Our Creative Industries Are in Crisis

What I’m learning about the ways many of us feel betrayed by large-scale creative companies from the response to my article about Meow Wolf's layoffs

Last Tuesday I wrote and published an article in response to Meow Wolf announcing it would lay off 165 people. It was a heartbroken attempt to put language around the ways I’ve seen Meow Wolf—and many other large-scale companies with creativity as part of their mission statement—fall victim to a model that continually chooses profit over people.

I did not expect that so many of you would resonate so deeply – at this moment, the article has 327,597 impressions, 517 comments, and 185 reshares. I’ve gotten messages from hundreds of you saying a version of the same thing: me too.

I want to try to wrap my arms around some of the themes that are emerging in these conversations as a way to start a larger, far-reaching dialogue among us all about what can be done to strike a better balance between the necessities of art and those of capitalism. Because the biggest takeaway for me is that, yes, we’re in a system that’s broken and disproportionately benefiting a few at the top, BUT we– humans who want to use our creativity to change the world– are mighty.

These issues are rampant in every creative industry.

I've heard from people working in gaming, fine art, film, theater, museums, music, creative technology, attractions, non-profit, and more. It seems that anytime that a company is born out of the intention of proliferating creative work, it makes an overt or innate promise to its employees to champion that creativity even as the company grows. And then when rapid growth happens, that promise is often broken. There’s a tipping point (usually at the point that VCs/investors enter the picture) where profit takes universal precedence.

A lot of us are struggling with the age-old question, “Can I make money from my creative output without selling my soul?” A whole lot of you think art and capitalism can’t exist together. And we feel alone in that questioning. Probably because there’s a narrative that says artists should be happy to make any money and art at the same time, and to raise a flag to say something isn’t working is to be ungrateful. I’m here to say, you’re not alone. And I firmly believe we can and must ask the questions and then work together to make change.

It’s all about pace of growth.

Something that seems to definitely NOT work is growing rapidly without planning for many different scenarios, being able to stay agile, and having a people strategy in place from day 1. Where we get in trouble is when companies get on the rocket of success, grow too rapidly, and then feel they have to stay on a totally unsustainable course of growth in order to show returns for investors. There can be a huge hiring push to bring on more people but without a solid strategy for talent management, which will quickly burn people out, make them feel like cogs in a machine, and lead to layoffs. (Earlier in my career, by the way, I worked for an amazing people management consulting firm called PeopleFirm, under the leadership of M. Tamra Chandler. A lot of what I’ve learned about the ways a company's success rests on the success of its people is thanks to that time).

As Erika Bolton so eloquently said in her comment on my article, “Employee-ownership models, profit sharing, equity, honor, acknowledged authorship, well-being and quality of life should be ingrained in business.” Amen.

We’ve lost hope in investors.

Again and again I heard: “It’s all over when VCs come in.”

I have to believe there are visionary investors who invest in artistic ventures not just for the proliferation of the art but also for the wellbeing of the artists. Those who believe in SOME redistribution of wealth? Are there models that can acknowledge the risk that investors are taking AND also imagine a more equitable path forward? Are there people who want to be part of massive system change, even if it means making slightly less money yourself? Maybe I'm being overly optimistic and naive here, but I want to talk to the people working on new models for creative investment. I know the pitfalls of non-profit, and I do believe a profit-based system has benefits. It just seems like we can do better.

Meeting load is a major reason why people are leaving creative jobs.

I heard this from a number of people in messages and comments: “I left because I never had time to do my job.” The amount of meetings “needed” for project work quickly overtake the day. Soon there’s no time to do the actual work. And even if you have an hour or two open in the day, turning on creative flow on demand is not always possible. Creative inspiration doesn’t reliably come on the lunch break.

In the earlier days of Meow Wolf, Wednesdays we designated as no meeting days, which helped give space to actually get creative work done solo, or have longer, more leisurely creative work sessions with others. And in the beginning days of Meow Wolf’s entertainment studio (Meow Wolf Entertainment, which was dissolved in 2019), we had open collaboration days once a month on Fridays to work on any creative project we wanted with others in the studio. It didn’t have to be a Meow Wolf project. The sole purpose was joy and creative inspiration.

I know it’s tempting to cut these kinds of initiatives because the ROI is unclear and they get in the way of meeting deadlines. I would argue that the cost of not giving creatives time and space to actually be creative will dramatically hurt the company in the long run. (To this point, we need to build a case showing the correlation between creative satisfaction and business success-- who can help?)

Our creative thinkers might be the secret to innovating business.

The brilliant Brian Solomon raised a question about why businesses aren't using their creative talent to help think creatively for business problems. What could Meow Wolf have learned or tried if the leadership went to the artists with the financial problems that they were trying to solve with the layoffs? What sort of innovation might have been uncovered? Instead of telling people to stay in their lanes, what if we had specific opportunities to get out of our lanes and apply diverse creative thinking to the problems at hand? That type of inclusion fosters a culture of full-company buy-in and collaboration toward the wellbeing and future of the business. I want to talk to the businesses that are willing to do THAT.

We need more stories and models of what works (and a playbook for ethically growing a creative company)

Ed Catmull’s book Creativity, Inc continues to be a gold standard in providing guidance on building a thriving creative organization. Unfortunately, I heard from some folks at Pixar who said that once Ed left, many things changed that no longer reflect the ethos Ed championed. So, maybe it’s time for a new playbook, focused on sustainable growth, unconventional strategies for working WITH creatives to build the business, and dreaming models for an aspirational future that benefits everyone in the creative pipeline.

As Diana Williams said in the comments, "I know that out of this <waves arms around at the currently burning carcass of the entertainment industry writ large> there will be people starting companies that will be thinking and acting in new ways that are a respectful blend of both creative and commerce."

I love this prompt from Thomas Weitz: “It makes me wonder if we start by writing a story about the places we've loved.” Let's do it.

Look for a follow up soon where we can begin to dream a different future together.