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Film Industry "In Crisis" claims production crews

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LMCane
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8:23a, 5/29/24
Coincidentally, california is discussed in this article as being non-competitive with other states and countries due to high taxes, lack of incentives and high mandatory salaries.

I'm sure that is a coincidence with why the industry is having such a hard time.

LA Times discusses lack of employment for film crews
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ABATTBQ11
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8:54a, 5/29/24
AG
The last bit was why I didn't really feel bad for them. If it's that bad, then go find something to else to do. Don't sit there and cry about not having the work or job you love. There are plenty of people who go to jobs they hate everyday to put food on the table and take care of their families. If you're holding out for a job you're passionate about and crying about not having one, I don't feel bad for you.
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EclipseAg
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12:47p, 5/29/24
AG
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 episodes to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.
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TCTTS
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In reply to LMCane • 1:41p, 5/29/24
AG
LMCane said:
Coincidentally, california is discussed in this article as being non-competitive with other states and countries due to high taxes, lack of incentives and high mandatory salaries.

I'm sure that is a coincidence with why the industry is having such a hard time.

LA Times discusses lack of employment for film crews

Do I think California should offer more tax breaks and incentives for productions? Absolutely. But this is also nothing new. It's been this way for a long, long time.

Rather, the "crisis" is due to multiple other issues as well...

- We're in the immediate wake of a once-every-hundred-years pandemic.

- We're in the immediate wake of a once-every-sixty-years double strike.

- The streaming bubble finally popped.

- A bad economy/inflation.

... all of which have Voltronned into a perfect storm that is now wreaking unprecedented havoc on the industry.

The current motto around town is "Survive till '25," when studios will finally be releasing a film slate on par with 2019, in terms of overall quantity and the number of mega-blockbusters, while they'll also have more cash to spend on production. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and we're hopefully through the worst of it, but we're not quite out of the woods yet...
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TCTTS
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In reply to EclipseAg • 1:47p, 5/29/24
AG
EclipseAg said:
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 weeks to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.

The old model is slowly but surely returning. But it won't be on network TV exclusively anymore, it's moving to streaming. Literally every studio we talk to now wants "elevated procedurals." Which means network-style dramas with elongated seasons again, just at a slightly better quality. No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore. At least for the time being. A studio yesterday even told us they're looking for shows "that could have been series in the '70s and '80s." The mentality has completely shifted.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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In reply to ABATTBQ11 • 1:51p, 5/29/24
AG
ABATTBQ11 said:
The last bit was why I didn't really feel bad for them. If it's that bad, then go find something to else to do. Don't sit there and cry about not having the work out job you love. There are plenty of people who go to jobs they hate everyday to put food on the table and take care of their families. If you're holding out for a job you're passionate about and crying about not having one, I don't feel bad for you.
Comes off pretty naive tbh.

It's not just about picking up odd jobs or minimum wage jobs to make ends meet, it's about trying to maintain your current level of income in an economy with crazy inflation.

When you're trained in one specific craft, it's not that easy to replace that income just by picking up side hustles or entering an entirely new career path.
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LMCane
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In reply to TCTTS • 2:33p, 5/29/24
I hear you but how can you say we are in the "immediate" wake of the pandemic when I have been back at work in the office for literally three years now?
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Stupe
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 2:44p, 5/29/24
S
Quote:
It's not just about picking up odd jobs or minimum wage jobs to make ends meet, it's about trying to maintain your current level of income in an economy with crazy inflation.
Yet, they chose to go on strike.

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TCTTS
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In reply to LMCane • 2:49p, 5/29/24
AG
LMCane said:
I hear you but how can you say we are in the "immediate" wake of the pandemic when I have been back at work in the office for literally three years now?

Because the effects of the pandemic are still negatively impacting industry in terms of development, release dates, etc. Movies/shows take YEARS to and make. Not to mention, the pandemic changed viewing habits for millions of people, it shrunk the release window to streaming, it sped up the demise of linear TV, etc.
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WoMD
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In reply to TCTTS • 2:58p, 5/29/24
TCTTS said:


Do I think California should offer more tax breaks and incentives for productions? Absolutely.

