All Things Come To An End

[Val]

Final bit:
In 2023 I moved to Oregon to my little house, while still working remotely. I was out of contact for three days, and then back up, living in a sea of unpacked boxes while keeping the show on schedule.


The writers' strike was in full swing, and the studios were in a panic. But they also saw this as a way to get out from underneath expensive contractural obligations to one hit wonders. Stretch out the negotiations until contract riders came into play and contracts could be nullified or renegotiated lower. In a way, there was no urgency to end the strike and it could be used later as an excuse for all of the ensuing ills.

Animation jobs were continuing to disappear. Live action jobs also began to dry up. Studios did the untinkable. They cut executives! They never cut executives. Too scary.

Streaming was unprofitable, then began to make some small profits. Cable was unprofitable. A lot of money was servicing debt, top executive pay or top talent. The solution was to promote cheap entertainment, ie reality TV. Cheap and the audience loves it. Why try to do quality? With reality TV you don't need big crews.

But, eventually crap wears thin, and you have to provide something that appeals to people with an IQ above 30.

So MAX is being returned to HBO MAX, and more quality TV will be made. It just may not be made in California. Another thing that happened was the siren call of Tax Credits by other states, like Georgia and New York, to lure productions away from LA. Canada had done the same thing in the 90's. Studios are happy to take government money. Sometimes they even hire local crews. But inevitably the government take it in the shorts on these deals, just like they take it in the shorts on tax breaks with an Amazon.

I finished Kiteman: Hell Yeah! after the move, and then reluctantly agreed to do the final season of Harley, season 5. That final season was the straw that broke this camel's back. Practically no staff, very little time. I was given veto power over the show runner by the studio. There was no fucking way that I would exercise it. But I figured out ways to get the thing done and keep the peace. And then, I was done.

The wreckage continues in LA. Warner Animation is still going, but it's a fraction of what it was a few years ago. Zaslav still doesn't see television animation as a valuable part of the whole, but he's interested in Feature Animation, so we'll see where that goes.

Fortunately, there are other studios still producing animation. I just don't know how much or under what kinds of budgets nor conditions. At this point, I don't much care.

Add to that all of the buzz about AI, most of which is bull shit.

Add to all of this these additional channels for selling entertainment, such as YouTube, and you have a perfect shit storm.

At some point it will sort itself out, but I have no clue what will emerge from it all.

Well, boy, I didn't intend to write a book, but you asked.

I enjoyed reading it, thank you! Amazing to hear about the different projects you’ve been on and your journey through the last 5 years. Informative getting your perspective on the industry. I do wonder where things will land and if LA will be no more as the industry becomes this spread out landscape.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I'm more than a little impressed! You even managed to include my interview on The Optical!

I’m totally going to listen to this..

Congrats Jesse, on a career well done.
Life is just beginning..

 

[khiddy]

Well, boy, I didn't intend to write a book, but you asked.

That was absolutely fascinating, sable. Well worth the read (even if it means I’m now late to head to work - a problem you are rightly done having!).

 

[sablebrush52]

I enjoyed reading it, thank you! Amazing to hear about the different projects you’ve been on and your journey through the last 5 years. Informative getting your perspective on the industry. I do wonder where things will land and if LA will be no more as the industry becomes this spread out landscape.

Once upon a time, New York was the center of the film business, but it quickly moved to LA to take advantage of the climate, which allowed production year round. I think that LA will continue to be a center, though in a lesser way, for the foreseeable future. Other centers will grow, but they won’t ever become “the center”. That period is passing.

The physical footprint will continue to shrink. For example, WarnerMedia, under AT&T, traded away its ranch property, which is being redeveloped by Worthe, a real estate company, as sound stages. But this may be an attempt to get around California regulations that protect film infrastructure, by building stages that aren’t being used, thus allowing for the property to be rezoned for residential development.

It’s been done before. The huge ranch properties that were used for outdoor shooting have largely been sold off and redeveloped.

Animation will go the way of visual effects, with LA’s dominance replaced by a number of centers of activity. People will either move or change careers.

I’m an anomaly, someone who managed to have a decades long career and stayed active into my 70’s. The majority get pushed out in their 50’s if they are lucky.
It helped that I bought multiple highly developed skills to the table.

With new tools and new art forms there will be growth in opportunities until that field matures, then the process will repeat.

You can see it in Tech. Twenty years ago the opportunities seemed limitless. Now, they aren’t.
Survivors adapt quickly to change, and ride that wave. The rest get dumped.

 

[The Benedictine]

Enjoy your retirement

 

[sablebrush52]

Enjoy your retirement

I plan to do just that, thanks!

 

[plugugly]

Congratulations! But please don't "retire" from the Forum!

 

[sablebrush52]

I’m totally going to listen to this..

Congrats Jesse, on a career well done.
Life is just beginning..

Let me know what you think of it. I did the interview several years ago.

 

[tbradsim1]

Glad you can enjoy some of the joys of your hard work!

 

[daveinlax]

Congratulations! Wishing You Many Happy Years!

 

[sablebrush52]

Congratulations! Wishing You Many Happy Years!

Thanks Dave! Looking forward to Vegas!

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Congratulations Jesse! As much as it pains me to hear of a proper craftsman putting his tools down, a well deserved break is just that. I have no doubt a man such as yourself will have no problem filling his days with worthwhile endeavors.

 

[Mr_houston]

Congratulations!

I am semi-retired and trying to go all in by end of year.

My buddy explains retirement this way - every day is Saturday.

I like that analogy. You may still have plenty to do, but you decide what and when it gets done. Even if that’s tomorrow or never.

 

[bobpnm]

As of today l am officially retired from The Biz.

Congratulations! I retired n 2022. It has been GREAT! Best wishes!

 

[warren]

I plan to do just that, thanks!

You've always struck me as a "man with a plan." Not etched in stone though, flexible, satisfying your artistic bent. I think you have a grand understanding of yourself, what you need to be content. Go for it with gusto!

 

[sablebrush52]

Congratulations Jesse! As much as it pains me to hear of a proper craftsman putting his tools down, a well deserved break is just that. I have no doubt a man such as yourself will have no problem filling his days with worthwhile endeavors.

For the moment, my idea of a worthwhile endeavor is being fucking useless. Having spent decades being "the busiest person I've ever met" to dozens, if not hundreds, of people, I'm embracing being the opposite for now.

Eventually that will run its course and I get involved with some project or other, but that "busiest person" is going to stay gone.

Laziness is a virtue.

 

[sablebrush52]

You've always struck me as a "man with a plan." Not etched in stone though, flexible, satisfying your artistic bent. I think you have a grand understanding of yourself, what you need to be content. Go for it with gusto!

The best laid plans of mice and men
Gang aft agley.

The secret is being able to adapt when that plan goes agley. My father being an aerospace engineer, a lot of plans went agley and he was a master of adapting to it. I learned what little I know from him.

 

[sablebrush52]

Congratulations! I retired n 2022. It has been GREAT! Best wishes!

Thank you!

 

[sablebrush52]

Congratulations!

I am semi-retired and trying to go all in by end of year.

My buddy explains retirement this way - every day is Saturday.

I like that analogy. You may still have plenty to do, but you decide what and when it gets done. Even if that’s tomorrow or never.

That's a good analogy.

 

[troutface]

Well now, you'll finally have time to learn how to like Penzance !