New Trend...Network Department Outsourcing

 

            So I was looking through my RSS feeder and came across an interesting article from Deadline.com. According to the article, which was written on October 14, 2011, HBO is shutting down its casting department. HBO’s decision to do this is just another example of TV and Cable cutting costs by downsizing many in-house departments to outright liquidating them. HBO uses outside casting directors in all of its projects and its in-house casting executives only playing a supplemental role so their top brass decided to close it down. The fact that their movie and miniseries output is decreasing is also a major cause.

            The article also talks about how senior casting executives are losing their jobs as well as a part of this cost-cutting trend. Rick Jacobs left Lifetime 2 years ago as party of the company-wide layoffs. Marc Hirschfeld from NBC was let go in their 2008 shakeup of executives. Walt Disney released Marcia Ross back in February and Beth Klein was shown the doors at Showtime after having working there for over 23 years. This is not the complete list of executives but it goes to show you that anybody is expendable in today’s economy.

            Further along the article, the author, Nellie Andreeva, interviews an industry insider who tells her that often these now vacant positions are filled by junior execs at a fraction of the cost or they eliminate the position all together. The insider goes on to say that hiring a casting consultant as a freelance has been catching on within the industry. Starz has never had a casting department and instead has a non-exclusive deal with Hirschfeld who serves as their casting consultant.

            Using freelance consultants sounds like a more optimal way in going about keeping your overhead down. From reading the article, it would only make sense for HBO to use a consultant for future casting needs. If they aren’t producing as many miniseries or movies, then the need for a whole department seems ridiculous. If HBO’s plan were just to continue and improve upon their current line-up of shows, then they would just need someone to help them when a new character is introduced into the series.

            To me, it seems like a logical step for HBO to take. Why spend the money and resources on a department that you can easily have filled by an outside source? However, keeping with this mindset could be detrimental to the company. Who’s to say that they won’t just start looking for freelancers to fill the majority of the other departments? Sound, lighting, special effects, writing, marketing and others could be cast (no pun intended) aside to save money. By doing this, yes the network would save some money, but then you run into communication problems and then the quality of the product begins to suffer. It’s a perilous approach to saving money but if balanced properly, could really help the company stay afloat and possibly, in the future, bring back those lost departments.