Entertainment Industry

There is no Hollywood ending in sight in 2009 for the entertainment industry, which along with the rest of the nation is experiencing its worst economic slump in decades. The fallout from declining local TV ad revenue, weakening DVD sales and diminishing sources of film financing will continue to pound Los Angeles' signature industry, which employs more than 200,000 people and pumps an estimated $20 billion to $30 billion into the local economy.

Much of the country may still be suffering from electoral and inaugural exhaustion, but a substantial section of politically involved Hollywood has rediscovered the wisdom of the late, great Tip O'Neill --"All politics is local." Not surprisingly, Topic A on that agenda is California's 2010 gubernatorial race, where the industry is already beginning to choose sides and raise money. There is even a story line in play of the kind Hollywood loves: a sequel with a comeback for the leading man.

In recent months, this city's soundstages have been teeming with film and television productions, the result of a generous tax credit aimed at luring more shoots to New York. But it remains to be seen how long those stages will be full. On Thursday, the state confirmed that it had run through the $515 million set aside for the tax credit program through 2013.

Tribune Co. established an "online entertainment news bureau" Thursday by merging its television and movie listings service, Zap2it.com, into the Los Angeles Times. The goal is to aggregate Tribune's entertainment coverage from its media properties and boost its presence on the Web with an array of blogs, video features, listings and news about movies and TV shows. Times editors will manage the operation, adding the seven Zap2it editorial employees to their staff.

Much of the world seems to have written Africa's problems off as insolvable, and nowadays, if you ask a lot of Americans to name an ongoing tragedy, they'd probably point first to the U.S. economy. Hollywood's political activists are trying to pitch in on both fronts. Several weeks ago, the glitterati came out to discuss how to get involved in assisting U.S. food banks. Feb.

Only Hollywood could make a cause of celebrating causes during the season of its self-congratulations -- or as the industry likes to call it, the run-up to the Oscars. This year's award season, with all its spinoff charity events, has been particularly intense. (Blame it on the euphoria over Barack Obama's inauguration.

This week I was asked to speak at an evening program at a local temple on the ever-popular topic of "Jews in Hollywood." I brought along a true Hollywood Jew, Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal, who spoke quite eloquently and insightfully about her faith and how it's sometimes tested by her job.

You can't open up a sports section or read a sports blog without being bombarded by story after story about Manny Ramirez's tumultuous contract negotiations with the Dodgers. The whole affair has an air of melodrama, punctuated with more bitter recriminations, wounded egos and thinly veiled threats than a Middle East peace conference. But from my perch, what is most fascinating is the astoundingly public nature of the negotiations, with the most intricate financial details all out in the open.

When Tom Hanks calls, it can be hard to say no. With the help of Hanks and other A-list stars, the main actors union and the Hollywood studios are quietly taking another whack at ironing out their differences. Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have been holding informal talks with studio executives this week in a bid to reopen contract negotiations, people familiar with the talks said.

In Hollywood, everyone takes the Dalai Lama very seriously -- except perhaps for the Dalai Lama himself. The 14th reincarnated primate of Tibetan-style Buddhism -- as well as his scattered people's political leader -- comes pretty close to being the entertainment industry's unofficial spiritual guide. Even many of those with no inclination toward Buddhism have embraced the cause of regaining independence, or, at least, autonomy, for Tibet, which remains under Chinese rule.