Hollywood’s famed behind-the-scenes careers—lighting techs, set designers, even that guy who tapes down cables—are in the unemployment line, thanks to AI juggernauts like Google Flow AI. Studios now favor code-wranglers over prop-wranglers, as smart tech handles editing, VFX, and even *scriptwriting* (ouch). Jobless rates for creative crews are in freefall, set hours are shrinking, and California’s once-glamorous film jobs are headed for a reboot—or cancellation. Curious if your favorite movie magic still needs humans? Stick around.
Lights, camera… pink slips? If you thought Hollywood was all red carpets and champagne, think again. The city of stars is now the city of shrinking paychecks. By late 2024, payrolls in Tinseltown’s motion picture industry had nosedived nearly 25% below pre-pandemic levels.
Even the creative types—those writers and actors who made us believe in space wizards and talking raccoons—lost their gigs, with employment plummeting almost 40% beneath 2022’s already bruised numbers.
Feeling bad for the A-listers? Save your sympathy for below-the-line crews. Lighting techs, prop wranglers, set designers—they’re all feeling the squeeze, some perhaps even harder. And if you skipped college in hopes of “making it” behind the scenes, the job losses hit even harder. Thanks for nothing, Hollywood dream machine.
Let’s talk hours. Remember when 35+ hour workweeks meant steady pay and health insurance? By late 2024, average hours slid to just 31.5 per week. Rising labor costs are making it even tougher for studios to keep crews on set for longer hours, tightening the squeeze on already struggling workers. That’s less time on the lot and more time wondering if your benefits package ghosted you.
Meanwhile, Hollywood’s global grip is slipping faster than an Oscar speech cutoff. Studios are packing up and heading out of LA, and employment numbers in California’s film biz now resemble a retro flashback to the early ’90s. In fact, Los Angeles is experiencing a major shift in its employment landscape, as new industries step in to fill the void left by Hollywood’s shrinking payrolls.
New neighbors—think tech and green energy firms—are luring talent away. Remote work, meet gig economy. Not exactly the sequel anyone asked for.
But wait, there’s a plot twist! The industry added 2,000 jobs in April 2025, with “broadcasting and content providers” scoring a 2,500-job bump.
Still, unemployment stubbornly held at 4.2%. Spoiler alert: not everyone gets a happy ending.
Then there’s the new villain—AI. Google Flow AI and friends are steamrolling traditional production roles. Automation is handling editing, VFX, even scriptwriting. AI tools are automating repetitive tasks that once required teams of specialists, allowing studios to produce content with dramatically reduced staff.
Suddenly, studios want tech operators, not craftsmen. Faster, cheaper—sure. But at what cost? (Besides, you know, actual jobs.)
