Without Hollywood, What happens to Los Angeles?
Los Angeles County has 88 cities. Ten million people. Two hundred-plus languages spoken.
And a nine-letter sign that, for much of the world, defines the entire region: HOLLYWOOD. Los Angeles has long been regarded as the global «company town» for show business, and as a rare actors strike upended the signature industry this week, the potential for cascading economic impacts across Southern California has emerged as a critical local issue. But economists disagree on just how extensively the simultaneous actors and writers strikes will be felt.
Even by the most generous estimates, Hollywood has never supported more than about 5% of employment in a region where many more people work in trade, health care, government and even Southern California's diminished manufacturing sector. Yet Hollywood pervades Los Angeles life in ways as big as a movie backdrop or as small as a street detour on some awards night. For many, the ceased productions and darkened premieres are not just a threat to the flow of dollars to restaurants and retailers that cater to film crews, but also a blow to the region's cultural heart.
«To the extent that Hollywood defines America's idea of where I live, Hollywood's troubles become my troubles,» said D.J. Waldie, a cultural historian in Southern California. «When Hollywood stops, a great many things stop here, and not just a few studios.» During the 2007 screenwriters strike, the California economy lost $2.1 billion, according to one study.
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