Just one week has passed since wildfires began ravaging Southern California, but in seven days time, the destruction caused to hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles residents is sobering and incalculable. The fires are raging at a particularly precarious time for L.A., a city heralded worldwide as the epicenter of Western entertainment. Those in the industry and all who keep up with it know January as the official start of the entertainment awards season. Typically, this is when Hollywood holds its most glitzy parties and nominee luncheons for the in-crowd, while a slew of sprawling awards shows dot the calendar almost every weekend until the Oscars ceremony in March.
But tragedy doesn’t cherry-pick who or what it affects. The wildfires’ devastation is far-reaching, and the ripples of their catastrophe have disrupted all of Hollywood, and in turn, awards season. Huge productions have shut down, nomination announcement dates and awards ceremonies have been moved or put on hold and big premieres have been canceled entirely. While it’s unfortunately hard to predict when the fires will cease to the point that Los Angeles can safely look forward again, there’s no doubt that we'll be seeing the effects of this disaster for months to come.
