The Brief

Set builder Greg Gilday has worked on some of Disney’s big Star Wars shows, building spaceships for the franchise’s Ahsoka series. But during the Hollywood strikes that dragged on for months this year, he was busy doing something a bit more down to earth.

He organized swap meets where out-of-work entertainment industry pros could sell their stuff to make ends meet.

Now that the actors have ratified a new contract, have the jobs come back? For Gilday, not yet.

“SAG-AFTRA reaching a deal hasn’t had any impact as of this moment,” he said recently, noting that the end of the calendar year is usually a slow time for productions. “Come January, I’m sure it will be a feeding frenzy.”

Set builder and welder Greg Gilday outside Walt's in Eagle Rock.

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The dual Hollywood strikes that began with the Writers Guild of America in May, followed by the start of SAG-AFTRA picketing in July, were the heart of the hot labor summer in Los Angeles. The strikes, which together lasted more than six months, brought the writers and actors gains in their new union contracts, including guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence, wage and residual increases and more.

Now it’s time for thousands of actors, writers, costume makers, set builders and other entertainment industry professionals to get back to work. But experts say a return to business as usual will take time, and that the industry probably won’t get back to the peak employment seen after the pandemic when there was a glut of productions driven by streaming platforms.

Production stoppages that affected movies, TV shows and streaming programs are estimated to cost the economy about $7 billion, with about half of that in California, according to Kevin Klowden, chief global strategist at the Milken Institute. And when the final figures are in, that number is expected to grow.

What recovery might look like

While some of the roughly 160,000 actors guild members continued to raise concerns about artificial intelligence protections until the ratification vote deadline, the performers union ended up sealing the deal with more than 78% approval.

Striking writers and actors rallied in front of Amazon Studios in Culver City in support of a bill that would provide unemployment benefits to striking workers.

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“This is a golden age for SAG-AFTRA, and our union has never been more powerful,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a statement following the ratification of the contract.

Gilday, the set builder, said he’s happy with many of the wage increases and protections writers and actors gained after the strikes, and he’s hopeful the new year will bring him an abundance of work.

Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA president and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's chief negotiator, address the press on Nov. 10, 2023.

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Previous strikes have shown that a return to normal could take as long as a year, according to Klowden. But, he said, mass spending from streaming companies on large numbers of high-quality shows — during what’s known as “peak TV” — is not likely to come back.

He said streaming services are moving away from the big spending days when they were searching for the next Game of Thrones or Ted Lasso, that would bring more eyes to their platforms.

“And that means that even as production numbers recover, they’re going to recover in a way that just won’t come back to quite that heady level we were seeing say in late 2021 or early, mid-2022,” Klowden said.

According to a new study from Otis College, the Hollywood strikes came at a time when the industry was seeing a downward trend in employment. Since reaching a “post-pandemic employment high” in August 2022, employment shrunk by 26% in October 2023, the study points out.

The report estimates that nearly 25,000 Hollywood workers have lost their jobs since April.

‘They just can’t survive’

Recent numbers from FilmLA, the nonprofit tasked with coordinating filming permits, show on-location permits were down about 57% during the second week of December compared to the same time last year. That was after the actors guild strike order was lifted.

But it’s still a considerable improvement over mid-November, when permits for feature films and television projects were down 83% compared to the same time in 2022.

Klowden said it’s important to note that just because productions can get back to work doesn’t mean they’re ready. Things like coordinating trailers and craft services and other support staff take time.

And he said it’s possible some of those workers might not come back at all after getting pummeled by the pandemic and the dual strikes.

“The combination of these multiple shutdowns has led to a situation where they just can’t survive,” he said.

‘Ready to work’

Actor Renée Threatte was a strike captain during the SAG-AFTRA strike.

“I’m ready to work,” Threatte told LAist. “It’s been a long couple of months. While I’m really proud of the union and for all of the volunteers and all the people that showed up on the picket line... I’m disappointed that it took so long.”

Still, Threatte said she is happy with her union’s new contract. And while auditions are slow at the moment, she’s hopeful the floodgates will open in January.

But even if the work comes back, it doesn’t mean the struggle to afford to live in L.A. will be over.

“I hope that not only can this contract inspire people to fight for a fair and working wage ... but I hope it can also inspire our politicians to make sure that they’re doing what they can to keep an effective and viable way of life here in Los Angeles,” Threatte said.

Klowden agrees that the cost of living in L.A. should be a major concern. He said Hollywood has always touted itself as a gateway to a sustainable middle class life, not just for writers and actors, but everyone who makes the dream factory run.

“That’s important. And that sense of maintaining that concentration of talent and concentration of skilled workers is a big deal in terms of Hollywood’s attractiveness,” Klowden said. “And if that goes out the window, then there is a real problem.”

Inglewood officials are working on a full rewrite of the city map for the first time in nearly 40 years, laying out how they want the city to grow and change for the next two decades.

Along part of Manchester Boulevard, city planners are setting up an option for developers to rebuild rows of small storefronts with a mix of homes and commercial space. On La Brea Avenue, south of Centinela Avenue, they envision the possibility of dense housing and business blocks as high as six stories.

Jerome Johnson, an Inglewood local, said he’s lived through three decades of change in the city. He recalled watching a “raggedy market” at the corner of La Brea and Centinela make way for the two-story shopping center that’s there today. He said the potential developments around the intersection could be a catch-22.

“There’s a shortage of housing,” Johnson said. “But you don’t want it to turn into New York City.”

It’s all part of the ongoing process for Inglewood’s new general plan, the foundational guide that governs things like what kind of buildings can be built where in the city and how they need to look. A draft land-use plan will go before the Inglewood City Council on Tuesday, then go into the environmental impact review process.