Should also apply to doctors, lawyers, fast food employees, prostitutes, drug "distributers," homeless, etc etc. Why are productions so much more special than literally every other profession, with most of them bringing more to society than a subset of the entertainment industry. Why not professional athletes if we're going that route? They're struggling, amiright? How about strippers? They're working their way through college. They deserve a break. How about the kids wearing Winnie the Pooh costumes in Disneyland? Why not those poor *******s? Gotta be hot in there, so they deserve it too.

The rest of us get incentives to leave, not stay, so why the hell are people in your profession so damn special that they deserve that help? Give me a ****ing break...
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WoMD
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 3:02p, 5/29/24
Brian Earl Spilner said:


When you're trained in one specific craft, it's not that easy to replace that income just by picking up side hustles or entering an entirely new career path.

You mean like every other professional "craft" in the world where someone has nothing else marketable to go with? Like almost every liberal arts grad who can't get a job in their "dream" profession?

When **** hits the fan, you have to adapt. Thats life. You're not that special. In fact, the entertainment industry is easily the least significant component to society when things fall apart, and SHOULD be the first to go. If it comes down to feeding your family, or watching a mediocre movie, which do you choose? If you're in a profession that falls off their ledge, then you adapt. Or you die. Thats life.
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HollywoodBQ
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In reply to LMCane • 3:23p, 5/29/24
AG
LMCane said:
I hear you but how can you say we are in the "immediate" wake of the pandemic when I have been back at work in the office for literally three years now?
Bro - YES - the scamdemic lasted for 3+ years in LA.

When I finally packed up and left in August 2023, it was still 20% masking at my grocery store - Pavilions in the Burbank Rancho. Parts of LA were even crazier than that.

And bars, nightclubs... dead.

I used to live on the same block with the Disney studio - dead.

I'm talking brown grass need to scrape it all up and re-sod kind of dead.
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Stupe
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3:29p, 5/29/24
S
I understand wanting to do a job you love. That's the dream.

I'm one that has a job that I love.

But these two statements are why there aren't many outside of Hollywood that feel bad for the industry.

Quote:
- We're in the immediate wake of a once-every-hundred-years pandemic.

- We're in the immediate wake of a once-every-sixty-years double strike.
California has chosen to keep dragging out the Covid garbage.

A bunch of people that are doing the "job they love" chose to strike during the middle of some of the worst inflation in the history of the country.

It's difficult to feel sorry for a group that makes those kinds of decisions.

Add in how arrogant and self-serving most "stars" are....and there just isn't going to be much pity.
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Thunderstruck xx
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3:30p, 5/29/24
Californians voted for this. Their antics in dealing with the scam covid-19 pandemic made it much worse for them.

Do better California.
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TCTTS
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In reply to Stupe • 3:43p, 5/29/24
AG
I'll give you the strikes being self-inflected, but the Covid crap has long-since passed. I don't know what grocery store HollywoodBBQ frequented, but 20% masks as of August 2023 wasn't my experience at all. And clubs/bars aren't even remotely "dead." This city is thriving, I see next to no masks, and productions haven't required Covid precautions in forever. Again, the industry is still feeling the effects of the pandemic, in the ways it shifted the release schedule, led to fewer productions, hastened streaming, shifted to work-from-home, etc, but there is zero Covid nonsense as of now, nor has there been for quite some time.
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Red Five
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 4:16p, 5/29/24
AG
Brian Earl Spilner said:
ABATTBQ11 said:
The last bit was why I didn't really feel bad for them. If it's that bad, then go find something to else to do. Don't sit there and cry about not having the work out job you love. There are plenty of people who go to jobs they hate everyday to put food on the table and take care of their families. If you're holding out for a job you're passionate about and crying about not having one, I don't feel bad for you.
Comes off pretty naive tbh.

It's not just about picking up odd jobs or minimum wage jobs to make ends meet, it's about trying to maintain your current level of income in an economy with crazy inflation.

When you're trained in one specific craft, it's not that easy to replace that income just by picking up side hustles or entering an entirely new career path.
"Learn to code."
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javajaws
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In reply to TCTTS • 4:22p, 5/29/24
AG
TCTTS said:
EclipseAg said:
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 weeks to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.

