Hollywood Is Moving Away from LA—Where Is Everyone Going?

Over the last few year, Hollywood has been dealing with the impact of the coronavirus. In Los Angeles, people moved away. And that moving has not slowed down. We had two strikes in 2023 that shut down work while the AMPTP did nothing to resolve the conflicts.

The rising costs of living in LA, combined with less work shooting here, have caused a mass exodus of the city that has not slowed down.

And Hollywood has responded by greenlighting shows and movies outside of Los Angeles as well because it's just too expensive to shoot many things here.

Combine that with the fact that almost every meeting has shifted to Zoom or a phone call, and you have a massive shift in the industry.

So where is Hollywood now? The simple answer is "all over."

Let's dive in.

Where has Hollywood gone?

Back in the day, you had to move to Los Angeles to make a career in the business. Now, it's a little more complicated. You just have to get here for meetings once in a while. And you probably need to be here if you want to write TV, unless your showrunner incorporates Zoom moving forward.

But amidst all of this, Los Angeles has also undergone a lot of change. Rent was skyrocketing and really came to a head with people losing jobs during COVID, and then post the collective strikes that continued.

Homelessness skyrocketed while rent stayed high. Also, many productions left the town in favor of shooting somewhere less expensive. Many states improved their tax credits, and let's be honest, it is much cheaper to live anywhere but Los Angeles.

Hollywood has always had a big presence in Georgia, with Marvel and Netflix shooting there extensively. Now, people are expanding to Nevada and Texas, taking advantage of the low-income tax and tax credits for shooting. The Carolinas, Utah, Wyoming, and Washington also gather people to work.

And when people are reading scripts, they don't care if you live in Westwood, they just care if it's good. Many people are using this time to move away from the city itself but still work in the industry.

With costs rising here, even executives are moving away to buy houses in surrounding states or near airports with direct flights if they need them. Many creatives are headed out to a place they feel more suits their muse. Or charges them less in taxes.

If you are working in the industry outside of Los Angeles, we want to hear from you.

We're gathering stories of people who have moved out or away from Hollywood but are still finding work and making a living.

Drop us an email or leave your story in the comments!