UPDATE: This piece has been updated to include comment from the Art Directors Guild regarding some of the statistics cited in a memo sent to applicants of the Production Design Initiative.
The Art Directors Guild has suspended its Production Design Initiative for the year as jobs in the entertainment industry have been slow to return after last year’s writers and actors strikes.
In the memo, first published by IndieWire and available to read in full below, the ADG cited the “serious downturn in current employment opportunities for our membership” as the reason for suspending the program, which places applicants looking to get a foothold in production design work in jobs as assistants in films, TV shows, commercials, live events and theme parks, among others.