Nightmare before Christmas in Hollywood

Disney employees are bracing for another round of job cuts after the company cancelled its annual Halloween party, while Netflix has also laid off around 1,000 staff. The uncertainty comes during a strong year at the box office and as Hollywood faces further upheaval from Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Industry workers expect the companies to begin integrating departments within about six months, with possible cuts by early 2027. Production is also shifting away from Los Angeles and the US: the US share of film production budgets fell from 74% in 1999 to 42% in 2024, while the share of TV episodes filmed in the country dropped from 94% to 64%. An Ernst & Young study estimates that retaining those productions in the US would have added $2 billion in domestic production spending.