The New York Times pointed out Saturday that while Democrats once jeered tax breaks for Hollywood from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) as “corporate welfare,” they now plead for those tax breaks, in much larger amounts, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) obliging.
The Washington Post noted Saturday just how dire the “existential crisis” of economic annihilation is in Hollywood today:
Over the past decade, total film and TV production in Los Angeles has plummeted by nearly 40 percent, according to data from the region’s official film office. Both big-name blockbusters and experimental indies have fled to other states and countries, looking for cheaper labor and more attractive tax incentives given studio cutbacks and rising costs.
The economic impact of this exodus extends far beyond actors, writers and directors. Hit hardest are the behind-the-scenes blue-collar workers — the makeup artists and set decorators, the drivers and dry cleaners — who were already struggling to survive in one of the nation’s most expensive metropolises.
Just as dispiriting is the downturn’s psychic toll. Hollywood is California’s most iconic export, as synonymous with the state as sunshine. It made Los Angeles a worldwide hub for artists and dreamers. But America’s fantasy factory is offshoring. Evidence is found in empty soundstages, prop houses selling off their stock, dwindling job opportunities.
The industry is responding with calls for tax breaks, as the Times pointed out: