Hollywood workers struggle amidst industry changes

Dutch Merrick isn't in a party mood for this year's Oscars.

As for many below-the-line Hollywood workers, life has been hard for the veteran prop master and became even more complicated when he lost his home in the deadly fires that ravaged Los Angeles in January.

The personal tragedy couldn't have come at a worse time for Merrick.

Between the historic twin strikes that paralyzed Hollywood for much of 2023, the upheavals linked to streaming, and the exodus of production projects from California, he hasn't had a big job in two years.

"Work disappeared," says Merrick, who specializes in supplying and ensuring the safe use of weaponry on sets.

The light of a fire fighting helicopter illuminates a smouldering hillside as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. AFP

"I don't think anyone in our generation could fathom that this workflow would just turn to a trickle."

He now depends on a food bank run by IATSE, the union for those working in Hollywood's technical trades -- editors, set designers, camera operators, costumers, and makeup artists.

Volunteers visit about 40 families weekly at their premises near the Warner Bros. studios, where they stock up on fruits, vegetables, and other necessities.

Launched during the writers' and actors' strike in 2023, the initiative looks set to become a fixture, says union representative DeJon Ellis.

"The industry is in a contraction period, and it's slow compared to the past seven years," with around a third fewer jobs available, says Ellis.

"The fires compounded the problems."

IATSE is the labor union representing behind-the-scenes workers in the entertainment industry such as riggers, medics and crafts people. These entertainment industry workers have been struggling for a variety of reasons including strikes, productions moving outside of California as well as the recent Los Angeles wildfires. Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP

Streaming bubble bursts

Film and television built Los Angeles and have, for decades, played a significant role in the city's economy.

However, 2024 logged the lowest number of days of filming in the region since records began—except the pandemic standstill of 2020.

The reasons are complicated, but Ellis says the bursting of the streaming bubble was a significant contributing factor.

Gone are the days when each studio tried to imitate Netflix, launching frequent glossy, high-budget TV series.

Shareholders are now looking for a return on their investments and want profits instead of just the promise of growth.

Dutch Merrick looks for what he needs among items available for free at a daily food and sundries pantry for entertainment workers effected by the Southern California wildfires, at the IATSE Local 80 Union Hall, on February 14, 2025 in Burbank, California. IATSE is the union which represents technicians and crafts people in the entertainment industry. Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP

As a result, studios are producing less and relocating what they do make. If Los Angeles isn't losing out to other US destinations like New Mexico or Georgia, it's facing competition from tax-efficient destinations like Thailand, Hungary, and South Africa.

"I think the very foundation of Hollywood has been shaken to the core," says Merrick.

"I honestly think tax incentives started the race to the bottom."

Much like departing automakers hollowed out Motor City, Merrick worries that Los Angeles could become a shell of its former self.

"I'm originally from Detroit, Michigan, and we've seen this script play out before," the armorer said.

"We've seen an entire industry outsourced to other regions where they can get cheaper and cheaper labor."

Dutch Merrick (L), a movie armorer who lost his Altadena home in the Eaton Fire, hugs DeJon Ellis, manager at IATSE Local 80 Union, which is providing daily food and sundries free pantry for struggle union members in the wake of the devastating southern California wildfires, on February 14, 2025, in Burbank, California. Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP

Artificial intelligence

Lawmakers are pressured to preserve a significant industry and plan to double the tax credits available to companies filming in California.

But Veronica Kahn doubts that this will be enough given fundamental changes in the audience's thinking.

"People spend more time watching tons of 30-second videos on TikTok; they have less time to watch movies and series," the 42-year-old sound engineer told AFP.

And even very short productions are not made as they used to be.

"For the Super Bowl this year... there was a lot of artificial intelligence and animation. So our jobs are already disappearing," she said.

Strikes by actors and writers that crippled Hollywood were in part about protecting them from the use of artificial intelligence and to demand better pay.

DeJon Ellis, manager at IATSE Local 80 Union which is providing a daily food and sundries free pantry for struggle union members in the wake of the devastating southern California wildfires, speaks about the challenges facing entertainment industry workers at the union hall in California, February 14, 2025 in Burbank, California. Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP

But Kahn says while the actors and the writers won, people like her lost.

When filming resumed in early 2024, "I was told that with all this extra money that they had to pay the writers and the actors, they couldn't afford an additional person for sound."

Since then, "Each time I'm meeting with producers, they tell me that it's for work outside of Los Angeles," she sighs.

Despite cutting back on eating out and—ironically, perhaps—canceling her streaming subscriptions, Kahn still finds herself short and is grateful for the IATSE food bank.

"It helps; any little bit helps," she says, gesturing to a bag filled with lemons, avocados, and eggs.

Since the fires, studios have provided millions of dollars to help those affected, including those who rely on them for their livelihoods.

But in his union hall, Ellis would prefer those studios do something else.

"If you want to help all the fire victims, make more movies and TV shows here in Los Angeles," he says.