For the waiting workforce, development and production haven’t picked up much since then. “I’ve worked in this industry for 20 years, and all of a sudden the faucet just turned off,” says producer Patrick Caligiuri (Naked and Afraid, American Idol), who has posted multiple times to his TikTok since March about the struggles of entertainment workers. (His first post, emblazoned “Reality TV is dead,” took off on LinkedIn, racking up over 2,000 likes and nearly 300 comments.)
“It’s not just people who just moved to L.A. to get into the business that can’t find jobs,” adds one veteran reality TV producer. “It’s somebody who’s been working for 25 years and has a résumé that I would kill for who’s saying they haven’t worked in a year.”
Many veteran unscripted producers and sellers, who asked to remain anonymous in a bid to protect future sales, say the downturn is mirroring what’s happening in the scripted TV space as budgets there, too, are being squeezed across the board, and especially on broadcast. Unscripted shows, which historically have been cheaper to make and faster to produce, are feeling the same fiscal pinch as their scripted counterparts as media companies right-size their slates and spending. “It’s the same problem as scripted, and it’s really depressing,” says one veteran reality executive.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
