Another major figure in Hollywood is making a move, as J.J. Abrams, known for his blockbuster films, relocates his production powerhouse amidst the ongoing exodus of entertainment jobs from Los Angeles.
The 58-year-old director and producer, renowned for hits like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible, is shutting down the Santa Monica office of Bad Robot Productions, shifting the operation to his new residence in New York, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rumors of company downsizing accompany this relocation, with insiders indicating that the reductions are widespread, affecting various departments rather than targeting a specific area, as reported by Variety.
This transition comes on the heels of Abrams selling his long-standing Los Angeles hub last November for a hefty $31 million.
Once bustling with hundreds of employees, the Santa Monica office was situated just steps away from the iconic Santa Monica Pier.
Since its inception in 1999, Bad Robot has been a driving force in the entertainment industry, producing a series of blockbuster movies and TV series, including the Mission: Impossible series, several Star Wars films, and the 2009 Star Trek reboot.
On the TV side, its credits include Lost, Alias, Westworld and Person of Interest.
In 2018, the company launched a gaming division, with its website noting teams are “fully remote” and focused on reinventing interactive storytelling.
More recently, Bad Robot has shifted toward smaller-scale projects, including Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent and HBO Max’s Duster, which ran for one season.
In 2024, the company extended its long-running partnership with Warner Bros, first signed in 2006 — but the latest agreement is a more modest, non-exclusive first-look deal, a step down from the nine-figure pact struck in 2019.
The shake-up is the latest blow to Los Angeles’ once-dominant film and TV industry, which critics warn is sliding into a “Detroit-style” decline.
Film and TV employment has plunged by about 30% since 2022, according to U.S. Labor Department data cited by The Wall Street Journal.
At a March congressional hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff warned Los Angeles County has lost 42,000 entertainment jobs in just two years.
“These are great jobs and we want to keep them here at home,” Schiff said. “It’s not rocket science how we do that. It’s largely drafted. It needs to be bipartisan. We are working to gather bipartisan support for this.”
Rising production costs have pushed studios to film elsewhere, with New York, New Jersey, Canada and Hungary offering tax incentives and cheaper production options.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year approved a $750 million tax credit program aimed at keeping productions in-state, but industry experts say it has failed to stem the exodus.
Schiff noted that even with the incentives, film activity in Los Angeles was still down 13.2% from July through September 2024 compared with the same period the year prior.
The Post has reached out to Bad Robot Productions for comment.
