2009: Hard Times for Hollywood
p2pnet news view | Movies:- Thanks to George W. Bush, times will be hard — really hard — in Hollywood next year.
Moguls will have to drive mercs instead of rollses, hang out with their wives and kids instead of hi-priced ‘escorts’, sniff ordinary Vic inhalers instead of Peruvian marching powder to clear their nasal passages, and work one-and-a-half days a week.
“The economic crisis and the threat of another labor strike are creating a “perfect storm” as the major studios, “brace for further layoffs early next year,” says Reuters, going on »»»
Job cuts have already swept through some media companies. This month, General Electric Co’s NBC Universal, home to Universal Pictures, said it would cut 500, or 3 percent, of its staff, while Viacom Inc, owner of Paramount, cut 850, or 7 percent, of its workforce.
Layoffs at those companies’ respective film studios totaled 70 at Universal and 150 at Paramount, say studio executives.
Looking ahead, industry insiders see more belt-tightening at Walt Disney Co, Time Warner Inc’s Warner Brothers and Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures.
Sony Pictures’ parent, Sony Corp, has already announced 8,000 job cuts chiefly from its electronics division, but various Hollywood insiders say they believe the studio will cut jobs in January. Sony Pictures declined to comment, but a source familiar with the studio said it had already started lowering costs by reducing travel expenses, overtime and restricting the filling of open or newly vacant positions.
Job cuts are also expected to be announced at Warner Bros in early 2009, said one executive familiar with the studio.
But, “Two spokespeople for Disney studios and ABC network declined to comment for this story.”
It’s tough at the top.
Reuters -Hollywood gears up for more tough times in 2009, December 18, 2008
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December 19th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Whose fault is it really. Bush might, and probably does have something to do with it, but come on. He ain’t the only problem here.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
^^ In the sense that when he vanishes, Hollywood will lose its very best friend. Or will it?
Cheers!
December 19th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
“Or will it?”
Hopefully.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
OH my what are the poor actors and musicans gonna d do now that htey have for hte last ten years sued everyone they could …AWWW poor you.
If i were in charge a welfare id even make it so ya cant get none.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
You know what? All they’d have to do is adapt to the 21st century, and they might, probably would, be doing a little better.
Wonder when they’ll finally decide to get with the times? Anybody wanna guess?
December 19th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Fuck Hollywood!
On a related note, Bush is not the only one who deserves shoes in his face. Harper should definitely get one.
By the way, they did it again! In Ukraine, a journalist threw _boots_ at a pro-NATO speaker.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ea_1229701785
After Muthathar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist, threw both his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad, the method of protest seems to be gaining popularity in other countries. In Odessa, during the opening ceremony of the Euro Atlantic Cooperation Centre which took place in the South-Ukrainian Pedagogical University, a journalist expressed his protest is a similar way.
Around 100 students were present at the ceremony. Oleg Soskin, a member of the Ukraine-NATO Social League Coordination Council, was making a speech when he was interrupted by a journalist from one of the local TV channels, who shouted: âStudents, youâre young and promising, donât you listen to these stupid and marasmic old homosexuals!â The journalist then took off his boots and threw them at Soskin.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
It is not all bushes fault, but he sure has a part in it! Congress has been asleep at the economic wheel for years. Where exactly was the oversight needed when that fraudster stole up to 50 billion dollars?
“Former Nasdaq chairman Bernard L Madoff who was a leading trader on the New York exchange for 50 years, was turned in to federal agents by his sons for running what they said he called a giant “Ponzi scheme.”
Exactly HOW did ONE MAN get away with doing this without others knowing about it?
Seems there is blame to go all around as far as the economy, but I won’t be shedding any tears for an industry that has turned on it’s former customers so bad that they are willing to sue them into bankruptcy for filesharing!
December 20th, 2008 at 1:58 am
The lowly paid workers will be the ones to go as usual. After all, the execs can’t keep their private jets without some cutbacks now can they?
December 20th, 2008 at 2:18 am
“It is not all bushes fault, but he sure has a part in it! Congress has been asleep at the economic wheel for years. Where exactly was the oversight needed when that fraudster stole up to 50 billion dollars?”
Capitalism itself is to blame. Greed caused the crisis we are in at the moment. In fact greed has created every single economic crisis; which makes on question the virtues of a capitalistic society. And how do governments around the world respond? They give them a slap on the wrist, pay off their debts, and it’s business as usual; well at least until they do it all over again lol. Seriously, giving these rich bankers ‘carte blanche’ to get themselves out of the hole of their creation sets a terrible precedent and certainly does encourage a culture change in wallstreet or other financial institutions, for this socialism for business, or welfare for business, which ever is more appropriate, but one thing is for sure, it’s certainly not capitalism. If these companies self-destruct through their own greed, why shouldn’t they go bankrupt? It’s entirely prejudiced to selectively subsidise specific industries while allowing others to collapse a la auto industry and others.
While we are on the topic, where do all these imaginary trillions originate from? they seem to pull them out of a hat like a rabbit in a magic show. Is some shadowy group operating in the background to forcibly enslave the population through the artificial inflation of currency, itaque the goods they represent?
December 20th, 2008 at 3:42 am
Y’know, I wish I could continue to lie to myself and believe that “capitalism” and “free markets” are synonimous, but they’re not.
And none of that hairsplitting bullshit about how supposedly “capitalism” and “mercantilism” are different, either. The inescapable fact staring everybody in the face (especially so-called “libertarians and the Pro-business conservatives in all nations) is that “businessmen” — especially corporate businessmen — don’t want a “free” market, and never have.
A “Free market” wouldn’t empower the State to grant monopolies, even for a “limited time”. So much for patents and copyright, which — despite all the lying idiocy spewed to the contrary, are NOTHING but the use of State (government) coercive power to prevent “unauthorized” competition in a given field.
A “free market” would most likely lack any kind of “corporate” structure, and would damn sure lack the perks involved by incorporation: limited liability, corporate “personhood”, and the “veil” seperating “personal” assets from “corporate” assets all encourage irresponsibility by corporate CEOs. Why? The vermin know that — barring very unusual circumstances — the “corporate veil” ensures that no matter what the company does or now drastically mismanaged it is, their “personal” houses, yachts, fleets of automobiles, etc. won’t be endangered.
And, lest we all forget, if one of these behemoths actually DOES run the risk of crashing, cronies in Government are sure to step in and save their pin-striped asses. Why? Well, we’ve all been mindfucked with the “free enterprise” myth for so long that even asking questions about corporate power and IP monopolies is considered “left-wing”.
Fine. So be it. Let’s all give Carribou Barbie one and conceed that failing to uncritically suck corporate cock == “socialism”.
Bottom line of the matter is that I genuinely hope the RIAA member companies — EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM — are hemmhoraging money, and the entire edifice crashes. Fuck life-plus-70. Hell, fuck 14 years, since obviously the lobbyists couldn’t be trusted to be content with a smaller monopoly.
December 20th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Well said Henry, and you are dead right.