The creative community is a leading contributor to the Greater Los Angeles economy, as substantiated in the 2010 Otis Report prepared for the Otis College of Art and Design by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). For example, the arts, design and entertainment industries combined in ’09 to represent 835,000 direct and indirect jobs (almost one in every six in the L.A. region) and some $113 billion in sales/receipts in L.A. and Orange counties. More than $4.6 billion in state and local tax revenues were generated in ’09 by art and design-oriented businesses spanning the entertainment, toy, digital media, fashion, architecture, interior design, industrial design, and communication arts industries, as well as fine and performing arts.
However, as impressive as these numbers are, they represent a decline from those in the ’09 Otis Report which tallied nearly one million direct and indirect jobs, almost $140 billion in sales/receipts, and over $5.1 billion in state and local tax revenues in ’08. Clearly the overall global economic downturn impacted the latest set of numbers as did arguably such dynamics as runaway production to other states and for that matter countries with more inviting tax breaks and financial incentive packages.
Still in the big picture, the economic barometer has risen steadily since 2003 in Greater L.A. Between ’03 and ’08, employment in the service-oriented creative industries of L.A. grew by 9.9 percent, and by two percent in Orange County.
Narrowing results down to the entertainment industry, the 2010 Otis Report found nearly 119,000 people working directly in the business during ’09 in L.A. County. The estimated direct sales numbers were huge, $48.3 billion in ’09, most of which came from the film production industry. The total economic impact was 354,900 direct and indirect jobs, and estimated total output of over $129 billion. State and local taxes generated directly and indirectly by this sector totaled $2.4 billion in ’09.
The creative economy represents the second largest regional business sector in Greater Los Angeles, surpassed only by the tourism and hospitality industry, according to the Otis Report, which estimates the creative community’s total economic impact in L.A. and Orange counties as having been some $286.3 billion in ’09. The LAEDC factors each direct job as supporting roughly one-and-a-half indirect jobs in the marketplace. And the creative economy includes the largest segment of self-employed people (independent artists, writers, performers) in the L.A. region.
In terms of employment trends, the creative economy in L.A. is projected to be on the upswing through 2014–but that growth will be slow, with an estimated 6.7 percent increase in the number of jobs. Helping to drive that growth is the digital media market, which has already exhibited its ability to buck the recession with 700 additional jobs in ’09 as compared to ’08.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More