The Entertainment Industry: In Limbo
by Adriana Lopez
Most citizens within the U.S. didn’t pay much attention to the looming threat of the coronavirus until January 2020, and even then life was still relatively normal.
Panic hit on March 10. Goldenvoice, the company that organizes Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival, announced that the April events would be postponed.
With concerns over the safety of attendees and those who reside in the Coachella Valley, health authorities pushed Goldenvoice to reschedule the events for October.
Then Live Nation, one of the largest event companies of the world, followed suit. Two days after Goldenvoice made their announcement, Live Nation announced all tours under their company would be postponed.
The list of canceled/postponed events has only grown since Goldenvoice and Live Nation made their announcements.
Apart from the despair of those who had to cancel plans of attending these festivals or concerts, people who make their living off of working events have felt the consequences of these cancellations immediately.
These financial hardships effected independent artists, production crews, vendors, security and many other workers that are components of the intricate machine that makes the live music experience worthwhile for attendees.
The big and small screens have been effected by the coronavirus outbreak as well.
Production has been delayed on movies and shows like Marvel Studios’ “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, “Shang-Chi”, the fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and talk shows such as “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.
Movie releases have also been postponed. “Mulan”, “The Lovebirds”, “Wonder Woman: 1984” are just a few movies that will not be meeting an originally scheduled date for release.
The halt on all things including film has taken a huge toll on those who work for movie theaters.
AMC has closed all their theaters around the world, subsequently placing their 26,000 employees on furlough or laying them off. This includes all corporate employees, even their CEO Adam Aron.
While the Adam Arons and Paul Tolletts (CEO of Goldenvoice) of the world can probably sleep without the stresses of wondering if they will be able to afford next months bills, many others don’t have that luxury if their livelihood is dependent on the entertainment industry.
