Yahoo Lifestyle Ahead of PGA Awards, Guild Says Fighting Runaway Production Is Top Priority: ‘We Have to Stand Up and Fight for Los Angeles’
Never before has Hollywood been hit with so many challenges all at once: the perceived threat of AI replacing human creatives, production leaving California for less costly venues, devastating fires that have wiped out thousands of homes and places of business, and a new administration that has a dislike for the politics of the Golden State. The Producers Guild of America, however, has very clear focus on the tasks on hand and is bringing the community together to tackle each.
The PGA Awards honor producers across all platforms, with the feature films reflective Oscar voters’ tastes, and the winner on Feb. 8 will get a boost in the Academy Awards race: The nominees for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures are “Anora” (Neon), “The Brutalist” (A24), “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures), “Conclave” (Focus Features), “Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.), “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix), “A Real Pain” (Searchlight Pictures), “September 5” (Paramount), “The Substance” (Mubi) and “Wicked” (Universal).
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The most immediate needs are to help the members of the community who have been displaced by the numerous Los Angeles fires that caused a total economic loss that could reach $50 billion, according to JPMorgan. The Guild has joined forces with the Entertainment Community Fund and will contribute a portion of the net proceeds from the Producers Guild Awards to the fund. “It’s in times like this where I think an organization like the PGA is more important than ever,” says PGA’s co-president Stephanie Allain.
PGA CEO Susan Sprung says that getting production back to California is one of the guild’s top priorities. “People want to film here. The whole basis of the film industry is here. People live here; we have the best crews in the world here; the best producers are here. It’s one of the best places to film. There’s stage spaces here. And so every time I talk to producers and we have meetings, they’re like, ‘It doesn’t have to be cheaper to be here. We just have to get close enough that we can make the argument for why you should be filming here.’”
But PGA co-president Donald De Line interjects, “But it needs to be cheaper too. We need the state to help us because … you’re making a studio movie, and you can make it $5 million cheaper in Atlanta. Guess where you’re making your movie? You’re going to Atlanta. And we cannot allow that to continue. The movie business made Los Angeles what it is. We have to stand up and fight for Los Angeles. And our community is based in Los Angeles. We need to rebuild production in Los Angeles in a major way.”
Whether in Los Angeles, Atlanta or anywhere else, the growing use of AI in production is splitting the industry in it helps/it hurts halves. The PGA’s message to producers: “Embrace it as a tool.” “I’ve been playing with it, and it’s nowhere near as good as people,” Allain laughs. “I’m talking about writing; I’m talking about the prompts. It’s all just being created now. And I think that, like any new thing, it’s scary.”
“It’s twofold,” Sprung says. “It’s to educate our members, but also steer the conversation towards what is and isn’t appropriate and what are the appropriate guardrails, and how do you make sure that you’re using it responsibly and ethically.” De Line adds, “Yes, there is a scary side to it. But there is also a side that’s exciting, and if we use it the right way, it can be thrilling and great and help artists and filmmakers as well.”
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