The old model is slowly but surely returning. But it won't be on network TV exclusively anymore, it's moving to streaming. Literally every studio we talk to now wants "elevated procedurals." Which means network-style dramas with elongated seasons again, just at a slightly better quality. No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore. At least for the time being. A studio yesterday even told us they're looking for shows "that could have been series in the '70s and '80s." The mentality has completely shifted.
Basically what that tells me is that they want a bunch of not overly expensive content to put out to make up for the lack of overall content available from the last couple of years. People are tired of watching the same stuff again.

And also to effectively spread their cash as widely as possible instead of sticking a bunch into a couple 8-episode mega series that cost a fortune and have a 50/50 chance of failing.
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PatAg
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In reply to TCTTS • 4:35p, 5/29/24
AG
TCTTS said:
EclipseAg said:
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 weeks to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.

The old model is slowly but surely returning. But it won't be on network TV exclusively anymore, it's moving to streaming. Literally every studio we talk to now wants "elevated procedurals." Which means network-style dramas with elongated seasons again, just at a slightly better quality. No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore. At least for the time being. A studio yesterday even told us they're looking for shows "that could have been series in the '70s and '80s." The mentality has completely shifted.
So they want to start making bad tv again?
Sucks, but I guess thats probably just limited to fox,abc,nbc, and cbs so shouldnt really matter overall.
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FL_Ag1998
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In reply to TCTTS • 5:37p, 5/29/24
AG
TCTTS said:
EclipseAg said:
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 weeks to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.

The old model is slowly but surely returning. But it won't be on network TV exclusively anymore, it's moving to streaming. Literally every studio we talk to now wants "elevated procedurals." Which means network-style dramas with elongated seasons again, just at a slightly better quality. No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore. At least for the time being. A studio yesterday even told us they're looking for shows "that could have been series in the '70s and '80s." The mentality has completely shifted.


You have no idea how happy you just made me with that post. I'm 48. No matter what streamers try to tell me, I know that there's supposed to be more than 11 episodes per season for a show. It's amazing that in a very short time we went from 20-something episodes per season to sometimes only 6-8 episodes!

One question I do have....so many tv shows these days star big name celebrities, often big names that also star in movies. Will their schedule and desire to continue working in movies affect their ability to star in shows with longer seasons?
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EclipseAg
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In reply to FL_Ag1998 • 5:40p, 5/29/24
AG
FL_Ag1998 said:



No matter what streamers try to tell me, I know that there's supposed to be more than 11 episodes per season for a show.
Not to mention, people like me often lose interest in the show and never watch season 2 because season 1 was so brief it didn't make an impact.
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FL_Ag1998
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In reply to LMCane • 5:45p, 5/29/24
AG
LMCane said:
I hear you but how can you say we are in the "immediate" wake of the pandemic when I have been back at work in the office for literally three years now?


I'm in a construction related industry, a big company working with other big companies, and the aftershocks from the pandemic are still being felt in our current workload (i.e. much less than pre-pandemic).

Oh, and I live in FL, the free-est state there was during the pandemic. Yet we're still feeling the economic effects of it because most companies these days are effected by the national economy.
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TCTTS
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In reply to FL_Ag1998 • 6:45p, 5/29/24
AG
FL_Ag1998 said:
TCTTS said:
EclipseAg said:
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 weeks to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.

The old model is slowly but surely returning. But it won't be on network TV exclusively anymore, it's moving to streaming. Literally every studio we talk to now wants "elevated procedurals." Which means network-style dramas with elongated seasons again, just at a slightly better quality. No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore. At least for the time being. A studio yesterday even told us they're looking for shows "that could have been series in the '70s and '80s." The mentality has completely shifted.


You have no idea how happy you just made me with that post. I'm 48. No matter what streamers try to tell me, I know that there's supposed to be more than 11 episodes per season for a show. It's amazing that in a very short time we went from 20-something episodes per season to sometimes only 6-8 episodes!

One question I do have....so many tv shows these days star big name celebrities, often big names that also star in movies. Will their schedule and desire to continue working in movies affect their ability to star in shows with longer seasons?

