Private Thoughts of an Anonymous TV Studio Production Exec
AI and jobs, locations leaving L.A., and the IATSE 'Fraturday' problem: 'The percentage increase of costs is the highest it's ever been'
Hello readers, and happy spring break (if you’re on one, but are any of us really ever?).
As I hope you’ve been following along, I’ve spent the last several weeks considering what’s going on in production from as many angles as possible: What IATSE and the Teamsters were thinking heading into negotiations with AMPTP; FX’s John Landgraf on the state of Peak TV; mining the job listings across Los Angeles for any signs of life in creative executive roles; and talking to those who work in and around production itself, from crew members to prop house owners and other business owners in the space, who call the current state of the market a “Darwin sort of event.”
This week, we get a revealing look into the mindset of a veteran production leader, an SVP-level studio production executive with 30-plus years experience who has seen three writers strikes, worked at a number of studios, and weathered their fair share of economic downturns. It seemed a good time to check in with this person as the costs of TV production are the basis of, well, pretty much everything right now in Hollywood: the reduction in series orders, the un-ordering of series, the IATSE negotiation — and the shocking loss in jobs and job security. At a TV studio, think of a production exec as the head of household: managing budgets, stages, personalities and time across multiple productions.
Over the course of more than an hour, this person (who requested anonymity for the sake of speaking candidly) made clear that from their vantage point, Hollywood is still a great business to be in, and despite sky-is-falling rhetoric around town, thinks we’re going to make it out to the other side intact.
In this issue you’ll learn:
Why production hasn’t bounced back in 2024 as expected
Why outsourcing production out of Los Angeles isn’t what it’s always cut out to be
Why this person thinks AI won’t lead to a reduction in jobs
How worker protections being fought for by IATSE and the Teamsters could lead to more expensive productions — and even more unwelcome cuts
An executive-level view on the labor wins of the last year
Why no one should give up yet on entertainment as a career