COVID-19 has hit many industries with layoffs, furloughs, and a lot of uncertainty. Nearly all areas of the MCAE community decreased hiring due to COVID. Many of these industries rely heavily on live events and freelance professionals. This document gives an overview of industry trends & updates on what’s happening in the media, arts, communication, and entertainment industries in the age of COVID. 

Film & Entertainment

• Major entertainment festival cancellations and postponements 

• Major film release dates postponed or canceled
• Hundreds of shows have delayed or suspended production. 

• • Disney makes sweeping changes to release calendar
  • Sony delays nearly all its movies until 2021
  • NBCUniversal to release major films digitally
• Film and TV productions halted, altered, or shut down
  • Lots of staff furloughed 
  • According to the US entertainment industry union IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) about 120,000 film workers have lost their jobs 
• Late-night shows suspend production or tape without a studio audience
• Entertainment venues and attractions shut down
• The development pipeline is bursting with new projects. Virtual writers’ rooms are up and running for new shows.

• • Features straight into production or advanced pre-production 
  • The lack of production activity also creates more space for us to fast-track a number of our film and TV development projects
• The insurance market for new projects is rough
• Local crew, actors, studios, small businesses and more will feel the short-term impact from the halt in production activities. 
• Primarily LA-based companies are assembling plans for a virtual market
• All sports on hold for now, impacting industry front-line workers, ticket agents, stadium workers. 
• Streaming services hiring (Hulu, Netflix) 
• Types of roles posted
  • Coordinator of Artist Management at Disney
  • Video Production Coordinator at Journal of Medical Insights
  • Video Editor at Journal of Medical Insights
  • Digital Filmmaker & Editor at Minnow Mountain 

Animation

• Some studios have transitioned to remote work and are conducting business as usual (i.e. Disney Television) 
• Industry has not shut down like most others, but things are moving as a slower rate
• Nickelodeon Animation Studio & Warner Brothers working remotely 
• Fox-owned Bento Box Entertainment (creator of Bob’s Burgers) is hiring 500 artists and production staff across Los Angeles, Atlanta and London. It has openings for about 20 freelance production personnel. 
• Animated music videos anticipated (Atlantic Records)
• Magic Leap startup, laid off 1,000 employees—around half its workforce. 
• Types of roles posted?
• Lead 2D Animator at Minnow Mountain
• Animator at Peloton
• Gameplay Animator (Contract) at Playstation 

Marketing, PR, & Social Media

• People starting careers in live music and events face layoffs or cancellation of internships
• PR Firms still continuing work on a client services focused basis

• • Walker Sands

• • • Client services focused
    • Showing value through creativity
• Furloughs and layoffs confirmed across “many” agencies; DDB and BBDO among largest networks to be hit. 
• 13% of PR agencies located in the New York City metro area have laid off staff due to the COVID-19 crisis. 
• New York’s PR industry has witnessed more salary cuts and layoffs than anywhere in the country. 
• Types of roles posted
  • Digital Marketing/PR Summer Internship at D-MAK Productions
  • Digital Marketing Internship at Perfect Search Media
  • Marketing Internship at TapCloud 

Publishing, Copyediting, & Journalism

• Online book sales have increased

• • After Powell’s Books in Portland, OR, reportedly laid off about 85 percent of its staff on March 15 when it closed five stores, the bookseller re-hired 100 of those employees due to online sales demand. 
• New marketing campaigns pushed up
• Comics industry has been hit hard
• Online proofreading and editing services still operating 
• News media job market in crisis 
  • Smaller city-wide or state-wide news outlets particularly vulnerable
  • Local newspapers are currently losing 30-60% of advertising due to the coronavirus.
  • Newsrooms furlough employees rather than lay them off
  • However, there is a surge in readers
• Freelancers are limited not only by newsroom budgets but also by their lack of company-sponsored health insurance.
• Types of Roles
  • Temporary Senior Producer at Warner Brothers
  • Copywriting & Content Strategy Internship at Perfect Search Media 
  • Associate Editor at The Agora Companies