L.A. story: $1.5 billion lost due to the strike

Michael Ventre

LOS ANGELES - Now that the Directors Guild of America has reached an accord with Hollywood studios, the striking writers have returned to the bargaining table in the hopes of pounding out an agreement with the studios.

A settlement won’t come a moment too soon for those affected by the walkout.

“The writers’ strike is having a much larger economic impact on L.A. than its direct impact on writers and studios,” said former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. “The L.A. economy revolves around entertainment, and entertainment depends to a large extent on entertaining scripts. Without the latter, the entire economy becomes more fragile.”

Opinions vary as to whether the 11-week-old writers’ strike has had a seismic or modest effect on the Los Angeles economy. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., estimates that to date the strike has resulted in a $1.5 billion hit to the local economy. But a forecast put out by the UCLA Anderson School of Management suggests that the number is much lower — an estimated loss of $380 million if the strike lasts until March — and that several factors will offset the impact of the work stoppage.

Whichever big-picture estimate is embraced, there are human costs that have quickly trickled down. Kate Biscoe is a makeup artist who has worked on such recent feature films as “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Factory Girl.” Because she often serves as a department head on productions, she gets frequent phone calls from “day checkers,” makeup artists who inquire about day work, especially for period films and big crowd scenes.

“It’s been pretty dead,” Biscoe said. “A lot of people are calling me looking for work. I get a call or two a day. They need the hours so they can keep their health insurance.”

Sue Cabral-Ebert, president of Local 706, which represents hair stylists and makeup artists,  said she has heard from many members having a difficult time accumulating the 300 hours needed every six months to qualify for health insurance. But that’s just one area of pain, she explained.

“People are scared and angry,” she said, “and some will be losing their houses soon.”

Biscoe pointed out that some makeup artists earn an entire living just during awards season. Actors and actresses need makeup artists not just for shows like the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but also for many related public appearances.

“They can get 15 days of work doing press and parties with an actor, which is a huge amount of money to a makeup artist,” Biscoe said.

Sharon Lazarow works in sales for a company called Under The Sun Promotions, which distributes promotional merchandise for movies and television shows and lists Paramount and Fox among its major clients, although it does business with all the studios. It’s a small firm with 12 employees based in Encino, Calif., and because everyone works on commission, there has not been talk of layoffs.

“I would say our business is down about 30 percent,” she said.

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