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BURBANK, Calif. — “The Pitt” has won praise – and a gurney full of Emmys – for bringing a dose of classic episodic TV to the prestige streaming era.
Its star, executive producer and sometimes director Noah Wyle said Friday that the HBO Max hospital series is also a throwback of a different sort – it actually shoots in Hollywood at a time when film and television production has shifted to other places with more favorable economic conditions. Wyle said “The Pitt,” which won the Emmy for best drama for last year’s first season, is “proof of concept” that the model can work.
Wyle spoke at a hearing organized by California Sen. Adam Schiff held at City Hall in Burbank, the Los Angeles-adjacent city that is home to most major studios, including the Warner Bros. lot where “The Pitt” shoots.
“I was asked to participate in today’s hearing to tell a success story,” Wyle said. “I’m happy to report we’ll commence shooting season three this summer, and that a rising tide has indeed lifted all boats.”
Wyle said California’s recent tax breaks for production made making the series in Burbank possible. He said the show’s first season brought nearly 600 production jobs, and its ripple effects brought $125 million to the state economy.
“That is proof of concept,” he said. “That is replicable. And it is vital to the strength of our industry and to our city to support these incentives.”
Wyle, 54, played a central character on NBC’s “ER” from 1994 to 2009. His return to a Hollywood hospital – fictionally in Pittsburgh – with “The Pitt” won him an Emmy for best actor in a drama.
Lean years came in between, when he had to go the increasingly far-off places smaller roles took him.
“I’ll speak from personal experience and say that I haven’t slept in my own bed in 15 years while I’ve been working as an actor. Since the end of ‘ER,'” Wyle said. “It’s hard on families, and I can speak to that. It is hard to fracture your industry that way.”
Schiff and other members of Congress who spoke said they are working on nationalizing production tax breaks that states have instituted.
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman, whose district includes Burbank and its studios, addressed objections to cozy treatment for a business snuggled in wealth.
“We give tax credits to many industries. Hollywood is not asking for special treatment,” she said. “This is something that is standard across the United States for industries that we have determined that we care about.”
Matthew Loeb, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents most behind-the-scenes crew members, lamented Marvel recently moving its production hub from Georgia to England.
But he said the same project-by-project production model that can be difficult for his members can make change more possible. It’s not as hard for film to come back as it might be for other industries.
Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. was a running theme, with all expressing worry that its consolidation will mean loss of production and jobs
“This merger could define whether Los Angeles remains the entertainment capital of the world or becomes an afterthought,” Friedman said.
Paramount leaders have given a broad commitment to making 15 major motion pictures for both studios each year. That was welcomed, but skeptically.
“The big missing piece is that there is no commitment about where they’re going to shoot 30 films,” Loeb said.
Wyle, Schiff and others emphasized the jobs that thrive around entertainment entities, from hotel workers to equipment vendors to food servers to dry cleaners.
“All those livelihoods are tied to a production shop setting up in their community,” Schiff said.
U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove said workers of all sorts from her Los Angeles County district have an interest in Hollywood thriving.
“After my acupuncturist took the needles out of my back, she said, ‘Can you do anything to help bring back entertainment jobs?'” Kamlager-Dove said.
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