Roundabout Entertainment to Cut 81 Jobs as L.A. Post-Production Shrinks

Roundabout Entertainment, a Burbank-based post-production studio, plans to lay off 81 employees effective Dec. 29, according to a filing with California's Employment Development Department.

The cuts are the latest sign of contraction in Los Angeles' struggling film and TV industry. An executive at the company, who was not authorized to comment, said the reductions are part of a restructuring plan initiated by new owners. A representative for Roundabout did not respond to a request for comment.

How bad is the post-production decline?

Post-production in Southern California has been reeling from an unprecedented industry contraction, driven partly by the flight of filming to other states and countries. The numbers show a steady erosion over more than a decade.

• California's share of U.S. post-production employment has fallen from 53% to 42% over the last 13 years, according to CVL Economics, an economic consulting firm.
• The state had about 12,000 post-production jobs last year, CVL Economics said.
• More than 80 film and television production service businesses across L.A. have closed since 2022.

Dozens of family businesses that serve Hollywood have shut down in recent years, squeezed by a historic falloff in local production activity. Roundabout's cuts fit the pattern. The takeaway in plain words: even established, well-connected studios are not insulated from the regional slowdown.

Who is Roundabout Entertainment?

Founded in 1992, Roundabout Entertainment operates from Burbank, Santa Monica and Atlanta. The full-service post-production company offers color correction, syndication and subtitling, according to its website.

Its recent credits include the Oscar winner "One Battle After Another," the 50th anniversary restoration of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and Netflix's animated comedy "Leo." Its clients include Walt Disney, Amazon, Sony and Universal.

A client list of that caliber has not shielded the company from the pressures reshaping the regional market.

What is California doing about it?

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed California's first stand-alone post-production credit to combat the decline. The program carries a budget of $10 million and allows a credit of 35% to 50% on qualified expenses related specifically to post-production work done in California — even for productions that don't shoot in the state.

Earlier this week, Newsom called for an expansion of California's current Film and Television Tax Credit Program from $750 million to at least $1 billion annually. That expansion, a one-third increase in the program's size, would allow the credits to be applied to actors' salaries and extend the program through 2040.

"California created the modern entertainment industry," Newsom said in a statement. "We're the capital of entertainment and we're going to keep it here."

What comes next?

The story of how L.A. steadily lost much of its homegrown industry to other locales is, as the Los Angeles Times reports, a tale of hubris, escalating costs, political inaction and fierce competition from states and countries hungry for a piece of the Hollywood pie.

Roundabout's 81 layoffs will test whether the new $10 million post-production credit arrives in time to slow further erosion — or whether December's cuts become one more data point in a 13-year slide.