I don't think we'll be seeing any movie stars in any of these "elevated procedurals." Also, I'm not saying prestige, eight-episode-season dramas are fully going away either, which will still feature movie stars. I'm just saying, right this moment, studios aren't actively looking for prestige, eight-episode-season dramas, but that could easily change six months from now. Ultimately, it'll probably even out, and the streamers will make both kinds of shows fairly consistently... prestige, eight-episode-season dramas with movie stars - and - "elevated procedurals," with lesser known casts/13-20-episode seasons.
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AustinAg2K
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7:19p, 5/29/24
I hope the industry doesn't pick between a single drop of 8-10 episode shows, or a weekly release of an episode at a time. I hope they let the show dictate the best way it should be consumed. There are some shows that are best binge watched in a short period of time. For example, something like Tiger King or Squid Game. Those shows hit and we're very popular for a month or so and then dropped off the map. I think sometime like that is best to binge. Then there is a show like Game of Thrones or Lost, which become must see events as soon as each episode drops. I think those work best spread out over time.
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FL_Ag1998
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In reply to TCTTS • 7:49p, 5/29/24
AG
TCTTS said:
FL_Ag1998 said:
TCTTS said:
EclipseAg said:
It is pretty amazing that a typical television season has gone from around 39 weeks to 22 to 8 or 10, with big gaps between seasons.

That's a lot of lost work for people behind the cameras.

The old model is slowly but surely returning. But it won't be on network TV exclusively anymore, it's moving to streaming. Literally every studio we talk to now wants "elevated procedurals." Which means network-style dramas with elongated seasons again, just at a slightly better quality. No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore. At least for the time being. A studio yesterday even told us they're looking for shows "that could have been series in the '70s and '80s." The mentality has completely shifted.


You have no idea how happy you just made me with that post. I'm 48. No matter what streamers try to tell me, I know that there's supposed to be more than 11 episodes per season for a show. It's amazing that in a very short time we went from 20-something episodes per season to sometimes only 6-8 episodes!

One question I do have....so many tv shows these days star big name celebrities, often big names that also star in movies. Will their schedule and desire to continue working in movies affect their ability to star in shows with longer seasons?

I don't think we'll be seeing any movie stars in any of these "elevated procedurals." Also, I'm not saying prestige, eight-episode-season dramas are fully going away either, which will still feature movie stars. I'm just saying, right this moment, studios aren't actively looking for prestige, eight-episode-season dramas, but that could easily change six months from now. Ultimately, it'll probably even out, and the streamers will make both kinds of shows fairly consistently... prestige, eight-episode-season dramas with movie stars - and - "elevated procedurals," with lesser known casts/13-20-episode seasons.


Gotcha, and I'll take it.
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Jugstore Cowboy
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In reply to TCTTS • 10:29p, 5/29/24
AG

Quote:
No one wants prestige, eight-episodes-a-season dramas anymore.


A couple years ago, maybe during Covid (to keep on the apparent topic of this thread), I watched the first 2 seasons of Twin Peaks. Looking back, it's pretty amazing how many episodes they churned out and how quickly they moved thru and beyond the mystery of Laura Palmer's murder.

Now, watching Outer Range, a series that pays some pretty direct homage to Twin Peaks, I was let down with the progress of the show after another round of 8 episodes. Couple more years to see where the plot is going?

Slow-burn has almost become no-burn, with no guarantee of renewal for any series.
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aTmAg
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6:34a, 5/30/24
AG
Breaking Bad is the greatest TV show to ever grace the screen. It was 13 episodes per season max (if you count #5 as 2 seasons). I'll take that all day over network shows where every episode is self contained and the order doesn't matter.

Edit: The Wire maxed out at 13 too. These were the 2 best shows. What the hell is wrong with that?
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aTmAg
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6:58a, 5/30/24
AG
And California's problem is 100% government induced. It's not just that taxes are too high, but their regulations are over the top. Rent control, super strict zoning, and other regulations have kept builders from building new homes/apartments in numbers that the free market would dictate. Obviously, reduced supply increases prices. Crime is though the roof and retail stores are closing or increasing prices to compensate. The cost of electricity is up to 3 times other states largely due to rabid environmentalism (and just wait while they try to get 100% of new cars to be EV by 2035). Ditto for gas and car prices. Californian regulates the health industry more than other states. That limits the number of insurance providers and competition.

