alive, to keep our industry alive, to keep tourism alive, to keep the entire ecosystem alive,' SAG-AFTRA secretary-treasurer Joely Fisher said in an animated speech that echoed through Sir Reel Studios, which hosted the event. 'Make Hollywood Hollywood again!' The Stay in L.A. movement, which rose from the ashes of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires in January with the stated purpose of advocating for an influx of film and television work as a means of recovery, helped organize Sunday's event. The movement's leaders have advocated not only for legislation but also for commitments from major studios streamers to keep more of their sets in L.A.; so far, no major company has publicly responded to the call. Speakers emphasized that the entertainment industry isn't just comprised of stars at the top of the call sheet but also grips, costumers and drivers, among other crew workers. 'These are the very people who have built California's reputation as the entertainment capital of the world,' said DeJon Ellis Jr., the business manager for the IATSE Local that bargains on behalf of grips, craft services and warehouse workers. 'The truth is, we are not just creating entertainment, we are creating jobs, we are sustaining families, we are shaping the identity of California itself.' And rally headliners argued that productions sustains many small businesses like History for Hire, a prop house in North Hollywood whose president, Pam Elyea, exhorted attendees to stop by because business wasn't booming: 'We're lonely,' she said. In her speech, Lindsay Dougherty, the leader of the Hollywood Teamsters, compared Hollywood to her hometown of Detroit before the auto manufacturers went into crisis. The display of persistence and, at some points, frustration, all played out in Sun Valley against a backdrop of a post-Peak TV era when studios are cutting costs and Hollywood's output has shrunk. Though many industry workers survived momentary shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and the duel strikes in 2023, work never roared back. According to the latest report from FilmLA, on-location production in 2024 was the lowest it's ever been recorded by the film office beyond 2020, when projects were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soundstage occupancy was also down in 2024, to 63 percent, compared with 93.5 percent between 2016 to 2022. The California legislators' proposals may provide some form of remedy. Still, the proposed legislation isn't a done deal. Two speakers at Sunday's event suggested that politicians from Northern California, where the entertainment industry does not have the same presence, may be a holdup. And the Motion Picture Association, the major lobbying group for studios and streamers, and entertainment unions are also still negotiating the specifics of potential legislation. 'I think educating the Northern California electeds is always a hurdle just because they don't see how much this industry impacts the state of California,' Dougherty said in an interview with THR at the event. 'But I think that [with] the two bills, we're going to have overwhelming support from the Assembly as well as the Senate. We've just got to make sure that we're doing our due diligence to fully get the word out.' Policymakers who seemed a little less optimistic about the ultimate fate of the bills and politicians' general awareness of Hollywood's plight called on the audience to inundate their representatives with messages. 'I've got to tell you guys, you've got to do a little more to push people like myself,' Los Angeles City Councilmember Imelda Padilla said, pointing out that only four of L.A.'s 15 councilmembers were present for the event. 'Pick up those phones, get those numbers and call every single councilmember to put this at the top of the list.' Added Jessica Caloza, who co-authored the two tax incentive bills at play, 'What I see in this room is energy that we feel we need to bring to Sacramento.' She added, 'There's a lot of people in this state who do not believe we need the film tax credit. And we need you all to turn out.' The remark came after she led the crowd in a chant familiar to many in the entertainment labor space, where it is a staple of union rallies: 'When we fight / we win.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hundreds rally to bring film and TV production back to Hollywood
By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Hundreds of Hollywood crew members, producers and actors on Sunday urged California legislators to increase tax incentives and enact other measures to encourage more film and TV production in and around Los Angeles. Advocates gathered at a local sound stage to make their case to reverse the flight of production to other states. "Make Hollywood Hollywood again," Joely Fisher, an actor and secretary-treasurer of the SAG-AFTRA actors union, said to cheers. Costume designers, set builders, musicians, producers and business owners attended the rally. Several wore T-shirts with a quote from "The Wizard of Oz:" "There's no place like home." Workers were hoping for a production rebound in Los Angeles after the 2023 strikes by writers and actors, but the comeback has been slow. Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor, has proposed boosting the state's film and TV tax credits to $750 million a year, up from $330 million. Advocates support the expansion but also want other measures including making permitting easier. "California needs to stop taking Hollywood for granted," said filmmaker Sarah Adina Smith, an organizer of the "Stay in LA" campaign that has pushed studios to increase their filming in the city. "If we don't stop the bleeding, then Los Angeles is at risk of becoming Detroit," she added. "This is a great, iconic American industry, a home-grown industry, and we're losing it at an alarming rate." Many speakers said Hollywood was filled with middle-class workers, not the wealthy celebrities that are the public face of the industry. They also noted that less production takes a toll on local businesses such as caterers and dry cleaners. Songa Lee, a violinist who has played on film scores for the last 25 years, said work opportunities on union productions in the area had fallen from roughly 30 a year to fewer than 10. "Musicians across the globe moved to L.A. because there was always the idea that you could actually have a decent living," she said. "As soon as the work's not here, that talent won't come here anymore, which we're beginning to see. We're losing talent."
Reuters
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Hundreds rally to bring film and TV production back to Hollywood
LOS ANGELES, April 6 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Hollywood crew members, producers and actors on Sunday urged California legislators to increase tax incentives and enact other measures to encourage more film and TV production in and around Los Angeles. Advocates gathered at a local sound stage to make their case to reverse the flight of production to other states. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. "Make Hollywood Hollywood again," Joely Fisher, an actor and secretary-treasurer of the SAG-AFTRA actors union, said to cheers. Costume designers, set builders, musicians, producers and business owners attended the rally. Several wore T-shirts with a quote from "The Wizard of Oz:" "There's no place like home." Workers were hoping for a production rebound in Los Angeles after the 2023 strikes by writers and actors, but the comeback has been slow. Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic governor, has proposed boosting the state's film and TV tax credits to $750 million a year, up from $330 million. Advocates support the expansion but also want other measures including making permitting easier. "California needs to stop taking Hollywood for granted," said filmmaker Sarah Adina Smith, an organizer of the "Stay in LA" campaign that has pushed studios to increase their filming in the city. "If we don't stop the bleeding, then Los Angeles is at risk of becoming Detroit," she added. "This is a great, iconic American industry, a home-grown industry, and we're losing it at an alarming rate." Many speakers said Hollywood was filled with middle-class workers, not the wealthy celebrities that are the public face of the industry. They also noted that less production takes a toll on local businesses such as caterers and dry cleaners. Songa Lee, a violinist who has played on film scores for the last 25 years, said work opportunities on union productions in the area had fallen from roughly 30 a year to fewer than 10. "Musicians across the globe moved to L.A. because there was always the idea that you could actually have a decent living," she said. "As soon as the work's not here, that talent won't come here anymore, which we're beginning to see. We're losing talent."
