Do you really think that the financial difficulties are just real for the poorest ones?
Even in the land of make-believe, where the meltdown on Wall Street feels a million miles away, these are tense days. While no one can say for sure how the financial crisis will affect Hollywood, a prevailing view is that the film business is relatively protected for at least a year or two, but that the TV industry which was already impacted by last winter's writers' strike could be in for a rocky ride.
Surreal at the best of times - ok, all the time - sunny Tinseltown has avoided the sense of catastrophe that has enshrouded Wall Street and spooked Silicon Valley. But now its biggest players are trying to come to grips with exactly what the financial and economic meltdown is going to mean for them. One big-deal agent told me the other day that only projects involving major stars and producers are going forward right now. "Everybody's putting their tail between their legs," the agent said. "It's hard to get deals done." More worryingly, one senior TV executive posited to me: "I can almost guarantee that you're going to see major cuts across our businesses."