And it's not just Covid and the strike. There is a reason that shows have been increasingly filmed in other states long before that. And that is the same reason that lot's of other businesses and citizens have been leaving the state for greener pastures too,

And it's only going to get worse. California is $1.6T in debt at all government levels and Newsome turned a yearly surplus into a huge deficit. The people of California are going to have to pay that back somehow PLUS interest. Despite what some claim, nobody can go into debt indefinitely. Taxes are going to have to rise. And even if they try to tax the "evil" corporations, then all that will do is increase prices and lower wages more. And, BTW, California citizens are 2nd place for being in the most personal debt. So that is going to be like bleeding a turnip too.
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LMCane
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7:42a, 5/30/24
More tales of woe from Hollywood crews.

one even had to sell a "second home out of state" and sell her own LA home to then rent.

the horror!!

More TV stations, yet fewer jobs in Hollywood

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FL_Ag1998
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In reply to aTmAg • 7:50a, 5/30/24
AG
aTmAg said:
Breaking Bad is the greatest TV show to ever grace the screen. It was 13 episodes per season max (if you count #5 as 2 seasons). I'll take that all day over network shows where every episode is self contained and the order doesn't matter.

Edit: The Wire maxed out at 13 too. These were the 2 best shows. What the hell is wrong with that?


I agree with your assessment of those shows greatness, but I still reserve the right to complain that it feels like almost every show is now only 8-11 episodes with seasons 1.5-2 years apart.
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aTmAg
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In reply to FL_Ag1998 • 8:04a, 5/30/24
AG
FL_Ag1998 said:
aTmAg said:
Breaking Bad is the greatest TV show to ever grace the screen. It was 13 episodes per season max (if you count #5 as 2 seasons). I'll take that all day over network shows where every episode is self contained and the order doesn't matter.

Edit: The Wire maxed out at 13 too. These were the 2 best shows. What the hell is wrong with that?


I agree with your assessment of those shows greatness, but I still reserve the right to complain that it feels like almost every show is now only 8-11 episodes with seasons 1.5-2 years apart.
Don't get me wrong. If Breaking Bad had the same quality and had 30 episodes per season, then that would have been GREAT. I just don't think it is reasonable to expect that. That when you have 30 episodes per season like in the 70s/80s the quality per episode was much worse. It's inevitable as you spend much less per episode.

Of course Game of Thrones final season had 6 episodes, and it was a total s**t show. So clearly fewer episodes guarantees better quality.


What I grown to dislike is episodic shows (if that is the right term), where they make sure the end is in the same state at the beginning of each one, so that reruns could be played in random order and not be confusing. That reduces the quality, IMO.
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CheeseSndwch
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In reply to TCTTS • 8:23a, 5/30/24
TCTTS said:
LMCane said:
Coincidentally, california is discussed in this article as being non-competitive with other states and countries due to high taxes, lack of incentives and high mandatory salaries.

I'm sure that is a coincidence with why the industry is having such a hard time.

LA Times discusses lack of employment for film crews

Do I think California should offer more tax breaks and incentives for productions? Absolutely.

They need to pay their fair share.
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uujm
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8:24a, 5/30/24
I just wrapped 3 union movies I was producing at the same time totaling 5 on the year. I have four others greenit and another 8 that should go between September and December. This is a slow year for me so far but better than the end of last year. We filmed 14 last year but filmed 24 between June 2022 and June 2023.

The CEO of our distributor is retiring and we have been waiting on the announcement of the new CEO to see if the network was going to re-up their 3 year deal. Deal is done so we should be back to pre strike volume by the beginning of next year.

However, big budget streaming movies and shows will continue to contract. I am guessing a third of all new hires from 2020 on are never going to find work like they had during the streaming wars. These are people who were pulled off the street right onto union shows being paid $600/day to move around lights, stands, set dressing etc.

Edit: I haven't made a movie in L.A. since 2018. That may change with Food Truck Wars but it is much easier filming in every other state/country I have filmed in.
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Canyon Lake Agbu94
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9:31a, 5/30/24
AG
Hollywood is aimless. They like to blame strikes and covid, but I believe that being out of touch with what the people want is equally to blame. The hype tried to push the latest Mad Max movie to box office glory, but it doesn't look to have the staying power. Other recent movies like Dune 2 and the Fall Guy were moved to streaming quickly. All of the marvel and dc content as of late has been severely lackluster. In all of those examples, only the fall guy can be seen as original content and that is based on an 80s tv show.

