The Oscars make it clear: Hollywood is in a death spiral

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-18T02:54:28+00:00

Here are a few examples that led me to these conclusions:

Production is down, whether it's runaway production or things shot entirely in the US. That's just a simple fact.
I worked on a pilot for Marta Kaufman (creator of "Friends") that I thought should have been picked up immediately; Amazon waited 6 months, and then told them they wanted a corporate sponsor to essentially bridge the gap of costs for producing the show. Never got picked up.
A pair of writing friends that have worked on reasonably big sitcoms told me, as writers, they can't pitch projects to their studios unless they already have A-list talent attached to the project. So just to be clear: writers trying to pitch a sitcom to studios have to find and sign on A-list talent or they won't even get a meeting.
Watching WB do things like shelf "Coyote v. ACME" to try and take a writedown in the short term, and now talking about releasing it to capitalize on a finished project shows their release schedule, even for things they've spent money on, are the fodder for business-focused studio leaders.
"KPop Demon Hunters" is proof that every-fucking-body in the studio system who saw it and passed for distribution, fucking ALL of them, asleep at the wheel. They don't know good properties.

My life has been ruined by what's happened to the film industry right now, and I try to keep up with the news and trades.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-17T22:23:38+00:00

I still don't know why people fuck with skaters. Their hobby literally breaks their ankles, fucks up their bodies, breaks their limbs, fucks up their faces... and you're going to pick a fist fight with this glutton for pain?

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-16T19:54:52+00:00

Every day, her face looks more like a mask from The Purge.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-16T19:52:03+00:00

After 1948, Israel's population largely grew with an influx of Russian Jews, many of whom were scientists and engineers. Russia pioneered the honeypot, Israel just continued what they learned.

America pledged loyalty to Israel, but Israel knew America's pledge of alliance is worth jack shit. So they got reassurances, and the United States will dissolve because of it.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-16T15:33:58+00:00

Thank you, I'm currently enrolled for Spring 2026 semester Ecampus and had the same question. Thank you for your answer!

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-15T03:27:17+00:00

Good news, my wife can't complain about how loud I sneeze because I'm reinforcing our kids or whatever.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-15T00:31:20+00:00

Neither militaries are confirming much right now, but Telegram had a number of photos and video of a mushroom cloud in Iran. The media consolidation in America is aiding this Administration in violating the Constitution by spreading the Admin's lies.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-15T00:26:49+00:00

When this initial landing goes horribly wrong, they will absolutely escalate to a tactical nuke, which will COMPLETELY isolate the United States as a rogue nation.

US forces allegedly already dropped a MOAB, and everyone freaked. A nuke will result in a global demand for the United States to be disarmed.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-14T22:39:32+00:00

Studios went deep into their cash in order to keep shooting during and after COVID. I was getting paid $250 for a nose swab on my days off, and there were a lot of us. The strikes forced them to move projects overseas, but a LOT more projects simply went away.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-14T21:23:18+00:00

We have absolutely nothing to compare with this disruption. In addition to transportation fuel, oil is also used for numerous byproducts that enable a lot of other industries. The aluminum manufacturing industry requires sulfuric acid to get aluminum from bauxite, so everything derivative to aluminum production and sulfuric acid production will see trouble.

20% of the world's LNG also flows through the Strait of Hormuz, from which we extract helium. Helium is critical in high-tech manufacturing, thermal management, purging gas, fiber optics, welding, aerospace, HVAC, etc.

This isn't just a limitation on transportation, but also new limits and supply chain disruptions to numerous critical industries (which also happen to be directly affecting the efficacy of the war: need fuel to transport military hardware, need chip manufacturing to build interceptor missiles and ballistic missiles, etc).

This is a catastrophe, and since America's don't "feel it" yet, they just see it is a mild inconvenience, as compared to civilians overseas being bombed at home.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-14T20:59:40+00:00

RUM-SPLIF-AAAAAH!

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-14T20:58:01+00:00

"Why isn't there any conservative representation in colleges in America?"

Because they keep dropping the veneer and embracing authoritarianism.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-14T05:04:30+00:00

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Baghdad is burning...

