In these times of uncertainty, one thing is for sure: The business of buying and selling content will be certain. Every TV outlet has a need to buy content. No TV channel can produce content for its entire schedule. The windowing might change, the mechanics of acquisitions will evolve, agreements will be finalized online, and when there are millions at stake (at least at the outset) executives will still need to see each other face-to-face to iron out deals.
This preamble is in response to a double whammy of doomsday articles, both of which were published on November 13. One was a piece in The Hollywood Reporter titled: “Struggling Entertainment Workers Are Fleeing Hollywood,” and the other, which ran in The Los Angels Times, was headlined: “Hollywood Hopes For a Deal.” A deal with “the business friendly” U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, that is, as he’ll soon begin his second non-consecutive term.
The hidden message in the entertainment community is that the U.S. has gone from what many people consider an incompetent administration to what is universally considered an unpredictable one. But not all can be blamed on the U.S. federal government, as one former top studio executive explained, “In many cases, mismanagement (by executives who appear to be clueless on strategies that have a prayer today) has exacerbated an already tough predicament.”
In addition, the Harris-supportive Hollywood also seems set on revenge, as was recently pointed out by The Wall Street Journal in an article that denounced Warner Bros. by writing that the “New Clint Eastwood Film ‘Vanishes’.” The film, Juror #2, could be the last movie made by the 94-year-old director, a Trump supporter. The movie was released on just 31 U.S. screens. For the WSJ, “the decision to relegate [Eastwood’s new film] to MAX is a display of disrespect for an actor and director.”
“Get ready for more consolidation,” wrote the Times, adding that “many media mergers don’t work out well, particularly for employees.” The Times also quoted Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, saying, “There’s going to be a lot of turbulence.”
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