As for serial television, I looked forward to original content like Stranger Things and Outlander as replacements for Lost and Breaking Bad, but when there are two or more years between seasons, then I just will not keep following them. Oh well, I guess it's back to Moonshiners and Swamp People for me.
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HollywoodBQ
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In reply to TCTTS • 9:38a, 5/30/24
AG
TCTTS said:
I'll give you the strikes being self-inflected, but the Covid crap has long-since passed. I don't know what grocery store HollywoodBBQ frequented, but 20% masks as of August 2023 wasn't my experience at all. And clubs/bars aren't even remotely "dead." This city is thriving, I see next to no masks, and productions haven't required Covid precautions in forever. Again, the industry is still feeling the effects of the pandemic, in the ways it shifted the release schedule, led to fewer productions, hastened streaming, shifted to work-from-home, etc, but there is zero Covid nonsense as of now, nor has there been for quite some time.
Classic 310 flex no doubt. What are you Ari Gold who can't be bothered to go over the hill and set foot in the 818?

In my post I gave my primary example. Want more? - Whole Foods in Burbank, Gelsons, Ralph's, Vons and every other grocery store in Sherman Oaks. I'm also guessing you don't get up to Vallarta in NoHo much. HK Market in Koreatown?

It has been funny speaking with people who rarely leave their beach suburb like Santa Monica, Venice, Hermosa, Redondo, Long Beach. A lot of these folks act like things weren't that bad and have gotten "back to normal". In fairness, Long Beach never really slowed down too much because it and Pasadena were the only two cities in LA County who had their own Health Department and could make their own Covid rules.

As bars and nightclubs started to get going again in 2022-2023, a lot of the patrons I talked to were young people who moved in after the worst of it was already over so they don't even know what the rest of us went through from 2020-2022.

Pull up a barstool at Mrs. Robinson's (Timmy Nolan's) in Toluca Lake and they'll be happy to tell you how they just got here from Iowa or wherever. Lockdowns, what are you talking about? That sounds crazy.

My wife and I used to drive out to San Bernardino, Riverside, or Ventura just to see a live music show. Nevermind getting out of California completely with routine trips to Vegas. We'd even go to The OC just to be able to shop without a mask.

Anyway, how many bars and restaurants have gone under? How many bars that used to be packed are now running at 1/3 of capacity? I used to go to shows at The Whisky and there'd be 350 people, now there might be 75 people. Not to mention beer is $9 now.

Driving around, you can see how busy the studios are. You see random shoots through the neighborhood. It's not hard to figure out how much work is happening locally.

Maybe things have gotten better in the 10 months since I departed but they were pretty dead the past 4 years (2020-2023).

And my handle isn't BBQ it's BQ as in somebody who marched in the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band.
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ABATTBQ11
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 9:45a, 5/30/24
AG
Brian Earl Spilner said:
ABATTBQ11 said:
The last bit was why I didn't really feel bad for them. If it's that bad, then go find something to else to do. Don't sit there and cry about not having the work out job you love. There are plenty of people who go to jobs they hate everyday to put food on the table and take care of their families. If you're holding out for a job you're passionate about and crying about not having one, I don't feel bad for you.
Comes off pretty naive tbh.

It's not just about picking up odd jobs or minimum wage jobs to make ends meet, it's about trying to maintain your current level of income in an economy with crazy inflation.

When you're trained in one specific craft, it's not that easy to replace that income just by picking up side hustles or entering an entirely new career path.


And? You can't have it all, and that's the expectation here. If work is drying up and/or moving away, which are the major concerns here, it's unreasonable to expect to be able to maintain the same income level and keep doing that work and stay where you are. Something has to change, and that probably means moving, making a career change, making a lifestyle change, or a combination of all three. I'm not going to feel bad for people who want to keep living in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country in an industry where they've barely been able to find work in a year or more and are holding out because they want to keep doing something they enjoy for work.

If the industry is changing or shifting, then they shouldn't expect business as usual. If they want that dream job and income level, then maybe it means moving to Georgia or NY. If they want to stay in the career there in, maybe it means picking up side gigs and sacrificing income. If they want that income and want to stay where they are, maybe it means moving to something else entirely. Yeah it sucks and it's hard, but they're not the first and won't be the last to have to make these kinds of choices and sacrifices.
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