Technology is a wonderful thing, but that's not likely the view of workers in the moviemaking industry as tech advances are prompting less job opportunities and, in some cases, eliminating job roles entirely.
Anyone who has fiddled around with HD iPhone video in iMovie or Adobe Premiere likely isn't surprised movie studios are increasingly adopting such tools and opting to let server farms and powerful software handle more of the workload that full-time production workers once did.
Sung Sohn, a professor of economics at California State University, says the decline in movie production jobs reflects what has been a consistent trend.
"Today, a lot of it can be done through technology," Sohn says of movie production. "You can have just a few people sitting around a computer and produce a movie."
Movie and sound production jobs in California are said to have dropped by approximately 19 percent between 2012 and 2014, yet employment remains rosy for production staff that doesn't work in the editing room. Those being displaced by new computer technology are increasingly moving to other states and into academia.
Richard Crudo, president of the American Society of Cinematographers, said studio migrants from California are finding better opportunities in other states, where tax incentives are more lucrative for new production companies seeking a home.
Nevada is one such state that has offered enticing tax incentives to movie production companies, waving $80 million in tax credits at film studios. However, this week the Nevada Legislature is considering whether to fully fund that amount in light of discussions on a pending $1.3 billion incentives package for the Tesla battery factory.
"You look at states like Louisiana, who is No. 1 in production worldwide -- they've had an incentive for about 13 years," says Eric Priess, director of the Nevada Film Office.
"Their infrastructure and program are firing on all cylinders. It takes a little bit of time. These projects are in a development cycle of 1-2 years. A lot of the projects that may take advantage of it, they've already been planned a year in advance."
Though states are bending to attract large movie studios, Sohn says the overarching narrative hasn't changed. The movie industry's unemployment rate continues to rise, a trend that stands out even in the typically slow summer ticket sales and a disappointing August 2014 in general.
At the end of the production line, movies are struggling to fill seats at theaters.
Adjusting for inflation, the movie industry is said to have had its worst summer since 1997. From the first weekend in May 2014 to the last in August 2014, ticket sales dropped by 15 percent compared with the same period in 2013.
