MPAA’s Latest Economic Numbers and the People Behind them

As Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, I heard my fair share of jokes about economists and their maddeningly abstract, often inconclusive science.

One of my favorites has been attributed to virtually everyone from George Bernard Shaw to Isaac Marcosson: “If all the economists were laid end to end, they still wouldn’t reach a conclusion.” And Walter Heller, who was President Kennedy’s chief economic advisor, used to say that an economist is someone who, when he sees that something is working in practice, wonders how well it would work in theory!

As I quickly came to understand in my former capacity – and just as compellingly now as Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America:

Economic statistics are much more than abstract numbers. They reflect human patterns of behavior. They are about real lives. They are about people. 

I mention all this to offer a more thoughtful dimension to the numbers that the Motion Picture Association has just released about the economic contributions of our industry.

All told, the American film and television industry supports 2.6 million jobs, pays out $177 billion in total wages, and comprises more than 93,000 businesses.

These numbers are culled from detailed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Dun & Bradstreet, and other sources. This year, we updated the methodology used to calculate these figures with the latest available data and analyses, which included pay television distribution jobs and wages for the first time.

With this kind of granular accuracy, we get a better reflection of the men and women who get up every day (and every night) to help bring the vibrancy to the screen stories we love on film and television; as well as the business people who support them.

That is why, certainly in this case, our numbers don’t just sit there in abstraction.

Some other details from between the numbers:

You should know, for example, that the impact of the U.S. film and television industry reaches far beyond well-known creative hubs, such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta.

As these numbers show, this industry supports jobs and businesses in all 50 states. It is also highly competitive globally, generating $17.2 billion in exports and a positive balance of trade in every major market in the world. On the global stage, the U.S. film and television industry generates $17.2 billion in exports and has a trade surplus of $10.3 billion, four percent of the total U.S. trade surplus in services.

Of those 2.6 million total jobs supported by the industry, direct jobs related to the production and distribution of films and television shows totaled 927,000 (340,000 direct production jobs and 587,000 direct distribution jobs).

These are also high quality jobs. The salaries are 47 percent higher than the national average for direct jobs in total, and 65 percent higher for direct production jobs.

That tells is that these jobs are not only providing better resources – than average – for parents to raise families, they are generating wealth for the economy.

Our industry also benefits small to medium businesses. Of the 93,000 businesses that make up the film and television industry across the country, 87 percent are small businesses, employing fewer than 10 people. These businesses are the engines of our economy, certainly the global one; and they are very real people.

In all, the industry makes $44 billion in payments to over 250,000 local businesses. The industry also increases the tax base, generating $29.4 billion in public revenues from sales, state, and federal taxes.

So who are the people we are talking about? You can find out about some of them by visiting The Credits, MPAA's digital publication, which features fascinating and detailed profiles of men and women above and below the line in our industry.

It’s people like Barrie Gower, prosthetics designer whose massive team is bringing the ghoulish, ghastly, and gruesome aspects of Westeros to life in the much-anticipated Season 8 finale of Game of Thrones.

It can sometimes take up to eight hours to turn an actor into his or her character, Gower told us. This is after Gower and his fellow artists spend about four to six weeks to build the prosthetics.

It’s also people like Manny Siverio, a veteran stunt coordinator with 600-plus credits to his name, who worked closely with James McAvoy for the amazing stunts in M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass.

It’s Simon Otto, head of character animation in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, who told The Credits that it takes five animators working full time for a month and half to animate 50 seconds of screen time with 25 characters.

These are the people that I am proud to represent, the ones who bring the magic to our screens of every shape and size. They are the people behind the numbers, and they really mean something – and they really bring something to all of us. 

For a more detailed analysis of the industry’s economic impact, please click here.