New York City Film & TV Job Market Decline in 2023: Economic Impact and Recovery Challenges
Explore the latest insights on New York City's film and television industry job trends in 2023, analyzing the effects of strikes and the slow recovery post-pandemic. Discover how these shifts impact the broader NYC economy and what the future holds.
Investopedia and NY1 present biweekly updates analyzing New York City's economic landscape.
The New York City Economic Tracker, a collaborative effort between Investopedia and NY1, utilizes publicly accessible data to assess the city's economic vitality across multiple sectors. This edition focuses on the film and television industries, examining job trends and the influence of recent labor strikes.
Decline in NYC Film and Sound Recording Jobs Amid Industry Strikes
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals a downward trend in employment within New York City's film and sound recording sectors over recent years. As of June 2023, payroll jobs are nearly 11% below their peak in September 2021 and over 9% lower than June 2019 figures.
This decline coincides with the nationwide shutdown caused by strikes from the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). According to the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, film permits for TV and movie productions dropped from nearly 19 in mid-February 2023 to under 7.5 by early May, halting entirely after the WGA strike commenced.
The prolonged standstill poses significant risks not only to the film sector but also to New York City's broader economic health.
Film and TV Industries: Pillars of NYC's Economy
The film and television sectors represent a substantial component of New York City's economy. They generate approximately $165 million in taxable sales and $6 billion in taxable wages annually, employing over 50,000 residents on average, according to New York State Department of Taxation and BLS data.
Beyond these figures, a 2021 NYC Mayor’s Office study highlights the industry's broader economic footprint, estimating revenues and self-employment receipts at $64.1 billion as of 2019. This accounts for roughly 4% of the city’s total economic output when including related fields such as broadcasting, advertising, subscription programming, talent management, post-production, and distribution.
The study also estimates the wider film and TV ecosystem supports over $12 billion in wages and about 100,000 jobs.
Slow Recovery of Film and TV Employment in NYC Compared to Other Cities
The job market recovery for New York City's film and television industry remains sluggish. Even before the recent labor strikes, employment levels in December 2022 were over 7% below those in December 2019, according to BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data. Among major cities, only Atlanta experienced a steeper decline at nearly 9%.
In contrast, Nashville’s film industry grew by 3.4%, and Los Angeles saw a robust increase exceeding 28% during the same period. Continued job losses in NYC’s film sector could exacerbate challenges in the city’s labor market recovery.
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