The waves of layoffs at Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Amazon MGM Studios, Lionsgate (which acquired eOne), Netflix, Sony, Fifth Season and most talent agencies including CAA and UTA have Hollywood crying as they experience what the rest of the nation does.
“I’ve seen lots of downturns, lots of job losses but I’ve never seen anything like this,” one veteran top TV executive told deadline. “This is a full-scale depression for the entertainment industry.” The layoffs is affecting the entertainment executives who have kept their jobs and often have to take on more work as a result of the staff cuts.
“The morale is low,” another former TV executive said. “People feel overworked and under-appreciated and those who were there for the hayday of the industry feel like the glory days, the fun and glamor of showbiz, are no longer there.”
Deadline reports:
The dire situation, “bordering on worst-case scenario,” the seasoned TV executive said, was created by a perfect storm of Covid, strikes and “poor management decisions coming home to roost” driven by short-sighted moves by media companies aimed at goosing their quarterly reports to appease Wall Street.
Those venting about their experiences on LinkedIn say that they have sent hundreds of job applications and never got a response to the majority of them, not even from HR. Some have been on the sidelines for more than a year while trying to pick up consulting and other part-time gigs to pay the bills.
The more senior executives turn to headhunters.
Hollywood executive recruiter Jamie Waldron told deadline Most of those he has met with put on a brave face, saying they feel great about taking a break and are happy to spend time with their kids.
However, “some are honest, ‘No, I’m scared,’ ” he said. During the strikes, Waldron, whose father, 91, is a former writer and still a WGA member, said he was “looking at the fear and listening to all the stories of the writers and actors that are losing their houses.”
“What was kind of lost in the story was executives were doing the same thing, executives that were laid off were losing their houses and the private school tuition for their kids, and those jobs didn’t come back because either the contraction of the industry, or they’re waiting for them to come back,” he said.
“The upper upper-level executives will be fine,” the former top TV executive said. “Presidents used to make $4 million-$6 million a year, now they will make $2.5 million-$3 million. Middle-level executives were making $250,000-$750,000. All will now be reduced. With fewer jobs and more demand, the companies can get away with that. An executive who made $500,000 in their last job would now be willing to take a $350,000 offer. That’s what the contraction is doing.”