So there I am, in an appointment with my psychiatrist for the antidepressants I take for *dramatic Arab voice* REASONS when I explain that the job market is unrelentingly difficult right now. And she says to me:
“Yeah, a lot of doctors I know are having to Grub Hub and such to make ends meet.”
HUH?
“It’s bad out there, across every industry. I am hearing this a lot from nearly all of my patients, how hard it is to live, and how expensive things are.”
Wait, go back. The MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS have to deliver food???
I don’t know. I did some light research to try and find out more but hit a wall. Perhaps my psych saw this in a Facebook group where only one person is doing it because they blew last year’s salary on too many jet skis. I can’t be everywhere at once!
Or maybe, just maybe…the economy is a shit-stained toilet on fire right now!
Every. Single. Person. I know. In the entertainment industry. Is dying.
Not literally. (I think? Again, I’m not omnipresent!) But everyone I know is generally suffering. Those with contracts are dealing with gloomy futures in a few months. Execs who had good jobs are now on unemployment. Animators, writers, props masters, makeup artists, visual effects artists, crew, grips, managers, agents, directors, script coordinators, actors, caterers, development people — everyone is suffering. Even the Best Boy. The BEST BOY!!!
One friend’s writer’s room budget was slashed in half. Another hasn’t been staffed in three years. Another is on the precipice of selling a film but is convinced the deal will fall through at any second because all the others have.
Someone interviewed adult high school prom date Jerry Seinfeld about his upcoming Pop-Tarts movie, to which he said the movies are dead.
When asked what replaced film, Seinfeld said, “Depression? Malaise? I would say confusion. Disorientation replaced the movie business. Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, ‘What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?'”
On the one hand, no one knows what’s happening right now, and it gets more confusing and less secure every day. On the other hand, mid-budget features are doing quite well at the theaters. Last year, Barbenheimer broke box office records. We all have the Nicole Kidman ads memorized. Aren’t the movies back?
A friend compared the industry’s current state to the 1930s (in terms of economic disparity and depression), and the aftermath of World War II (in terms of pessimism and uncertainty). If there was such a thing as the Streaming Wars, now everyone’s clearing out the rubble, waiting to see how the new arbitrarily-created boundaries affect our daily routines.
But the thing is, it’s not just entertainment.
Behold, a list of tech companies undergoing massive job upheavals! Business Insider says a “slew of companies across the tech, media, finance, and retail industries made significant cuts to staff in 2023. Tech titans like IBM, Google, Microsoft, finance giants like Goldman Sachs, and manufacturers like Dow all announced layoffs.”
That’s along with like, a zillion other companies, including but not limited to Nike, Tesla, Salesforce, EA, Twitch, Blizzard, Activision, Snap, eBay, Rent the Runway, Expedia, Citi Bank, Duolingo, Morgan Stanley — even the cartoonishly evil supervillains of Black Rock are cutting three percent of staff.
That’s on top of cutbacks at Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, Netflix, Sony, Amazon, and Apple. So…every major entertainment studio. And most gaming, too. Oh, and remember, the doctors can’t find work, either!
WHY!!! WHY!!! she screams into an endless void until her eyeballs bleed.
Well…uh, I guess, AI for one? And the wars? And, uh…and…look, I’m neither omnipresent nor an economist. I honestly don’t know why. From my vantage point, it’s pure capitalist greed that has made unemployment reach a 14-month high in April. If you can think of a better reason(s), fine, but as far as I can tell, it’s just some French Revolution-era bread rioting waiting to happen.
So….what do we do?
Well…we can begin telling people we (me) will be offering our services at special rates! Hmm?
We can also continue to do the work our hearts call us to — whether you’re photographing the sky, writing a script only you read, or making a TikTok that will soon be banned.
We can keep making stuff because we are humans, and we are alive, and others don’t have that luxury right now or anymore, and we can and should be creative, soulful beings just because.
Besides, what else are we going to do in the short term? Eggs are 18 fucking dollars!!!