Trade Roughage 12/20/07
While the city of Los Angeles is losing hundreds of millions of dollars as the strike wears on, the studios are spending the equivalent on Super Bowl ads, which may not seem nearly as important if there weren't a strike to begin with.
Today’s tale of strike woe comes from a meeting of the L.A. City Council’s Housing Community and Economic Development committee, where writers, economists and city officials (and not a single rep from the AMPTP) testified as to the wider implications of the work stoppage. Economists estimate that the strike has already cost the city of Los Angeles $342.7 million, and the tally could rise as high as $2.5 billion before it all ends. Among the sectors hardest hit is the local food industry, which contributes 13% of the city’s tax revenue.- Sam Raimi is expected to direct New Line’s suddenly-in-the-works pair of Hobbit films, but first, he’s going to make an Evil Dead-esque “morality tale”called Drag Me To Hell.
- After barely coming to play in 2007, Hollywood studios are looking to promote their 2008 slate in a big way via Super Bowl ads. Among the scheduled highlights: Will Ferrell will appear in character in a co-branded spot, promoting both Budweiser and Ferrell’s upcoming New Line comedy, Semi-Pro. Oddly not mentioned in the Variety story, but relevant: with the writers strike heavily impacting ratings of regular programming, a massive sporting event like the Super Bowl suddenly becomes one of the only opportunities to use TV to reach a mass audience.
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