Growing Globalization of Production Spells Trouble for Hollywood
In this article
With another strike likely averted and Hollywood crews holding onto hope that work is finally about to bounce back, the ominous question hanging over the first half of 2024 persists: Is the post-peak TV valley just that — a valley in between peaks — or is it something more permanent? Will the business, can the business, ever return to peak levels?
It’s a question not easily answered, but if current trends are any indication, a shrinking of the U.S. entertainment industry — not unlike what befell the country’s auto and manufacturing industries — may well be imminent, as film and TV production goes increasingly global at the expense of stateside work.
A much-reported study released by Ampere Analysis last week, for instance, found that Netflix and Amazon have “returned to dominance” in original title commissions among streamers, accounting for just over half of all SVOD content orders in Q1 as their rivals cut back on spending.
And far more than half of those titles will come from international territories, with non-U.S. TV shows and movies making up around 70% of both Netflix and Amazon’s original content commissions in Q1.
Yet while many outlets reported on the study, few noted the implications of this data for Hollywood’s long-term health. When placed in the context of larger trends in the entertainment industry, the data suggests that the globalization of the content business may have already reached a tipping point.