‘It’s like you’re starting from scratch’: Hollywood’s below-the-line artists pivot to other gigs

Production designer Dave Blass wrapped his last big project, filming the Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Picard” in L.A. in 2022 before the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA walkouts hit last year. Even now, almost a year after those strikes ended, the two-time Emmy nominee for “Justified” says Hollywood’s production designers, set decorators and their crews still have little work. “I don’t see the old-school 22-episode orders anymore,” says assistant art director and set designer Gail Russell, who since 1996 has specialized in multicamera sitcoms like CBS’ “Bob Hearts Abishola.” “I’ve had six weeks of work since April of this year and feel like there’s going to be a lot of hopping around, shooting 10 episodes and then not doing the next 10 for five months. But I got to keep the good vibes pushing out, cause people can smell fear.” In addition to technology that has the power to eliminate even more jobs, “the worst part is that no one can give us a clear outlook on where we are heading,” says Mara LePere-Schloop, a production designer with two decades of prestige TV series credits including Prime Video’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” Apple TV+’s “Pachinko” and “Interview With the Vampire.” “Other than, if you have a job offer, take it.” Increasingly, that also means taking your show on the road, to places where productions have moved for tax credits and other incentives. “Why aren’t we blowing Georgia’s tax credits out of the water to keep Hollywood in Hollywood?” “It’s a race to the bottom,” says Art Directors Guild National Executive Director Chuck Parker.