Workplace trends

Hollywood’s struggles are taking center stage

Hollywood’s entertainment industry has faced a perfect storm of challenges in recent years: market saturation, COVID-19 production shutdowns, and labor strikes. The impact is stark with a 5% drop in movie production in Q3 2024 compared to 2023, according to FilmLA, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes a 15% decline in Los Angeles film and sound recording jobs since May 2023. In response, LA officials have proposed more than doubling the state’s film tax incentive to $750 million annually, aiming to protect an industry that contributes $115 billion and 681,000 jobs to the regional economy. However, as states like Georgia and New Mexico aggressively court productions with uncapped incentives and major investments, Hollywood’s fight to maintain its crown as the entertainment capital faces an uphill battle.

US money is reshaping UK law

London’s law firm landscape saw unprecedented movement in 2024, with 546 partner hires surpassing the previous year’s record of 514, according to legal recruiter Edwards Gibson. This surge in senior lawyer recruitment is largely attributed to aggressive expansion by American law firms in the city, who are systematically drawing partners away from their UK counterparts. The UK’s elite law firms, including Linklaters, Freshfields, Allen & Overy Shearman, and Clifford Chance, have been hit particularly hard, losing a record 28 partners this year. US firms are strategically targeting London as a crucial hub for mergers and acquisitions and capital markets activity, viewing it as their gateway to European markets and the region’s growing private equity sector. With American competitors offering compensation packages that UK firms simply cannot match, there’s been a fundamental shift in London’s legal power dynamics, which is showing no signs of slowing.

The AI corner

The $100B question is: who owns AI’s creations?

Legal experts are advising investors to consider not just the technological advancements of AI innovations but also the rapidly evolving policies that govern these emerging technologies. The current AI ecosystem is fraught with uncertainties, with individual artists, Getty Images, and The New York Times among those challenging AI companies over their use of copyrighted materials for training models. If courts side with copyright holders, AI companies will face substantially increased costs that could erode profit margins and impact valuations. And beyond copyright laws is the question of intellectual property rights – can AI-created novels be copyrighted and AI discoveries be patented? The outcome of these legal challenges could fundamentally reshape the industry’s future and determine which companies emerge as leaders in the field.

AI is revolutionizing ancient text analysis

AI is poised to transform how we understand the old world, as the technology is now being used to decipher ancient texts. From classical Greek and Latin to China’s Oracle Bone Script, AI is starting to fill in missing or unreadable characters and decode lost languages where barely any traces survive. The results have unleashed a flood of new texts, providing scholars with more data than they’ve been able to access for centuries. According to scholars, their pattern-recognition capabilities will reshape the study of ancient texts from finding answers to fundamentally changing the types of questions being asked. In fact, a test of an AI model dubbed Ithaca recently restored gaps in ancient texts with 62% accuracy compared to human experts’ 25%, suggesting we may be on the cusp of unlocking vast troves of previously indecipherable historical knowledge.

Kicking off a strong 2025

2025 is here, bringing the perfect opportunity to set a clear vision and inspire your team to achieve collective goals. The challenge? Even with the right targets and a solid strategy, if your team isn’t working cohesively, even the best-laid plans can falter, and goals may go unmet.

A recent Atlassian study found that teams collectively lose a staggering 25 billion hours annually to poor collaboration, while Gallup reports that highly collaborative teams drive 21% higher profitability, underscoring the immense value of teamwork.

As you kick off 2025, the tone you set now will shape the year ahead, which is why establishing a culture of teamwork and shared purpose from day one is critical to unlocking your team’s full potential.

So, what steps can you take now to unite your team and drive strong performance in 2025?

Plan a meaningful kickoff

Build enthusiasm and team camaraderie for the year ahead by bringing everyone together for an engaging team kickoff. Start by outlining your key objectives and addressing how these initiatives will support larger business goals. Then, use this group time to outline how each team member will contribute to those objectives. Do your best to make this an open dialogue to discuss specific activities and projects the team should prioritize in the new year so they feel connected to the planning process.

Also, consider allocating specific parts of your meeting to smaller breakout sessions where team members have time to brainstorm potential collaborations and strategies to promote proactive, creative teamwork.

Promote a tone of appreciation

Kicking off the new year with recognition and gratitude sets the right precedent for your team. So use your kickoff meeting as a platform to give meaningful shoutouts and highlight the unique contributions of each team member. This not only motivates individuals but also fosters a culture of collaboration by encouraging others to leverage those strengths. Also, be sure to keep the positive momentum alive by creating a dedicated “shoutouts” channel where team members can regularly celebrate each other’s achievements and offer appreciation throughout the year. This can go a long way in building a more connected, engaged, and high-performing team.

Set milestones in advance

With everyone returning from the holidays and easing into the new year, now’s the time to get ahead – before things get super hectic. Start mapping out your project milestones in advance, as some of your high-priority initiatives may take several months to complete. Long-tail projects can often drag out, making them lose their excitement and momentum. So do your best to break down your larger goals into smaller, more manageable targets. This encourages your team to check off steps along the way, creating a continuous sense of accomplishment, which will drive continued engagement and energize them to keep going.

Establish team focus areas

Starting the new year with clear priorities is essential to keeping your team on track, especially when requests from other departments inevitably arise. 98% of individuals struggle with task prioritization, per a recent Reclaim report, indicating how important it is for you, as the leader, to offer clarity. Use your team kickoff to set clear priorities and then try to consistently reinforce them over the course of the year. Dedicate time to discuss specific activities tied to each priority, ensuring every team member understands how their tasks contribute to broader goals. This proactive approach keeps teams aligned and minimizes distractions.

Discuss growth plans

The start of a new year is the perfect opportunity to reaffirm your commitment to your team’s career development. So if you don’t already have formal check-ins scheduled, make it a priority to meet with each team member to discuss their individual growth plans and learning goals. According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, 7 in 10 employees feel that learning strengthens their connection to the workplace, and 80% believe it adds purpose to their work. So, take time to thoughtfully identify meaningful goals for each team member, focusing on skills-building and career advancement. Additionally, explore opportunities for peer learning by pairing employees together to share their knowledge and insights with one another.

Encourage cross-team connection

Launching 2025 with a strong sense of connection can energize your team and foster a collaborative spirit. According to a Gallup report, 68% of employees are less likely to feel burned out when they feel connected to their organization’s culture. So, use the start of the year to schedule a team outing, such as a dinner or fun group activity, to give your team members the chance to get to know each other on a more personal level. Also, think about creating opportunities for continued connection by setting up projects or peer groups for knowledge sharing and collaboration going forward. These intentional activities can foster deeper relationships, drive a greater sense of belonging, and even lead to new, innovative partnerships.

Water cooler chatter

This year, moviegoers stuck to the familiar. The domestic box office exceeded expectations in 2024, reaching $8.5 billion, but audiences overwhelmingly favored established franchises. Among the year’s 15 highest-grossing films, only the Broadway adaptation Wicked wasn’t a sequel or part of an existing series.

The 500 richest people in the world exceeded a record $10 trillion in wealth in 2024. Leading this surge were Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jensen Huang, who collectively saw their wealth skyrocket due to an exceptional rally in US technology stocks. Musk, in particular, benefited from his close ties to President-elect Trump, which experts say may have bolstered his companies Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI.

Question of the week

Last week’s answer: Iceland, with approximately 56% of the workforce on duty

This week’s question: How many employees report feeling more stressed returning to work after the holidays?

Just for laughs