April 3, 2026

MILE MARKERS ON THE ROAD TO DETROIT, SOCAL EDITION: Fears grow of ‘Detroit-Style’ decline as Hollywood jobs evaporate.

Real fear is growing that Los Angeles’ once-thriving TV/film industry is taking a “Detroit-style” decline with Hollywood jobs evaporating over the last few years.

A staggering 30% drop in film and TV employment since 2022 has experts warning that the city is following the path of the Motor City where the auto industry used to boom, according to the U.S. Labor Department, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Recent stats show that as of March 2026, jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industries have dropped from where they were at their peak in July 2022 of more than 455 thousand jobs to 344,000.

That’s a lot decline to hide!

Ann Coulter and Mickey Kaus wonder how much Hollywood getting woke has caused them to go broke:

In 2007, private jet enthusiast Leonardo DiCaprio told Vanity Fair, “We are in the environmental age whether we like it or not. So, what does the future look like? We know the United States, the greatest consumer and source of waste, needs to make a transition to a greener future, but will our pivotal generation create a sustainable world in time?”

In response, I suggested: Ban The Bombs–From Hollywood.

Wouldn’t banning movie production be a way to save resources? Films involve miles of celluloid, a petroleum-based resource. Plus the fuel involved in transporting the celebrities, crew, and equipment. They involve thousands of watts of electricity for their lighting. Imagine what the lights themselves are doing to the ozone. Then more reels of celluloid when the finished product is shipped to theaters. What about the chemicals involved in processing the film? Then all of the DVDs, which are made of plastic. Then there are the forests cut down to produce magazines to promote them, such as Vanity Fair. And what about the obesity issues caused by theater concession stands? Is the popcorn grown organically? Is the CO2 in the Coke machines harming the atmosphere?

I call on Leonardo DiCaprio to put his money where his mouth is. He’s made enough. It’s time to (a) quit the film industry and (b) call on studio executives to voluntarily cease production of all movies and television shows.

In 2010, the late Andrew Breitbart made a similar modest proposal to James Cameron:

I challenge James Cameron to lead the charge with Big Hollywood to stop eco-unfriendly Hollywood film and television production. We’ll call our initiative: “Lights Off, Camera Off, Action Now!” We can start with an immediate moratorium on wasteful and redundant sequels. Then we’ll create a government bureaucracy to decide what can and cannot be made, with a heavy entertainment surtax for the producers to incur. Our delicate and depleting ecosystem cannot handle more energy-sucking television and film production, especially the size and scope of the average James Cameron production. And anyone that disagrees with me is swine and an effin’ demagogue.

At the first link above, the New York Post noted that tax cuts are being suggested by the establishment left as a solution to revitalize the increasingly beleaguered film industry:

At a March congressional hearing, California Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff met with others who work in the industry to gain support for a bill that would create a federal film tax incentive for movies to be made in the U.S.

During the hearing, Schiff noted that LA County has lost 42,000 entertainment jobs in the last two years.

“These are great jobs and we want to keep them here at home,” Schiff said. “It’s not rocket science how we do that. It’s largely drafted. It needs to be bipartisan. We are working to gather bipartisan support for this.”

As Conquest’s First Law of Politics posits, “Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.” But why would Hollywood and its shills turn to tax breaks now to salvage the industry, when for decades, it’s been propped up by Eisenhower-era tax cuts. In 2012, Glenn was demanding: Repeal the Hollywood Tax Cuts!

It’s no coincidence that much of the Democrats’ base doesn’t have to worry about taxes much, either because they work for nonprofits and public entities that don’t pay taxes, or because they live off government benefits, or because they work in industries — like the motion picture and recording industries — with a long history of shady accounting and favorable tax treatment. Republicans, if they’re smart, can nonetheless teach them that tax increases do, in fact, hurt.

They should head into the next budget battle with a list of proposals for tax increases that will sting Democratic constituency groups, but which will seem eminently fair to voters.

The first such proposal would be to restore the 20 percent excise tax on motion picture theater gross revenues that existed between the end of World War II and its repeal in the mid-1950s. The campaign to end the excise tax had studio executives and movie stars talking like Art Laffer, as they noted that high taxes reduced business income, hurt investment and cost jobs.

The movie excise tax was imposed in response to the high deficits after World War Two. Deficits are high again, and there’s already historical precedent. Of course, to keep up with technology, the tax should now apply to DVDs, downloadable movies, pay-per-view and the like. But in these financially perilous times, why should movie stars and studio moguls, with their yachts, swimming pools and private jets, not at least shoulder the burden they carried back in Harry Truman’s day — when, to be honest, movies were better anyway.

For extra fun, they could show pictures of David Geffen’s yacht and John Travolta’s personal Boeing 707 on the Senate floor. You want to tax fat cats? I gotcher “fat cats” right here! Repeal the Hollywood Tax Cuts!

Raising taxes inevitably results in a painful economic slowdown, which of course “unexpectedly” decreases tax revenues. Hollywood heavyweights have been calling for higher taxes and a worse economy for the rest of us — but their blue state economic worldview is now making life painful for the below the line technicians in their own industry:

Exit quote:

 

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll