Entertainment Industry Hit Hard by Coronavirus Outbreak
By Quincey Durham
The Coronavirus outbreak has closed businesses and cost people their jobs. hit the world hard, businesses are closing and people are losing their jobs. But each industry is being affected in different ways. Perhaps the industry that has been most affected by the outbreak is the entertainment industry. Movies aren’t getting their box office debuts because the theaters are closed, causing studios to lose money.
TV Shows have stopped shooting even though seasons aren’t finished yet and future seasons are being delayed. Concert tours are getting cancelled left and right and fans are sad they won’t get to see their favorite artists.
“…some assistants and support staff on productions that are still in business have been given no such option” wrote Variety reporters Cynthia Littleton and Elaine Low.
Changes in the MCU calendar set off a domino effect. wrote Alissa Wilkinson for Vox. The company’s entire release schedule has been pushed back due to the virus. But why not put them on Disney+? The answer is simple: these titles are big blockbusters and it would be a huge financial loss.
“Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down all live music and touring for the foreseeable future, thereby drying up the primary source of income for the vast majority of working musicians.” said Jonathan Bernstein or Rolling Stone. These independent artists have been hit the most in the midst of this crisis. They have to find other avenues to make money since they can’t tour and don’t have the support of big labels. Some are even turning to streaming performances to share their music and give fans a distraction during all this.
“Most TV production — including dozens of scripted shows — was shut down this week for at least the next two weeks because of the health risk. Prime-time viewers may not notice a dramatic difference for the rest of the 2019–20 season.” wrote USATODAY reporter Bill Keveney. Many viewers won’t even feel the effects of the filming shut down until the fall. But what about the seasons that haven’t finished filming? Will we get those episodes? How will this affect seasons going forward? These are all important questions but we may not get answers for months.
“In a shocking twist usually reserved for conspiracy thrillers, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused the US box office to, for the first time in history, report revenue of zero this week.” said Arab News reporter Raffi Boghosian. This global pandemic is making history but not in a good way. Movie theaters are closed and no one is leaving their houses to see movies so nothing is happening at the box office. It’s really disheartening to see the negative effects this virus is having on everything.
No one knows when this will end but one thing’s for sure, the entertainment industry will never really go back to normal.
