Even Hollywood Feels the Hurt

The fabled streets of gold in Hollywood no longer glitter, thanks to the economy.

Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood and destination for all those hungry for fame and fortune is feeling the hurt too, these days. On location filming, once an everyday sight for locals, is becoming a rarity, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The disappearance of on-location filming in fellow southern California city means hard times are on the horizon. Motion pictures have long been the monetary backbone of Los Angeles, employing more than 200,000 people and provide $20 billion of the cityโ€™s $30 billion local economy, according to the paper.

It is a three-fold disaster for the city. Studios are cutting back on the number of films they produce as well as laying off employees. Television advertisements used to provide steady work for those in the entertainment industry but as consumers spend less, companies advertise less and the actors and production workers work less.

LAโ€™s entertainment industry lost a whopping 10 percent of its available workforce in January alone, easily more than any other sector according to the California Employment Development Department. That amounts to about 22,000 jobs.

This year, Los Angeles is scheduled to host only five major studio films. The norm is 15.

San Diego used to partake in the on-site filming pie too. According to the San Diego Film Commission, a group that regulates film and television production within the city, San Diego only hosted one film (Beverly Hills Chihuahua) in 2008. That is significantly lower than the film traffic San Diego used to get in the early 2000โ€™s. In 2001, San Diego saw 12 different motion pictures get filmed on location.

For more details on this story, visit the LA Times website.

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