Manny Shaw vividly remembers the first time he saw his name come across a TV screen.
The assistant to Hollywood Post Production at the time, he was on the phone with his mother watching the credits roll at the end of the fifth season of the NBC show “This Is Us.”
“I’m back in Michigan,” Shaw said. “We waited, waited, waited. It popd up for about two seconds, but it pops up and I remember hearing her scream.”
Those two seconds were enough to tell the show that he ultimately accomplished it in Hollywood and turned his dreams into reality through effort, training and networking. The youngest of 11 children, Shaw learned early on the importance of speaking to finding opportunities and began his career as a graphic designer in Detroit.
His first television job was as a production assistant for NBC’s America’s Got Talent. His reputation and tenacity for networking have made him flourish and earned him the position as an assistant editor, even during one of the difficult times in the entertainment industry.
“Due to the pandemic, I was actually hit by work,” he said. “I had turned down work.”
But his path to a career dream has turned into uncertainty, Shaw said. There are no major strikes in Hollywood. The industry has emerged from the pandemic, but work can still be difficult for many in television and film.
“Everything was going well and there was a strike,” Shaw said. “We’ve reached out to people who’ve worked in the past, from editors to supervisors to people in the studio. Everyone says there’s nothing. There’s no work.”
The film industry has experienced several shake-ups in recent years with strikes, layoffs and other issues that have affected workers in this sector. Philip Sokoloski, vice president of communications at the nonprofit Filmla, talks more about it.
The industry has done some shake-ups in recent years with strikes and layoffs. Runaway production and other issues that have affected workers.
According to Film La, the official film station for the city and county, Los Angeles production in Los Angeles fell 22%. According to Film La, television production peaked in 2021 with an annual filming date of 18,560 in 2021. Recorded in 2024 were only 7,716 days of filming.
The California Production Coalition estimates that the average location shooting adds $670,000 and 1,500 jobs a day to the local economy, indicating the wider impact of serious DIP.
“Now we’ve only just come out of the worst year on record, and we’re going to exclude Covid in 2024, with the exception of location shoots happening,” said Paul Audrey, president of the film LA. “And in the first quarter, as we approach the end, 2025 appears to be getting worse.
“Are there generally fewer productions or fewer productions in Los Angeles? So there’s a combination of factors. Globally, everyone is no longer getting enough work, even major centers talk about it.
Filmla continues to report that production numbers are falling, with 2024 as one of the worst in history, with studio executives worried about the impact of the new tariffs. Ted Chen is reporting an NBC4 News report on April 16, 2025 at 5pm.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for an expansion of its California Film & Television Tax Credit Program. In the fall, Newsom said it hopes that annual tax incentives will double to $750 million a year. Several bills have been introduced to make the program more globally competitive.
Audrey said California is currently ranked sixth in the world as it films behind Toronto, the UK, Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia. Several emerging film production hubs also build their own workforce bases, he said.
“And locals in Georgia, New York and Toronto are now filling in all positions and they don’t need to import people anymore,” Audrey said.
Shaw said he did a variety of jobs during the recession, from cutting off his podcasts to cleaning up at his church.
“I feel like I’ve had all the schooling, I’ve had all the training, I’ve done all the networking, I’ve done all the shows and I’ve finally done it. I have a background, I have the skills and I’m qualified. “We can do what we can and pray that this thing will come back soon.”
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