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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Bloody Monday: Over 68,000 jobs lost

Kwan Khan

Kwan Khan

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I seriously worry about this. What the heck are 5,000 people from Microsoft, for example, going to do now? I doubt many firms are hiring. To make matters worse, our culture has been one of spend, spend, spend, and don't bother saving, not to mention the evaporation of our home values. I fear that many people in the US have no real savings to fall back on. :unsure:

Americans need to stop spending, save our money, and go back to the old school. Hard work, fiscal responsibility, education, etc. Do we really need to be deficit-financing new cars every 4 years? If your car works, keep it. Put your nose to the grindstone and brace yourself. This thing is going to last for a while, I think.
 
It's a conundrum because our economy has been driven partly by excessive spending and borrowing, so it becomes hard to rebuild the economy all the while encouraging Americans to be more responsible with their money... we may have to change our definitions of what a "good" economy is and what true "wealth" means. We have to get beyond massive consumption as the best indicator of a healthy economy.
 
what makes it arguably worse is that now it's really a world economy, and when part of it breaks down, it hits the rest. It seems what started as America's credit crisis is slowly taking an effect on the rest of the globe.
 
Has your work dropped off?

Have your clients cut back or trimmed budgets?

What does 2009 look like for you?

Are you worried about a potential SAG strike?
 
I remember watching a show on the History Channel that claimed the movie industry actually fared well during the Great Depression, because people really needed to escape their circumstances. Is this true?
 
Tom said:
I remember watching a show on the History Channel that claimed the movie industry actually fared well during the Great Depression, because people really needed to escape their circumstances. Is this true?
Click to expand...

That could also be read as "feared better than everything else did"... I wonder which, and hope for the obvious one.

Same concept of the alcohol industry but I think I heard something about that not holding true in the recent months..?
 
Tom said:
I remember watching a show on the History Channel that claimed the movie industry actually fared well during the Great Depression, because people really needed to escape their circumstances. Is this true?
Click to expand...

dunno about the great depression, but I would assume that Hollywood will be fine even if things get pretty bad. If we really fall into a depression, you might see them cutting back on their numerous $100,000,000 budgets, but as long as there's market, there will be movies made to fill it.

HOWEVER, I suspect the indie seen will all but dry up entirely in the next couple years, until the economy officially recovers. Indie film is a very risky venture, usually without great potential returns, and without friends and neighbors willing to invest, I'm guessing we'll notice the number of sundance submissions decline drastically. :(
 
Americans need to stop spending, save our money, and go back to the old school. Hard work, fiscal responsibility, education, etc. Do we really need to be deficit-financing new cars every 4 years? If your car works, keep it. Put your nose to the grindstone and brace yourself. This thing is going to last for a while, I think.
Click to expand...


I think you are dead on accurate. I say this as I am about to spend another 20k on equipment to support our Red. It's a scary time.
 
In this planet, there are way too many people with way too high an expectation of what life "owes" them. Humanity has been in denial of the simple facts of life for a lengthy, long time. This is just a mere symptom of that malady. It won't be the first. And it won't be the last. Something's gotta give. And it won't be the planet.
 
Videodisc, trust me, I am in the same boat. I just spent 15K on new equipment, and my fingers are crossed. Investing in new tools for the trade is different from mindless spending, of course.
 
Tom said:
I remember watching a show on the History Channel that claimed the movie industry actually fared well during the Great Depression, because people really needed to escape their circumstances. Is this true?
Click to expand...

The studios did OK back then because all their revenue came from theatrical distribution, and yes, people flocked to the cheap entertainment that movies provided back then (not to mention the air conditioning...) Now most of their revenue actually comes from other markets like DVD, pay TV, broadcast, and that market has been falling due to various problems from piracy to lower sales, etc. And most are now owned by larger corporations that are suffering from non-film-industry problems. I'm sure Sony's financial problems will work their way down to their movie companies.

In fact, general audience attendance figures have been doing pretty well in the past few years for movie theaters.
 
David, that's what I worried about. Back in the 20s, 100% of revenue came from theaters. Nowadays, theaters alone cannot sustain big productions. Scary.
 
Not looking good.... I am predicting a short lived rally in the stock market this week... But the long term is DOWN DOWN DOWN! And its going to be WORSE than November!
 
Just watched "Slumdog Millionaire". Gives a whole new perspective on poverty. Complaining about our economy is like complaining about room service at the Bellagio.

-shooter
 
Tom said:
I remember watching a show on the History Channel that claimed the movie industry actually fared well during the Great Depression, because people really needed to escape their circumstances. Is this true?
Click to expand...

Probably, but it was a very new industry and there was more demand than supply really. Now we have a glut of content so it's not comparable.

The real problem is not that money hasn't been made recently. There has been a massive consolidation of wealth.

In the last 8 years the 400 richest Americans gained hundreds of billions in wealth at the exact same time the economy was tanking. Every one of them is a billionaire.

It may be true that Americans live beyond their means... but it's also true that the game of business is rigged to benefit the owners. There is an awful lot of pressure in our society to go into debt... starting with college. Bush himself urged families to buy bigger homes than they could afford. When asked what people should do after 9-11 Bush responded "Shop".

Now that doesn't mean we should have listened to the guy, but it's tough for me to sit here and hate Americans for being "patriotic".
 
I'm not worried

I'm not worried

There are three industries: Hollywood, Independent film and the Indie filmmakers market. These are three totally different industries. Hollywood we all understand. Independent film (people like Kevin Smith or Robert Rodriguez) have large budgets and are really part of the Hollywood system. Then there are indie filmmakers which is everyone else who are making films and trying to get them released. Once in a blue moon Hollywood grabs a film from our pool (indie market) if they think it is marketable, but this is very rare. But there are many other ways to make a living in the entertainment biz. I’m so sick of the snobbery of producing content for anything but the motion picture screen. Hollywood isn’t that snobby. Hell, they would put shows on monitors above urinals if they think they could make money doing it. In my view, the market has never been better for content creators especially with the economic downturn. Every company in America should have a webisodic series, so customers have a reason to come back to their website week after week. Why can’t we be the creators of these shows. I talk about this and much more on my webisodic series FilmFellas at http://zacutovideo.com Why doesn't the Gap have a drama based reoccurring series that I can get hooked on?
 
Tom said:
I remember watching a show on the History Channel that claimed the movie industry actually fared well during the Great Depression, because people really needed to escape their circumstances. Is this true?
Click to expand...
yes .
 
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