For many years, Los Angeles has been the powerhouse behind California’s creative economy with its expansive movie studios, TV production facilities, architectural firms and fashion firms accounting for 15 percent of the state’s economy.

California’s creative economy took a couple of steps back throughout the pandemic, nevertheless it quickly recuperated by adopting latest technology. In 2021, this statewide sector directly generated nearly $507.4 billion in revenue and produced 7.6 percent of California’s jobs, in keeping with the most recent annual “Creative Economy” report presented Friday in downtown Los Angeles by the Otis College of Art and Design.

This was the sixteenth 12 months that Otis College’s “Creative Economy” report calculated what effect creativity has on the state. Newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was available to present the opening remarks in regards to the importance of the creative economy, of which she could be very familiar: Her son and daughter-in-law attended Otis College and now are toy designers.

“This city stirs the soul of the world with our movies, music, architecture and effective art,” she said. “And Otis is critical to that creative power. As creative people, you all know the ability of art and design.”

Following her remarks was a synopsis of the 161-page report covering five categories: entertainment, effective and performing arts, architecture, fashion, and artistic goods and products.

Most categories are growing, but the style industry, with 63.6 percent of the state’s fashion and apparel manufacturing jobs situated in Los Angeles, continues to struggle. Fashion employment within the state has shrunk 13 percent, from 72,135 jobs in 2018 to 62,671 in 2021.

Many roles disappeared in manufacturing, which accounted for greater than 60 percent of the state’s apparel employment. But gig jobs in fashion, which include graphic designers, fashion designers and stylists, rose barely, from 7,187 in 2018 to eight,240.

“I feel technology goes to open up plenty of latest opportunities [in fashion],” said Adam Fowler, the founding partner of CVL Economics, which produced the economic report. “What we will do is empower [fashion] entrepreneurs who’re moving into digital spaces.”

Moving into digital spaces includes creating 3D designs that could be quickly executed with the precise measurements and sent by computer to a manufacturer. It means more fashion shows held within the metaverse. Recently BCBGMaxAzria debuted a metaverse fashion show online with avatars as a substitute of models showing a recent eveningwear collaboration with stylist Maeve Reilly. In 2020, Balenciaga built a video game to display its collection, and everybody could play along.

“Gaming technology is opening up an entire latest world. In case you go to the film studios’ backlots, it’s not only props which can be mothballed back there. It’s fashion,” Fowler said. “Just like the Jedi costume I would love to have a replica of. Within the old days, we wouldn’t have the ability to digitize that and translate that over to different mediums. Now we will.”

Technology was the underlying theme to this 12 months’s creative economy report, and it’s being quickly adopted by the entertainment industry, the most important of the state’s creative sectors.

Entertainment, encompassing the huge film and gaming industries, employed 1.13 million people in California in 2021, compared with a little bit greater than 1 million in 2018. Greater than half those jobs are situated in Los Angeles County, where big studios including Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios and a number of TV production firms are situated. Entertainment contributed to 81.5 percent of the $507.4 billion the creative economy generated for the state’s revenue in 2021.

Additionally it is the industry adapting a number of technology programs to make movies, create video games and incorporate virtual reality. “The subsequent few years will present a sea change for the creative economy as latest tools for developing and distributing creative content proceed to proliferate at an accelerated rate,” the report said.

Video games have develop into a worthwhile U.S. export. In 2021, U.S. video game exports skyrocketed 54 percent over 2017. It isn’t any coincidence that Activision Blizzard, an enormous gaming company, is situated in Los Angeles. It’s the force behind the favored “Call of Duty” series of video games, and likewise is the goal of a takeover bid by Microsoft that’s facing scrutiny from global antitrust authorities.

Video game technology is making inroads far beyond the gaming community. It’s getting used on the opera, on virtual backlots and on fashion runways.

Pelle Sjoenell, the chief creative officer for Activision Blizzard, participated in a gaming panel following the economic report’s unveiling. For the last 12 months, he said, his company has been working with Otis College’s fashion design students to make use of “Call of Duty” and other game characters as their inspiration to create clothing designs, create avatars and have them walk down a virtual runway.

“Obviously there may be a juxtaposition between games and fashion,” he said. “To see the crossover and the blurring of lines is a possibility to reveal young diverse talent to a latest opportunity.”