Since January 7, the wildfires in Los Angeles County have been burning for a whole week, and there is no sign of them being completely quelled. Many Hollywood studios and the homes of cast and crew members in the area have also been affected, causing considerable losses, which has also cast a shadow over the current awards season.
According to incomplete statistics, the houses of actors who were burned in the wildfire included Milo Ventimiglia, the actor of the American TV series "Heroes" and "This Is Us", Adam Brody, the star of the American TV series "The Unholy Alliance", and actor Leighton Meester and his wife, and James Woods, a right-wing filmmaker known for his tough stance. In addition, a house owned by Leonardo Dicaprio was also burned down. There are also many actors who were asked to temporarily evacuate from their homes to safe areas.
On January 14, 2025, local time, wildfires continued to burn in Los Angeles, California, and urban buildings were reduced to ruins. Visual China Photo
In addition to personal financial losses, the entire film industry has also been deeply affected. The filming of series including "Fallout", "Grey's Anatomy", "Elementary School", "The Writers", and "Suits: Los Angeles" are all at a standstill; the premieres of new films such as "Werewolf", "Better Men", and "The Last Dancer" have also been cancelled.
Recently, the film and television news media Variety published an article titled "What Hollywood Lost in the Fire", which reviewed the losses caused by the fire to the movie city. According to it, the Los Angeles wildfire is expected to become one of the most costly natural disasters in the history of the United States, and its impact on the American entertainment and media industry is even more serious. The chain reactions faced by the entire Hollywood may last for a long time.
Andrew Colon, chief operating officer of a film and television production company, said, "Overnight, many of my clients began to evacuate, paralyzing our company's business. We had to start reducing production, and some filming projects will be postponed indefinitely. Some projects that need to be completed as soon as possible can only be moved to other parts of the United States to continue."
Small companies are like this, and the six major Hollywood giants cannot stay out of it. Currently, the studios of Universal, Warner and Disney in the Hollywood area have been temporarily closed. For a large number of freelancers working in film and television in the Los Angeles area, this is another major blow after the epidemic and the strikes of the Writers Guild and the Actors Guild.
Warner Bros. Studios Los Angeles was originally scheduled to reopen on January 10, local time, but the latest announcement shows that it will still be closed on January 14, local time. In contrast, Universal Studios Los Angeles opened to welcome guests on January 10, local time.
Evan Shafran, an extra who lives in Burbank, Los Angeles, said that in 2024, because Hollywood production companies generally strictly control spending, freelancers like him will see a sharp drop in income. Originally, he hoped that everything would get better after the new year and he would have more job opportunities, but a fire extinguished his hope. "We can only hope that things will get better soon. We really need job opportunities. The outside world may not realize how big the impact of Hollywood's closure is. This is actually the so-called trickle-down effect. When a person loses income, it affects more than just him."
Unfortunately, the wildfire hit the annual awards season, a time when various award ceremonies, premieres and celebrations are intensively held. So far, although the Oscars ceremony originally scheduled for March 2 has not changed, the announcement date of the Oscar nominations has been postponed from January 17 to January 23 due to the wildfire. The Oscar nominees luncheon originally scheduled for February 10 has also been announced to be completely canceled. In previous years, this was a big show for the nominated filmmakers to compete with each other. Everyone ate and chatted, and finally took a big group photo. It was also a big party before the Oscars were announced, but this year I am afraid there will not be such a star-studded group photo. In addition, the Oscar Science and Technical Awards ceremony originally scheduled for February 18 has also been announced to be postponed.
The decision was made after close consultation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors, which is involved in deciding various Oscar matters. Of the 55 current board members, four have lost their homes in the fire, including Lynette Howell Taylor, the producer of Blue Valentine, Brooke Breton, the visual effects designer of Avatar, Mark P. Stoeckinger, the famous sound designer, and Jinko Gotoh, the Japanese-American female producer of Finding Nemo.
Previously, Jane Smart, the star of the American TV series "The Writers", publicly called for Hollywood to significantly reduce various award season activities in order to use the funds for post-disaster relief and other work. On social media, there are more and more public opinions calling for the cancellation of this year's Oscars ceremony. However, some industry insiders said that the more times like this, the more people need events like the Oscars to cheer each other up. In fact, the awards season is indeed a peak season for making money for many outsourced workers in Hollywood (including security guards, drivers, catering service staff, florists, etc.), especially in the week before and after the Oscars ceremony, the Oscars will hire about 1,000 outsourced workers. For these people, the awards season is their most important source of income in the year.
