부산대학교 도서관

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe in early 2020, nations and cities around the world scrambled to protect their core industries. While healthcare industries and their workers were initially the focus, the list quickly grew as the severity and duration of the pandemic deepened. The broad guidelines developed by the federal government were implemented by state and local governments as they identified sectors of the economy and workforce that were critical and essential to their regions. For many agencies, this was the first and only time they were compelled to create such a list, revealing how political leaders and policymakers prioritized their regional economy in a moment of profound crisis. In the United States, the inclusion of the film and television industry into the highest Essential Workforce category in the State of California was initially met with intense criticism, protest, and ridicule (Chan 2020). However, political leaders, the industry, and unions all held firm in their defense of such inclusion, eventually shifting public opinion within the state. This paper recounts how California and the City of Los Angeles designated its cultural industry as essential during the COVID-19 Crisis. It also examines the intense debate around its inclusion and draws lessons on the contemporary global economy. The film and television industry of Los Angeles is a significant driver of economic activity not only for California but also for the entire United States. In June 2020, after working with federal agencies, California Public Health officials declared that music, TV, and film production may resume within the state (Newsom 2020b). This decision reflects the reality that cultural industries in California and Los Angeles are industries of production, not only of distribution and consumption. In these sites of production, thousands of workers were required to work closely together in ways that made social distancing impossible. Additionally, to generate widespread support, political leaders stressed the importance of continued production for larger groups of middle- and low-wage workers behind the scenes to justify their policies over that of a few highly paid and well-known stars in front of the camera. Ultimately, the designation of the cultural industry in Los Angeles as “critical infrastructure” and its rank-and-file employees as “essential workers” pointed to the reality that California’s economy has become ever more dependent on creative industries for maintaining critical levels of employment and tax base.