Although box office takes continue to top eight billion dollars in revenue every year, it looks like Hollywood is in for a a bit of a Blue Christmas as gift giving continues to slip. According to this article in Variety, the Grinch appears to be taking over the duties of handing out presents and bonuses, and this is the pre-epiphany Grinch, we're talking about the miserly, Scooge-like one. So a lot of Tinseltown (ironic name, eh?) employees could be heading home with coal, or possibly a membership in the Jelly-of-the-Month club.Most employees depend (or hope) on some sort of a Christmas bonus at the end of the year. When it doesn't come, you feel like you got Scrooged. Hollywood tightens their belt in increments every year to try to save on costs by doing things like shooting out of the country, nixing big budget films like Halo, and minimizing their risk wherever they can. During a time of year where we often find ourselves doing a little soul searching, would it kill to slip a little heartfelt sentiment and some sort of material goods in there?
As someone who has worked in the trenches of the industry, a little bit can go a long way. Our Christmas bonuses vaporized awhile ago, and the company Christmas parties were slimmed down to basically a few munchies and drinks in the parking lot, and it was like pouring cold water on our morale. Hollywood bosses, if you're reading this, consider taking your team out to lunch and telling 'em how much you need 'em. They'll appreciate it. The rest of you, carry on and keep checking your stocking. The Grinch can't make it every year.
