With the turn of the New Year the economic crisis is far from over.  Many restaurants and retail stores have been holding their businesses together with the hopes of a big holiday system.  With the holiday season almost over and it proving to be yet another lackluster performance we can anticipate a continued slowdown with more layoffs and even more businesses closing their doors.  One report stated they foresee one million job cuts in the month of January.  Our economy continues to spiral down with the rest of the worlds economy and there seems to be no end in sight.  Where did the financial bail out money go?  Banks are not lending still.  Property values have dropped in the residential markets and have shown no sign of picking up.  Where can we look for a sign of hope in these times?  The simple answer is entertainment.  It has been a proven fact that in rough economic times the entertainment industry thrives. 

SAG has announced that they are delaying the strike vote citing division among its membership as the reason for the continuation of the standoff.  While SAG had originally hoped to start their voting January 2 in the hopes of affecting the Oscars, their continued indecisiveness has shown once again.  It appears SAGs leadership is not effectively representing their membership as the threat of a strike has lasted over a year going back to last year’s Writers Guild strike.  The entertainment industry has suffered during the U.S. economic crisis, yet a board of directors at SAG feels that while many other industries are cutting back salaries they can ask for a raise for their members.  Local Los Angeles based businesses have been hit hard with the economic skid, but adding insult to injury SAG is holding up a lot of production work that is causing a trickledown effect to the supporting businesses of the entertainment industry.  The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the major studios, has put a deal on the table that would raise wages and benefits as well as add new residuals in new media such as internet based showings for the first time since the internet became a factor in entertainment.  What I can’t understand is how SAG is expecting a better deal that the Writer’s got while the economy has only gotten worse this last year.  Is anyone at SAG watching the news or reading the paper?  our country is not in good financial shape right now!

With October rentals depressed over the turmoil in the finincial sector November proved to be a renaissance in the leasing department.  Closing a record number lof lease for creative offices and Los Angeles loft space Creative Environments of Hollywood continued to prove that a down economy does not necesarily mean a depressed business.  Beautifully designed spaces along with fair pricing was made CEH’s business model a success during the economic downturn.