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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contact for 2011 Otis Report on the Creative Economy :
Sheri Mobley smobley@mobleymarketing.com / 323.668.0874, 213.509.9816

2011 Otis Report on the Creative Economy Released

Creative Jobs in L.A. County Projected to Rise by 4.3% in 2015, Employment of Digital Media Artists to Increase by 10%, Jobs in Industrial Design by 7%, Entertainment by 6%, Visual and Performing Arts by 4.5%, Otis College’s Annual Report States Creative Economy Generated $129 Billion in Sales/Receipts in L.A. and Orange Counties in 2010, Up From 2009 Revenues
 
LOS ANGELES — November 9, 2011 — According to the 2011 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region released today, total creative industry employment in Los Angeles County during 2015 will be 313,900 jobs, up by 4.3% or 13,100 jobs, from 2010.  This will be a much better performance than the previous five-year period, when total creative industry employment dropped by 46,600 jobs or 13.4%.  The projected increase in total creative industry jobs will be dampened by slow growth in architecture and interior design and the creative manufacturing sectors and no job growth in public arts education. Excluding manufacturing, employment in Los Angeles County's creative industries is projected to grow by 11,600 jobs, or 5.3%, by 2015.   These employment statistics were generated by examining Los Angeles County and Orange County art and design-oriented businesses found in the following industries: Entertainment, Toy, Digital Media, Fashion, Furniture and Home Furnishings, Architecture and Interior Design, Art Galleries, Product and Industrial Design, Communication Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, as well as Arts Education.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Otis College of Art and Design has commissioned a creative economy report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). In 2007, Otis launched the study to champion an under-recognized economic driver of the region by putting real numbers to creativity.  “It is gratifying to note that the Otis Report has become a useful and indeed much-used advocacy tool,” said Samuel Hoi, president of Otis College of Art and Design.  “Since its inception, the Otis Report has firmly established that the “creative economy” is powerful in Southern California.  In fact, it is one of the largest business sectors in Los Angeles with almost one in every eight jobs directly or indirectly related to art, design or entertainment.”

Revenues generated by the region’s creative industries are also included in the 2011 Otis Report. In Los Angeles County, total revenues reached an estimated $115 billion in 2010. The largest segments were entertainment at $48.4 billion, followed by fashion at $32.1 billion.

In Orange County revenues for some, but not all, of the creative industries totaled an estimated $13.8 billion. Fashion was the largest segment at $4.5 billion, followed by digital media at $3.4 billion. Total (direct and indirect) output of the creative industries was estimated to be $179.2 billion in Los Angeles County and $21.9 billion in Orange County in 2010.

These findings and more were unveiled today at an event produced by Otis College and titled Investing in Our Creative Capital, held in Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. The program began with a presentation of the highlights of the 2011 Otis Report by Dr. Nancy D. Sidhu, Vice President and Chief Economist in the Kyser Center for Economic Research at the LAEDC. “There is a linkage between the creative economy and another one of Southern California’s signature industries: international trade,” stated Sidhu.  “The import containers handled at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are often filled with goods designed in the region and produced in Asia.  Processing of these goods often takes place in local warehouses and distribution centers. In Los Angeles County, this activity has contributed to the creation of the tightest industrial real estate market in the U.S., with an average vacancy rate of just 3.2% at the end of 2010.”

Other findings in the report:
•    The creative economy is even more powerful considering its high multiplier effect on other aspects of our regional economy. For example, the allure and substance of art, design and entertainment in Los Angeles enhance tourism. Twenty percent of tourists to the region are cultural tourists, and are responsible for 30% of tourism revenues because they visit longer and spend more.

•    While there are bright spots in the creative economy, a few sectors continued to shed jobs during the recovery period. For example, industries such as fashion and furniture, which include a core manufacturing component, have been shedding low-skill jobs for a number of years due to the off-shoring of production activities. The recession may have exacerbated job losses in these industries, but it is doubtful that many of these manufacturing jobs will return once the economy returns to full employment.

•    As manufacturing jobs disappeared, sectors involving higher-skills and the exercise of originality generally grew. Examples are communication arts, digital media, product/industrial design and the visual and performing arts. During the recession even these sectors gave up jobs. Nevertheless, over the five-year period 2005 to 2010, with the exception of communication arts, all of these sectors experienced positive job growth in spite of the downturn. The communication arts job losses were concentrated in graphic design. This may be due to acceleration in the trend of firms contracting with outside graphic design services as opposed to keeping in-house staff.

Today’s presentation was followed by a discussion and Q&A with James Canales, president and CEO of the James Irvine Foundation, Russell Goldsmith, Chairman and CEO of City National Bank and the Chair of the Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy and Jobs, and Deborah Marrow, Director of The Getty Foundation, which advances the understanding and preservation of the visual arts locally and throughout the world.

This year’s event was sponsored by The James Irvine Foundation, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles, Mattel, The Getty Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Nike, Sony Pictures, City National Bank, California Community Foundation, Boeing, and Carol Anderson by Invitation (CAbi). .

Included in the 2011 Otis Report is a companion report, Opportunities in the Arts Are Larger Than They Appear: An Analysis of Product Designer Employment across California’s Industries by Otis Assistant Chair Kathleen Milnes, commissioned by Otis College of Art and Design to illustrate the reach of product designers across multiple industry segments.

The full report is available at http://www.otis.edu/econreport


About Otis: Founded in Los Angeles in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design prepares diverse students of art and design to enrich the world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision. The College offers an interdisciplinary education for 1200 full-time students, awarding BFA degrees in Advertising, Architecture/Landscape/Interiors, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Illustration, Graphic Design, Product Design, Painting, Photography, Sculpture/New Genres, and Toy Design; and MFA degrees in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Public Practice, and Writing. Continuing Education offers certificate programs as well as personal and professional development courses. Additional information is available at http://www.otis.edu.