Summer Vacation in the Age of Austerity
Some head to Greece, Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics; for others it’s 'the splash pad at the local park’
I’ve been writing about how much money people are making (and not) for the past few weeks here, here and here. Today, I take a look at how the current climate and outlook is affecting people’s ability to take any time off.
Hope you all had a good holiday week, Series Business fam. Seemed quiet around TV town, unless you were Paramount Global — emerging from will-they-or-won’t-they M&A chatter to give the final rose to Skydance — or any of President Joe Biden’s disgruntled Hollywood supporters now “furious” with campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg for age-washing the incumbent, as my colleague and new Ankler staffer Matthew Frank reports.
Usually, the summer months mean a slowdown in industry activity as Hollywood’s executive suite slips off to coastal hideaways or sun-kissed European locales. But you’ll recall from last week’s newsletter that some folks have been saying that financially, this is not the time for vacation. (But mentally? Absolutely.)
The business is still trying to rebound after last year’s strikes and the come-down from Peak TV, and was until recently holding its breath to see if IATSE would come to a deal with the studios over the Basic Agreement and Area Standards Agreement. (They did.)
Now, some insist, is the time to get work — especially if the studios can wrap up contract talks with the Teamsters and Basic Crafts and really set production back in gear. In any case, it’s not like Hollywood’s rank-and-file have been in a position to relax amid the current downturn.
“There has definitely been a pullback on extravagant vacations and blowout parties since the strikes began,” one veteran TV producer tells me, though “parties do still happen if a wealthy person outside the industry is hosting.”
Par exemple: Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s annual White Party in the Hamptons on the Fourth of July, which drew the likes of Megan Fox and Leonardo DiCaprio alongside TV mainstays Kim and Khloe Kardashian. But in Tinseltown proper? Unless there was a mega-bash that was kept on the DL, it was all quiet on the Western front.
The question “Are you going anywhere this summer?” is an alarmingly quick way to assess the psychological state of Hollywood’s workforce, one disconcertingly divided into the haves and have nots in more polarizing fashion than ever, as a not-insignificant part of the town remains mired in unemployment.
In this issue, you’ll learn:
The writing jobs that are out there — but for whom they’re reserved
How the changing TV calendar has altered the vacation calendar
What the growing inequity in Hollywood looks like by seeing where — and for how long — people vacation
The people with jobs spending conservatively while waiting to see what’s next
Why the IATSE negotiations — and the deal — have cast a pall over summer vacation season