LOS ANGELES — Ask a Hollywood studio executive about the state of the entertainment business these days, and many will say, “Don’t ask.”
Firms such as Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have laid off hundreds of employees. Companies are under pressure from Wall Street to cut costs and deliver reliable profits while they make risky investments in streaming. Meanwhile, talk of a recession percolates every day.
The uncertain economic landscape is complicating the already-fraught contract negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and film and TV studios as they try to hammer out a new deal this month.
