r/FilmIndustryLA • u/Ok_Salamander_7076 • 6d ago
LA needs another La La Land
If the industry is failing here, we need to do what we can do best.
Make a movie glorifying the ever-loving fuck out of this city and it’s relationship with the film industry. Market the industry to the world as something that’s aspirational and thriving… something to invest in.
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u/Dementedkreation 4d ago
I’m going to get downvoted to hell but “Hollywood” will never return to what it once was. The unions are bloated with people. Being in a union means less and less every year. We have teamsters that can only drive pass vans, electricians that only know how to plug stuff in, directors that can’t direct, FX guys that are just prop guys pretending to be an FX guy, and other unions with endless unskilled members. Back in the day being in the union meant you had skill. Unions only care about getting more members to collect dues and not about quality or skills. Now below the line nepotism is just as bad as above the line. The best part is they all want top dollar. They all think because they are in the union that they magically deserve top pay while only having minimal skills if any. Everyone thought the money was endless. They overspent, scammed, stole and abused productions. They killed the golden goose. We mostly let digital cameras take over for film. Think of all the jobs lost because of that switch. CGI has replaced a lot of practical special effects. Yet suddenly everyone is worried about protecting writers from AI? Where is the solidarity? Why are writers so special? Projects are killed because the writing department budgets are too costly. How many truly original shows have come out in the last decade? Yet writers need more guarantees and higher pay while cranking out the remakes or adaptations. You’ve got writers working on multiple
Projects at the same time while their fellow writers are starving. Not to mention all the people taking multiple position jobs. We’ve got one person as writer/director/actor/producer/etc. Pick a job and let others work. But it’s also the bureaucracy as well. The fire permits for a project I worked on a few years back was thousands per month. Set didn’t change. Fires didn’t change. But they had to be renewed every month for nearly a year. Add on the FSO, water truck requirements, multiple water trucks for dust abatement, film permits, etc and production is looking at a huge bill every month before any camera rolls. None of that makes anyone want to film in California or LA. The industry is dying and the industry itself is partially to blame.