“There’s no business like show business”, according to the song.
But a recent newspaper report I read revealed that for many industry professionals, right now, there appears to be no business at all.
You might find that hard to believe when, day after day, so many people referred to (rightly or wrongly) as ‘celebrities’ appear on breakfast, daytime and evening TV, enthusiastically promoting their latest TV show/film/CD/West End stage play or tour.
And there’s undoubtedly a certain lucky coterie of well-known performers who never seem to be out of work, flitting, it would appear, from one job to the next with barely time to take a long weekend break on Gower.
However, the hard truth is, at any one time, 90% of actors registered with their union, Equity, are out of work. Read that again: 90%!
And, while actors may get all the attention, in any film or TV production there are many other people involved behind the scenes, from directors, producers and writers, to carpenters, electricians and drivers.
The report I read mentioned that there is so little work in TV drama at the moment, producers and directors, with decades of experience bringing award-winning series to our screens, have had to take jobs as car park attendants, supermarket shelf stackers and in pubs, in order to pay the bills.
They’ve been unemployed for so long, the savings they put away for a rainy day have been washed away by continuous downpours.
A producer of a beloved sitcom hasn’t worked for 15 months and said the number of unemployed film and TV workers could fill a stadium.
What’s been described as an ‘existential crisis’ was caused partly by Covid, partly by the 2023 Writers Guild Of America strike, which held up many productions due to come to British studios.
It’s also because viewing habits have changed since Covid, with many younger people choosing to watch short videos on their phones rather than settle down to watch full-length drama episodes on TV.
So, remember, next time someone is directing you to a parking space, their previous job might have been directing Game Of Thrones.