One year ago, Hollywood found itself in the midst a historic work stoppage, with two unions — the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA — walking the picket lines at every major studio in town. While both unions eventually struck new three-year deals, the film and TV industry is still reeling from the consequences.
Throughout the majority of last year, production workers remained hopeful that opportunities would pick up once the new deals, reached after more than 100 days each, had been made. But for a variety of reasons, that hasn’t been the case.
A sustained pattern of decline in production that began before the strikes was only accelerated in the second half of last year. Production in the U.S. was down 40% in Q2 2024 compared to pre-strike Hollywood, according to a recent report from ProdPro. Globally, it’s down 16%.
