Writers Strike’s Impact on Area Economy Minor : High-Profile Industry Plays a Bit Part in the Southland’s Big Picture

Much of Hollywood was crippled by the recently settled writers strike. But for the rest of Southern California’s huge economy, the strike had as much impact as “Howard the Duck” had on moviegoers. It was much more of a snoozer than a blockbuster.

While Hollywood is a high-profile industry, it is overshadowed in size and economic importance by relatively humdrum industries such as banking, tourism, retail and aerospace that far more Southern Californians rely upon for jobs.

“It’s kind of amazing to me,” said Larry J. Kimbell, who studies the California economy as director of the Business Forecasting Project at UCLA. “It (the entertainment industry) is so visible, but other things like business services and computers dwarf it. And it has not been growing much either.” The strike’s impact on the state’s economy: “It’s negligible. It’s zilch.”

Furthermore, some film industry officials argue that the 5-month-long walkout by members of the Writers Guild of America will not have much of an impact on entertainment business either.

Some Felt the Pinch

To be sure, there was some strike fallout. About 20,000 actors and production crew members who would have started work in July on television shows have been idled. Employment in California’s motion picture and television industry is down from last year. Restaurants, caterers and other businesses dependent on Hollywood also felt the pinch.

But, for the most part, the strike involved such a relatively small number of workers that it would hardly register on most major economic indicators. And not all of Hollywood was paralyzed: Movie makers were quite busy filming productions that had been written before the strike began.

Even some establishments dependent on Hollywood have fared well. “For the most part, we’ve been quite solid and consistent,” said Pam Morton, co-owner and general manager of Morton’s, the West Hollywood restaurant frequented by studio executives, actors and writers. Morton, who credits the restaurant’s nine years in business with building up a loyal clientele, said: “We saw so many of our regular people all the time.”

The state’s Employment Development Department estimates that the number of people employed in the television and motion picture industry declined to 82,000 in June from 85,000 during the same month last year. State officials say they think the strike is the main reason behind the drop but cannot prove it. (The decline is perhaps smaller than might be expected because television production is shut down in June every year for the summer “hiatus.”)

In total, the movie and television industry employs about 230,000 statewide, including those who work in businesses that depend on Hollywood, such as caterers and equipment rental firms, according to the California Film Commission.

Those numbers are by no means small. But the 230,000 Hollywood-related jobs are a drop in the bucket compared to a total of 12.12 million non-agricultural jobs in California as of June.

The film commission estimates that motion picture and television companies spend a whopping $6 billion in the state annually. But that number easily gets lost in California’s estimated $500 billion in gross state product.

In Los Angeles County, the television and motion picture industry directly employs about 70,000, who earned $3.7 billion last year. That’s a tiny fraction of the 4 million workers in the county who earned $152 billion, according to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

More than half a million Los Angeles County residents work in business and professional services, including banking and finance; an additional 320,000 are employed in tourism and about 300,000 in aerospace, according to chamber economist Jack Kyser. Even the garment industry employs more people--92,300--than the entertainment industry.

“To be frank,” Kyser said of the entertainment industry, “it’s not much.”

Still, economists say, the glamour of Hollywood has undoubtedly helped to attract tourists and their dollars to Southern California. Kyser says people might have postponed a California vacation this year, thinking, “I’m not going to see them filming any movies.”

Ironically, some officials say the strike might actually boost the importance of the entertainment industry in the state--at least this year.

Michael Walbrecht, director of public affairs for the California Film Commission, notes that 116 feature films were made in California during the first half of this year, compared to 96 last year. (The film scripts had been written in advance of the writers strike.)

Now, as television producers to rush get their programs rolling, they might have to shoot their shows in California even if they do not want to, Walbrecht said.

“They won’t have the time to do it out of state,” Walbrecht said. “It will force them to do business in California.”