Five months after Hollywood actors returned to work, the UK film industry is still struggling with an unemployment rate of 52%.
Impact of Actors and Writers Strikes on Tri-State Film Industry Workers
The Times newspaper recalls the impact of the actors’ strike when dozens of film and TV production projects in the UK were halted, with sets closed and tens of thousands of professionals losing their jobs. The number of British workers in the film and TV production sector stands at 66,000.
And it reports that, months after actors agreed a new pay deal with Hollywood studios and returned to work (following the resolution of a separate screenwriters’ strike), 52% of industry professionals are still unemployed, according to new research from broadcaster union Bectu. It cites the survey of 2,375 members and reports that only 6% have seen their workloads return to pre-strike levels.
The Times reports that budgets for both streamers and linear broadcasters have fallen over the past year, and that some of the work that was postponed has not yet been rescheduled. It quotes production executive Jem Morton as saying: "The unemployment in the industry at the moment is phenomenal."
