“A surge in digital entertainment jobs from new online shows on Amazon, YouTube and other new-media outlets has helped drive employment in Hollywood to the highest level in a decade.
Some 8,000 new jobs were added to the motion picture and sound recording sector in Los Angeles County last year, according to state jobs data. The 6.5% growth from the previous year was three times higher than all private-sector jobs in the county.
There have been signs that the California economy has been on the mend for some time. But the dramatic recovery of the entertainment sector is particularly crucial to L.A. because it pumps billions of dollars into the region’s economy.
It’s an unexpected comeback story for an industry hard hit by a stream of layoffs at major studios and an unwelcome trend of filming being lured out of state by generous tax credits and rebates.
“We have a prolonged recovery from the recession, then we have a digital media surge that is taking place here in Southern California and an increase in commercial activity as firms are increasing their advertising expenditures,” said Robert Kleinhenz, chief economist with Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “It’s encouraging that we have been able to see these gains in employment elsewhere that have been backfilling the jobs that are lost.”
Although California does not break out job figures for digital media, Kleinhenz and other economists believe that the rebound has been partly fueled by a crop of new online shows from YouTube, Amazon Studios, Yahoo and other Internet companies.
These new digital venues are rapidly reshaping how…”
Originally posted by The Los Angeles Times. Full article at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-hollywood-jobs-20150210-story.html
