Movie watching and TV watching are both down, dramatically. Production companies are fleeing California, even with hundreds of millions of tax dollars being used to bribe them to stay in the collapsing California. Celebrities, calling for higher taxes for Californians, are fleeing the State. They are going to low and no tax States to live and work—they do not want to pay high taxes.
“Despite the gloom, studio facilities are pushing ahead with expansion plans. Construction is underway on a $500 million build at Warner Bros. Ranch, and Comcast is pouring $1 billion into Universal City.
Television City is poised to expand as well: The L.A. City Council is expected to give final approval to a $1 billion makeover on Jan. 7. The project has been in the works for years. Hackman Capital Partners bought the Fairfax District lot from CBS in 2018, and submitted its application to the city in 2021 — when production was a lot healthier.
But the developer says it believes the downturn is temporary.:
Here is a variation on a joke—in this case, it is real: How do you become a multi-millionaire in California? You start as a billionaire and invest in the entertainment industry. Maybe the folks behind this are actually looking for a tax loss, to lower their income tax? They can’t be serious.
Television City Studio Owner Bets $1 Billion on L.A. Production Comeback
By Gene Maddaus, Variety, 1/4/25 https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/television-city-studio-expansion-l-a-council-production-1236264920/
The entertainment industry in L.A. has endured a tough couple of years, with the strikes, layoffs and the production slowdown leading to headlines like “Hollywood Is Ditching Hollywood.”
Despite the gloom, studio facilities are pushing ahead with expansion plans. Construction is underway on a $500 million build at Warner Bros. Ranch, and Comcast is pouring $1 billion into Universal City.
Television City is poised to expand as well: The L.A. City Council is expected to give final approval to a $1 billion makeover on Jan. 7. The project has been in the works for years. Hackman Capital Partners bought the Fairfax District lot from CBS in 2018, and submitted its application to the city in 2021 — when production was a lot healthier.
But the developer says it believes the downturn is temporary.
“We are confident these cycles will work themselves out and Los Angeles will continue to be the global capital of media,” says Zach Sokoloff, who is overseeing the project and Hackman’s upgrade of the Radford lot in Studio City. “When we talk to our customers, they want to film in L.A.”
Television City is set to grow to at least 15 stages, including eight new state-of-the-art spaces. The plan also calls for production offices, retail and a 15-story office tower.
Neighbors for Responsible TVC Development, an opposition group, argues that Hackman could transform the project into an office park, or even sell it off at a profit to another developer.
“I don’t think the plan looks quite as attractive now,” says Shelley Wagers, co-chair of the group. She fears neighbors are being “duped” and will bear the brunt of “overdevelopment that has nothing to do with sustaining and growing the entertainment industry.”
Sokoloff says those concerns are unfounded, and that Hackman is committed to the studio expansion.
“We still believe very deeply in Hollywood,” he says
As someone who is aspiring to get into the business, nothing would make me happier than to see showbiz make a comeback in Hollywood, but that means that garbage such as, but not limited to, taxes so high they can go to Betty Ford and wokeism gone amok need to be stifled. Whom we elect for governor and, here in Los Angeles, mayor next year will play a huge role.