So We Survived the Summer. Now What?
It's day one of back to work. But where we do go from here
I’ll be back this week with some thoughts on the circus happening over in Venice, and the A-list movie star cosplay on display. But with summer closing, it seemed time to reassess where we started the season and now, where it stands.
The first half of 2024 was a Golden Age for catastrophizers like myself. Every business model lay in tatters. Layoffs flowed in such abundance that one wondered how there was still anyone left to fire. An anemic film calendar foretold death to the cinemas. The fate of multiple studios seemed to hang in the balance, with two or even three of them shutting their doors a real possibility. The computers were going to take over. Sports would swallow programming.
Hanging over it all, the entire nation — and the world behind it — seemed an inch away from exploding into a Civil War to end all civil wars.
At summer’s end, I wouldn’t say everything’s in good shape . . . but that sense of imminent doom looks far less at hand. Pain abounds, bad decisions may reign, but through it all, it feels like Hollywood just might muddle through, despite itself.
So let’s take a look at some of the 2024 verities that now seem busted as we head into the fall — the dogs that didn’t bark — as Hollywood lives to screw up another day. And, because one doesn’t just give up being a catastrophizer so easily, the dark clouds still looming behind these silver linings.
I. The Industry Will Shrink to Nothing
It’s hard to cast the job cuts we have experienced in a positive light given the amount of pain that’s been wrought. The number of people out of work now is staggering and for those out of work struggling to support their families, this is the end of the world.