Over the past week, as eight wildfires destroyed large parts of its home city, Hollywood found itself violently affected — and, at the same time, barely affected at all.
With thousands of homes destroyed, many in favorite neighborhoods of producers, executives, agents and stars, and about 300,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings, little work was done at the studio headquarters. Some studios have closed their doors entirely, and others have encouraged employees to work remotely.
Let us consider the impact of the fires on Disney alone. As of Monday, 64 Disney employees have lost their homes and hundreds more have been evacuated, including Robert A. Iger, CEO, and three members of his senior leadership team.
Mr. Iger has been overseeing Disney’s relief efforts from a hotel, approving $15 million for community services and rebuilding efforts, arranging for Disney employees who lost their homes to receive two months of free furnished housing and opening Disney Studio wardrobe warehouses for employees who lost their homes to receive two months of free furnished housing. They need that. Clothes and shoes. He has also been calling Disney employees who have lost their homes.
“I want them to know that the people at the top of the company care about them, and that we care about them,” Iger said by phone Monday. “We’re going to have some really tough times here, but we’ll get through it together.”
Meanwhile, Disney’s film assembly lines – like the rest of Hollywood’s – were almost not affected at all.
Disney saw some waves of ash on its land in Burbank, but there were no flames. Pixar and Lucasfilm, both owned by Disney, are based in Northern California.
Sony Pictures is located in Culver City, far from any of the fires. Paramount Pictures and Netflix are located in the Hollywood neighborhood, which is a 40-minute drive from the two largest fires. Warner Bros. remains untouched. and Universal Pictures, located in the San Fernando Valley.
For the most part, live-action films are no longer filmed in the Los Angeles area. It’s very expensive. Instead, film production moved to states such as Georgia, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and countries such as Britain and Australia – all of which offered generous tax incentives.
Only two films from major studios were affected by the fires. Filming on “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” 20th Century Studios’ remake of the 1992 thriller, has been halted. The third 20th Century film, “Avatar,” also owned by Disney, also briefly halted production .
Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Legendary Entertainment, Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount and Warner Bros. did not have any films filming in Los Angeles over the past week.
“It’s become a business where the edifices are located in Los Angeles, but a lot of the work is happening elsewhere — and that in itself raises questions as people try to rebuild their lives,” said Terry Bryce, a veteran film marketer and film designer. Former President of CBS Films.
“If you’re an artisan in the industry, if you’re a crew member, why are you rebuilding here?” she said. “Aren’t you going to go where the work is? And what would that mean for the vitality of this community?”
IATSE, a union that represents camera operators, makeup artists, prop makers, costume designers, lighting technicians, hair stylists, cinematographers and other craftsmen, said Monday that nearly 8,000 members living in parts of Los Angeles were burned or evacuated.
Some in the movie business, including a few studio executives who lost everything, have been pushing for a quick return to business as usual — including the resumption of red carpet premieres and Academy Awards campaigns. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday extended the nomination voting period until the end of this week; The ceremony will be held on March 2 as planned.
But others questioned the “show must go on” approach.
“We have to ask ourselves: How do we respond as a company to a real disaster?” Mrs. Bryce said. “Thoughts and prayers, and by the way, my dress is from Gucci?”
“The decision that must be made is whether we protect the image or whether we are role models who reflect the best narrative by demonstrating empathy, leadership, compassion and heroism,” she added.
Hollywood has become experienced in soldiering forward. The fires come on the heels of the pandemic and two strikes that shut down production for months, not to mention turmoil in the streaming era.
But over the past week, Hollywood has sometimes seemed unsure how to handle itself. Unions representing screenwriters and producers have postponed awards announcements; Unions representing directors and actors went ahead as planned. Most of the premieres were cancelled, but some promotional efforts strangely continued.
“It feels surreal/weird/(I can’t quite find the right word),” “The Traitors” contestant Gabby Wendi wrote on Instagram on Thursday while promoting the reality show’s premiere that night “as I was evacuated from my home. “
Hollywood trade publications sometimes covered fires and routine industry news at the same time. “Los Angeles fires are angry; Jeremy Strong Q&A; “Reba McEntire’s New Role” was the headline in a newsletter from a trade outlet.
Most studios were open Monday, and production on television shows such as “NCIS,” “Hacks” and “Happy’s Place,” an NBC comedy starring Ms. McIntyre, resumed.
But Disney’s offices in the Los Angeles area remained closed. “One of the reasons we’re closing today, after many have returned to their offices and kids have gone back to school, is because we wanted to make sure our employees, especially those with children, had just a moment to spare,” Sonya Coleman, Disney’s chief human resources officer, said by phone.
Film distributor Roadside Attractions canceled its planned premiere of The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis, but went ahead with the release. The film, directed by Gia Coppola, collected $1.5 million over the weekend in North America, where it was shown in 870 screens.
“We’re celebrating it at the same time we’re horrified by what’s happening,” said Howard Cohen, founder of Roadside. Deadline said. “It’s the definition of mixed emotions.”
Nicole Sperling Contributed to reports.
