Hollywood is facing bankruptcy due to the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). Movie theatres were forced to close for several months and business has not returned to normal even with the current re-openings across the country. People simply do not feel safe in such places as it is difficult to social distance and pack in enough people to turn a profit per showing.

The pandemic has also damaged the television industry, as studios temporarily shuttered for several months during the pandemic. The studios ran many reruns on television, which do not bring in anywhere near as much money as first run programming.

Recording artists have also been hit hard during the pandemic. Most record deals are not making money for the artists, and in a new twist, labels are suffering from greatly diminished profits as well. The pandemic brought touring to a screeching halt, which is recording artists top revenue source.

An article in the industry publication Variety magazine stated Hollywood has been hit with "mass layoffs" due to the coronavirus. Warner Bros, Sony, Lionsgate and Discovery have "let sizable numbers of staffers go in 2020" according to Variety.

Quibi streaming has also collapsed and shuttered. Tens of thousands of people in Hollywood have lost their jobs. Many people have been fired, as Hollywood tries to stay afloat via streaming content. I predict terrible times are coming for Hollywood...the worst it has ever seen.

STORY SOURCE

Hollywood Grapples With Mass Layoffs as the Biz Redefines Itself for Streaming Future

Warner Bros. Wonder Woman Layoffs

Nov 25, 2020 7:00am PT - This is the winter of discontent for Hollywood workers, as no level of seniority has been spared from the wave of mass layoffs. Warner Bros. has been shaken by two rounds of layoffs and a wholesale restructuring that have ushered out veterans with decades of service to the Hollywood studio.

NBCUniversal has rewired the structure of its TV content production and distribution operations, leading to hundreds of job cuts. ViacomCBS has periodically shed bodies by the dozens in the year since its two halves formally tied the knot again in December 2019. AMC Networks last week disclosed it will let go of 10% of its U.S. workforce, or about 100 staffers. Discovery Inc., Sony Pictures and Lionsgate have also let sizable numbers of staffers go in 2020.

And Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s short-form video streaming service Quibi shut down just six months after a much-ballyhooed launch last April, leaving thousands of executives jobless.

Layoffs are hard on any company. But the current round of downsizing among traditional entertainment giants is even more alarming for seasoned industry workers because the cuts reflect a momentous transition in the business needs at the major studio and network groups. Market analysts see it as a painful but necessary byproduct of change...

https://variety.com

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