I was in the middle of a pitch on March 12, 2020, mid-sentence when an assistant walked into the room with a note. the exec stopped the pitch, and declared that we should all go home and that we would resume on a call sometime in the future. We never did. COVID wrecked Hollywood, and by the time things were supposed to return back to normal, the AMPTP tried to squeeze writers and actors into a bad deal. It didn't happen. The subsequent strike took us all the way to October 2023. That wasn't enough time to restart the industry. It was just enough time for everyone to have nice, productive chats.Now, as we enter the summer of 2024, it feels like the entire industry is figuring out how to completely restart. Those aren't my words. During a recent earnings call, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra said, “We had to go from a pandemic where production was severely limited, to a strike, where there was no creative work being done for literally seven or eight months,” he continued, “It had to restart. And that's what you're seeing right now.”Let's dive in.Restarting HollywoodAs a writer, I'm very nervous for what's coming in Hollywood. I moved here in 2012, and the lean years never felt as dire as the current months. Maybe it's because I have more at stake this time around, as I'm older and have a family, but the contraction felt is very real. We're seeing fewer scripted shows,...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - 3 days ago