“This is really a historic milestone for the city,” Bernard McCrumby, Inglewood development services director, told The LA Local. 

McCrumby said planners are aiming to open up room for new housing and to revitalize some of the city’s flagging business corridors, without changing the city’s existing residential blocks or sacrificing the grocery stores, barbershops and local restaurants that make neighborhoods tick.

“The stadiums and arenas are here, they’re not going anywhere,” McCrumby said. “Now we can plan around those.”

The last time the city did a full update of its general plan was 1987, when horses were still racing at Hollywood Park and the “Showtime” Lakers were winning championships at the Forum. Edward Vincent Jr., the city’s first Black mayor, had only been in office for four years. 

The city has made intermittent updates to its planning guidelines since then — notably remapping a band of Inglewood along the Metro K line before it opened — but city documents indicate planners spent the past couple years working on a comprehensive rewrite. 

The new update to the general plan could set the city’s direction until 2050.

Planners hope to change some of the city’s commercial corridors into mixed-use zones that allow for housing and businesses alongside each other or even stacked on top of each other.

Those zones could go in place along Century Boulevard and Arbor Vitae Street as well as Manchester, Centinela and La Brea.

The rest of the update, McCrumby said, is aimed at lining the city’s zoning regulations up with state law and the city’s current reality on the ground.

City staff held several community meetings over the last year as they put together the draft and still aren’t done gathering feedback. 

The next year will see at least one more community meeting and a 45-day public review period, according to city documents. McCrumby said that, with the anchor of the land-use map in place, planners will continue to work on the rest of the general plan, targeting final City Council approval of the plan and accompanying environmental impact report next spring.

You can get all the details on the general plan at nextlevelinglewood.com and attend the City Council meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday to give a public comment.

We also want to know what you think of the proposed changes. Email isaiah@thelalocal.org with your questions or thoughts.

Students within the Los Angeles Unified School District showed improvements on state reading, math and science standardized tests for a third consecutive year, district authorities announced Tuesday.

Superintendent Andrés Chait revealed the preliminary results at the annual opening-of-schools address at East L.A.’s Garfield High School— his first as the district’s leader since the board appointed him to the job in June.

“ These are not just numbers on a page,” Chait said to an audience that included about 1,000 principals, administrators and district supporters. “They are the result of your passion, your persistence, your belief in what students can achieve. These are collective accomplishments.

"They reflect the dedication, skill, and commitment of our entire community,” he said.

Jai Gant-Leau, principal of Eagle Tree Continuation High School, said the “back-to-basics” focus of Chait’s speech was a welcome departure from the tone of recent opening addresses.

“We will continue to rise for the outcomes and expectations for the success of our students. That's the message I got,” Gant-Leau said. “Very different than the others where it was a lot of… bells and whistles.”

Why it matters

Student achievement, as measured by test scores, plummeted during the pandemic. Los Angeles Unified’s growth in 2025 outpaced the state, as test scores exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

This year the percentage of students in all grades who met or exceeded the standard are 39.7% for math, 48.3% for English and 32.1% for science. It’s unclear how this compares to students statewide because those results have yet to be released.

Challenges ahead

Chait also acknowledged the challenges posed by declining enrollment, community fears of immigration enforcement actions and proposed budget cuts.

 “The decisions will be hard, but we cannot lose sight of what defines us,” Chait said. “We are the system that lifts students to opportunity, turns potential into achievement, creates spaces of belonging, healing, growth.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

We hope you’ve gotten used to the hot weather, because it’s going to be here for a while.

The National Weather Service has issued yet another heat advisory for much of Southern California, less than a week after other high-temperature warnings were lifted.

This week’s advisory will be in place from 10 a.m. Wednesday through Monday. Forecasters expect temperatures to climb steadily over the course of Wednesday and Thursday.

The San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and other inland areas in L.A., as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will likely see highs ranging from the mid-90s to about 105 degrees. Areas closer to the coast, including downtown Los Angeles and much of Orange County, will hit the 90s. Beaches will hover mostly in the upper 70s.

Humidity will also add to the discomfort. Even though it’s decreasing slightly, it makes cooling down harder, especially at night.

People who work outdoors or do not have air conditioning are especially at risk from the heat and humidity, along with people over 65, young children and other sensitive populations.

Fire risk

Forecasters are warning that conditions are ripe for fires, driven by a combination of wind and dry vegetation.

Southern California hasn’t seen much rain recently, despite the humidity, leaving plants with little moisture and turning them into the perfect fuel.

“Even though the air feels kind of moist, we're in the time of season where it doesn't matter. The fuels are dry and they're ready to go,” said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell.

Kittel said people should take extra care with anything that could create a spark, and residents in fire-prone areas should remain aware of their surroundings in case a fire starts.

The fire risk is likely to be concentrated in a few specific areas that will experience higher winds than others, including parts of the 5 Freeway corridor in northern L.A. County, especially around the Grapevine, and in southern Santa Barbara County.

For most of the region, though, winds should stay fairly mild.

Dangerous beach conditions

Southern Californians also have to contend with some ocean-specific risks this week.

Forecasters expect dangerously large waves and strong rip currents to hit the coastline at a time when the heat may drive more people to the beach. The conditions are expected to persist through the weekend.

If you decide to head to the beach, it’s a good idea to ask a lifeguard for advice on the conditions before entering the water. It’s also recommended to swim only near occupied lifeguard stands, stay off of rock jetties and avoid turning your back to the waves.

South-facing stretches of coastline will bear the brunt of the swell, which is being driven by two tropical storms churning hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean.

“Those two systems generated the winds and the waves locally that are pushing towards us, and so that's creating elevated surf and some stronger currents than normal,” Kittel said.

The swell is not expected to cause significant coastal flooding as high tides remain relatively low.