Ever since the actors’ strike ended last year, Hollywood workers have had one question: When will the entertainment industry’s production economy begin its long-awaited revival?
Nine full months after a debilitating “overworked summer” and fall, the industry is beginning to show signs of a gradual recovery. New data shows that after a long period of significantly reduced activity, some companies are once again increasing show orders, but the pace of recovery remains incredibly slow.
Many entertainment executives and employees at all levels have resigned themselves to the idea that the film and TV industry will be permanently contracted and that the trading peaks of 2021 and 2022, the so-called peak TV era, will never return.
“We’re in a reset phase,” said Alice Thorpe of London-based Ampere Analysis, a market research firm specializing in media and entertainment.
The streaming sector’s recovery has been led by Netflix and Amazon, which produced the majority of the shows that began airing after the writers’ and actors’ strike ended. Netflix produced 149 shows in North America in the first half of 2024, its most since the first half of 2022, according to Ampere data.
Ampere said traditional broadcast TV, cable and streaming commissions by major entertainment companies in the U.S. and Canada increased 39% to 1,013 shows in the first half of 2024 compared with the second half of 2023. The data, which takes into account greenlights from Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Apple, Paramount and Comcast, does not include theatrically released films.
But that figure still represents a 9.9% decrease compared to the first half of 2023, according to Ampere data. Even more surprising is the decrease from the first half of 2022, when these companies approved 1,515 programs in the U.S. and Canada.
Back then, the world of streaming TV seemed limitless: Hollywood studios were churning out new shows, streamers were paying big bucks for top talent, and promotional discounts for subscribers were plentiful. The end of that golden age began in 2022, when streaming industry leader Netflix reported declining subscriber numbers and continued as studios cut costs. They canceled shows and movies, raised subscription fees, and laid off employees.
While Netflix has been declared the winner of the streaming wars by Wall Street and remains one of the few profitable companies in the sector, it is unclear when layoffs will end at other companies, including debt-laden Warner Bros. Discovery and soon-to-be-sold Paramount, which is in the process of cutting 2,000 jobs.
Hollywood insiders had hoped the economy would bounce back after last year’s strike, but many workers are still struggling to find work. “Survive until 25” is now the mantra for many. Some are leaving town or changing jobs.
Some say studio activity has been curtailed by fears that further strikes are looming.
Robert Halmi Jr., CEO of Great Points Studios, which has filming studios in New York, Atlanta and Britain, said when unions representing staff negotiated contracts with studios earlier this year, some shows opted to produce in London rather than risk interruptions caused by a strike.
Now that the Hollywood Teamsters and the International Stage Employees Union have reached an agreement with the studios, Halmi believes things are on the way for a turnaround.
“Finally, for the first time, [U.S.] “There are signs of an attack on the horizon,” Halmi said. “Now all obstacles have been removed.”
His company is opening a new 1 million-square-foot facility in Yonkers, N.Y., but it’s already booked up through next year. “Shaw is looking for space right now,” Halmi said.
Much of the new activity is happening outside the United States
Netflix and Amazon have greenlit programming in North America, but Ampere said roughly 60% of their commissions in the first half of the year came from other continents as they expanded their audiences by producing local-language content in hubs like India, Spain and Germany.
For years, the film industry has had to deal with the problem of U.S. production companies fleeing to places that offer cheaper prices and more generous government incentives. Producing a TV show overseas can be significantly cheaper than producing it in the U.S. Industry experts estimate that a drama series filmed in the U.S. can cost between $8 million and $10 million per episode, but the same show can be made in Europe, where tax credits are available, for around $4 million per episode.
Netflix, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon declined to comment on Ampere’s report. Apple and Walt Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
Streamers are looking for safe bets: shows with big-name talent or existing intellectual property like popular books. In January, Amazon greenlit a Bible series called “House of David.” Netflix commissioned a horror show from the producers of “Stranger Things” about “something very bad happening.”
NBCUniversal said its content mix has been consistent across platforms and will continue to be that way. The company declined to comment on Ampere’s data.
“It’s not a sudden tide, but it’s slowly but surely getting better,” said Roy Ashton, a partner and agent in the television literary department at the Beverly Hills talent agency Gersh. “The bar is just higher than it’s ever been.”
A person familiar with Amazon’s operations said the company has greenlit 49 films for production in the U.S. so far this year, roughly the same number as it has in 2023. More than 30% of Amazon’s original slate is shot in the U.S., the person said.
London-based production company Fremantle and its divisions have been greenlit to produce several shows in various countries by Amazon and Netflix this year, including two yet-to-be-announced U.S. non-scripted shows for Netflix and a second season renewal of hit German-language romantic drama “Maxton Hall,” which launched in May and became Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched international original in its first week.
“There’s activity happening everywhere,” Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin said. “The great thing about what we’re doing is the world needs great content.”
Amazon Prime Video series “Maxton Hall.”
(Stephane Laborde/Prime Video)
But some industry insiders are concerned about the future of U.S. production as entertainment companies move to cut costs. Last week, Warner Bros., Discovery and Paramount wrote down the combined value of their cable TV networks by $15 billion, acknowledging the damage caused by cable cancellations and the shift to streaming.
Analysts worry that streamers will cut content spending on series and movies as they invest more in live sports programming. As more subscription streamers offer ad-supported versions of their services, they are looking to major sporting events as a way to attract viewers and advertisers.
Talent is facing pressure as studios are offering less in contract negotiations with creators, some agents say. In TV’s heyday, streamers offered big paydays to executive producers to help churn out content to fill their libraries.
“This is the worst market we’ve ever seen,” said Dan Elriggi, partner and co-head of the television literary division at United Talent Agency. “The corrections are dramatic, they’re severe. … Contracts are being re-signed with a fraction of the contracts that existed for these people in the past.”
Even those with stints on blockbuster shows are struggling to get attention for their new works. Aaron Korsh, whose years-old USA Network legal drama “Suits” became a surprise Netflix sensation last year, said the market is tough; his proposal was turned down last month.
“The last six months have been really awful,” Korsch said. “I think things are getting a little bit better now and we’re all hopeful that next year will be a lot better.”
Korsh said the pilot for the upcoming NBC show “Suits: LA” (a spinoff of the cable TV original) was primarily filmed in Vancouver, Canada, and the season was scheduled to be shot there as well, but at the last minute, the project received a tax credit to film in Los Angeles, and filming is expected to begin there later this year.
“This is great news for everyone and for the Los Angeles economy,” Korsch said.
Newsletter
Subscriber-only alerts
LA Times subscribers can sign up to receive alerts about early or exclusive content.
Enter your Email Address
sign up
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.