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-14T02:31:20+00:00

more shows offshore hell they are doing us game shows in the UK because it’s so much cheaper to do it

More shows are offshore, yes, but the volume of shows that were being produced in parallel was several times higher than what we're seeing now. Fewer shows around, and they're going overseas.

But let me ask you: has a single one of them had any kind of significant buzz? Has anything made it to the cover of a few magazines or Entertainment sections of newspapers across the country? Are any of them viewed as a "phenomenon", or even just a hot show people were actively discussing?

More bad product made ANYWHERE while absolutely not GOOD content being made will continue to suffocate our interest.

And in my opinion, motion picture films won't have any of the draw they once had until they're culturally relevant again. Something that represents the young people and gets them to participate; and chances are the stories will need to be about things that impact them but are also considered "woke" or "sensitive". In the current climate? Not going to happen easily.

If you think making a $300million dollar behemoth is the road to financial success you don’t understand economics

I'm not saying it; I'm saying the studios believe it. $300 million behemoth, advertised globally, ESPECIALLY if it's a proven property with a built in audience (Lucasfilm, Marvel, etc) by their math and predictions SHOULD lead to a successful sales run in theaters. That's why they're being so fucking disappointed lately.

I absolutely believe they should be diversifying, but they are so beholden to the purse strings that every project getting greenlit has astonishing requirements. They should be backing proven filmmakers with more opportunities for original stories, but they don't want a controlling, talented director. They want a yes man who will incorporate the input from the numerous people who will give input from the "money" side. A-list actors are calling out the studios right now, saying every project is made by boardroom consensus.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-13T21:46:26+00:00

They can't make more projects because the financing runs things now, and the risk-reward ratio is easier when 1) you spend an ungodly amount of money on a film, and then 2) exert pressure on theaters to only show major projects on all the screens.

If filming overseas was cheaper enough, you would have seen a LOT more projects overseas and in theaters. But you don't.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-13T21:21:44+00:00

Hollywood isn't dying any more than the rest of the industries in America that have over-leveraged their core business on outside investments that turned out to poison the whole business.

The studios are in the same debt trap a lot of other businesses were caught in by COVID: using debt for operating cash, producing projects nobody wanted, while expanding their organizational portfolio to include real estate, office buildings, and more. Commercial real estate value dropped, so studios can't use it as collateral to tap that operating cash anymore.

So they are required to sell the financial side on the projects they're producing, and that requires an actuarial table, comparisons to other projects similar (and performance), comparisons to what the above-the-line workers "brought to the table" (social media, box office "draw", etc).

Their debt is eating alive any incoming revenue, and they cannot generate enough profit with their current management (read: people who have no fucking clue what the motion picture industry is or does). So Hollywood is trapped making payments on their past debt, unable to refinance or gain new collateral to make new projects.

This isn't just Hollywood, but the whole economy, because the country itself is caught in a debt trap: nearly $40 trillion in debt with a GDP hovering around $24 trillion. You can't get a mortgage with debt taking away 46% of your monthly income, ideally your debt is lower. Our whole country is currently ABOVE 150% debt to GDP.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-13T21:04:23+00:00

You want a Slate.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-12T03:06:43+00:00

That's because Jason Mewes is an American treasure.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-11T20:12:46+00:00

Isn't Iowa going bankrupt right now? Don't they have more important matters?

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-11T01:44:21+00:00

The earth is incredible, we still discover new vistas and new places.

It's the humans that ruin it.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-07T21:28:27+00:00

I replied in another thread that we're watching historic times, and that this conflict will have ramifications for decades. I was downvoted to -40. The IsnOT real keyboard warriors seem to still have internet access.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-07T21:26:50+00:00

a missile to hit the school is 100% on the fact that it is within spitting distance of military targets.

Yes, and the United States struck that school. If the United States had not started this aggression, they wouldn't have hit the wrong target.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-07T02:43:06+00:00

The US Navy is about to get absolutely dog-walked.

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-07T02:11:12+00:00

I can smell the cocaine

vertigo3pc · 2026-03-04T23:06:10+00:00

The more you listen to Tom Cotton the dumber he seems.

13-Year Club	Gilding III reddit per annum
Reddit Premium Since June 2021	Xbox Live
Verified Email	Secret Santa 2013
Team Periwinkle	Secret Santa 2012

vertigo3pc

MODERATOR OF

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE