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nradov | on: America has lost 200k of jobs in media, film and the arts. How much is AI?
It's crazy how California and the LA area local governments killed their "golden goose" by driving out the film industry. I guess progressives can't stop themselves from doing that, but it's always sad to see.
throwaway2037 | parent | next
They didn't kill the golden goose. Other places implemented tax benefits to encourage film making. That is why so much filming is done in Canada, New Zealand, and various Central European nations. If anything, the golden goose flew away. As a counterpoint: What do you think California and LA area local gov'ts should have done differently?
alex43578 | root | parent
Not keep adding to the taxes, expenses, and red tape? Work to address the outrageous cost of living in CA that indirectly drives expenses for labor? It's a million and one policies that all contribute to how running a labor heavy business in CA is increasingly challenging (bearing in mind that those factors matter less to a software shop or Apple).

As I mentioned elsewhere in the thread, CA's labor-pool's own hostility to the film industry (via strikes) also played a big role. They gave the studios the finger, then are surprised that the studios took their ball and went elsewhere.

throwaway2037 | root | parent
For those unaware, TV and film unions in Los Angeles are incredibly powerful. As a result, people who work in TV and film jobs are paid far above median wages in Los Angeles. Also, I doubt that overseas staff working on TV and film sets are paid the same level as Los Angeles. If anything, LA studios are repeating the same story that we saw in the 1990s and 2000s with US manufacturing: Move it somewhere else where wages are very low, e.g., China or Mexico.

Also, I see this anti-union sentiment a lot on HackerNews: Whenever unions strike, there is near universal rejection as a strategy. The anti-union sentiment on HN is tiring, especially from the US and UK. Those big strikes in Los Angeles resulted in large pay increases and/or expansion of territory (better payouts for streaming, etc.) for those union members. In short, it worked.

alex43578 | root | parent
"It worked" for those in the union, for a bit, but the article itself shows 30% declines since 2022. If you're still working under the new, even-more-lavish contracts, I'm sure you're happy. If you're in that 30% now working as a barista or DoorDash driver, did the union work for you?

It's akin to the auto worker's unions, but without the same degree of government backstopping for the industry. The auto workers unions are an anchor around the necks of the auto industry, while government bailout dollars are a lifejacket - it's clear California (and more broadly the US) doesn't see the same need to subsidize the unions in TV and film.

gedy | parent
I’m not a fan of many progressive causes, but this is absolutely more an issue with globalization and easy ability to move jobs overseas to cheaper areas.
jasomill | root | parent
Absolutely, along with the rise in popularity in unscripted and nonprofessional content due to non-AI technologies drastically lowering the cost floor for production and distribution. AI will no doubt contribute to these trends, but I suspect its impact will be more evolutionary than revolutionary.