The Collateral Damage Of The Hollywood Strikes (And Other Headlines)

It’s been three months since the Writers Guild of America took Hollywood by storm with the first writers strike in 15 years. Then, earlier this month, with 65,000 actors in tow, the much bigger Hollywood union, SAG-AFTRA, followed the writers’ act and joined them on the picket lines.

The economic domino effect of the Hollywood strikes

Right now, the writers aren’t busy writing the next season of your favorite television show and they aren't showing up to promote their latest project or performing their next big hit. They’re standing in front of the studios and streaming services demanding better pay and protections.

Not only does that mean there’s no current cash flow for them, there’s also little money coming in for the local businesses that depend on clients in the entertainment industry.

My colleague Robert Garrova recently spoke with some business owners, like Johnny Agnew, who are feeling the brunt of the economic standstill with the strikes. Agnew is the owner of Funky Junk Farms, a business that supplies vintage cars and travel trailers for TV and film productions, and said that work has dried up for him.

“It’s huge because most people can’t survive off unemployment... You know, most of us live from paycheck to paycheck to be honest with you. People are hurting,” Agnew lamented.

Read Robert's story to learn more about how the Hollywood industry strike is putting a financial strain on local businesses in L.A.

Stay safe and cool, L.A. There’s more news below — just keep reading.

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(After you stop hitting snooze)

• Los Angeles tenants with unpaid rent from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic must pay rent or they could face eviction next week. Renters in fear of falling into homelessness held a rally this week in downtown L.A. My colleague David Wagner has more details.
• The city of L.A. has a goal to plant tens of thousands of new trees, and while there’s been progress, there’s still so much work that needs to be done. You can help. Here are ways you can get involved through neighborhood workshops and tree-planting requests. 
• Special paint that cools pavements remains a quick and inexpensive way to cool asphalt on extremely hot days, but are they the best solution for fighting increasingly dangerous heat? My colleague Erin Stone explored this question in her latest article about the Pacoima cool pavement project. 
• The migrant buses from Texas just keep on coming to L.A. and advocacy groups say could use additional resources and supplies to support them.
• Anaheim City Council officials will soon release the results of an independent investigation regarding potential corruption and influence-peddling within the city. My colleague Jill Replogle has more details about the FBI investigation that involved multiple officials. 
• SAG-AFTRA actors like Mandy Moore and Kamil McFadden are showing off their residual checks on the internet. Some of them are in negative dollar amounts. NPR’s Ayana Archie wrote about what actors are fighting for while on strike and what the studios and streamers are saying in response. 
• There’s more fun things to check out this weekend. Celebrate veteran music producer Quincy Jones’ 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl. Watch comedians compete in the Pop Cultured with Jimmy Pardo game show tonight at the Lyric Hyperion Theater & Cafe. Sip on a nice cool drink and enjoy the scene at Summer Nights at the Tar Pits. Dance and shop at the monthly Black Market Flea on Saturday at The Beehive. These events and more are all on this weekend’s Best Things To Do list.

Wait! One more thing...

Chill out and dream on to experimental soundscapes this summer

People wait for the ambient music event Tonalism to begin at Descanso Gardens

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Robert Nuñez

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Descanso Gardens

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If there’s one thing Californians are known for, it’s having a laid-back, experimental, countercultural state of mind.

One of those experiences that highlights this is ambient music events, or “happenings, “ as they’ve been called. These have been described as a sensory “collage” that combines music and tones, and maybe theater, dance, live visual art and poetry to cultivate a unique sound experience. These “happenings” go back to the 1960s — think Yoko One — but they are having a resurgence in the Los Angeles area.

A few weeks ago, I went to Tonalism at Descanso Gardens with some of my How To LA colleagues to check out this immersive mixed art and sound experience.

Traveling through the gardens at night with the moon almost full reminded me of the scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory when the candymaker took the golden ticket crew through an eerie psychedelic experience on a boat. Everywhere I looked were hues of purple, green and orange lights and relaxing, melodic sounds that automatically put me in a zen state of mind.

There was a live performance of a woman drawing water for a stream and a small house where a group of people could listen to an album. I felt like I was actually participating in a psychedelic dream or movie.

My colleague Megan Botel produced a dreamy How To LA podcast episode about the experience and wrote this article that includes a list of other places you can find similar sound events this summer in and around L.A.