Pictured: Creative California Communities grantee Brava! for Women in the Arts.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Otis College released its findings today for the 2018 Otis Report on the Creative Economy at the Forum at the College’s Elaine and Bram Goldsmith Campus in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Joining to offer remarks on the Otis Report was Bruce Ferguson, president of Otis College of Art and Design, who welcomed the live and online audience before remarks were given by Somjita Mitra, Director of the Institute for Applied Economics at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and principal author of the report, and Shawn Johnson, Vice President of Innovation and Experience Design for NBCUniversal. Johnson is an Otis College alumnus.
Since 2007, Otis College of Art and Design has commissioned the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) to generate the Otis Report on the Creative Economy, first as a report on the Los Angeles Region and, with support from the California Arts Council, later expanded to include a statewide analysis. The reports are invaluable tools to assess the tremendous economic impact and influence of the area’s creative sector on the economy. This year the California and Los Angeles editions have been combined into one comprehensive report.
Significant findings in the 2018 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of California include:
- Creative economy output totaled $407.1 billion (direct, indirect, and induced).
- The creative economy generated 1.6 million jobs (direct, indirect, and induced), and those wage and salary workers earned $141.5 billion in total labor income.
- With 789,900 direct jobs in the creative economy, California surpasses New York State which has 477,300 jobs followed by Texas at 230,500.
- With 789,900 direct jobs in the creative economy, California surpasses its pre-recession peak of 767,000 in 2007.
- The Los Angeles Region has a higher proportion of creative economic workers than the New York metro area, with 8.8 percent of total workers, above New York’s percentage of creative workers at 6.3 percent.
- Property taxes, state and local personal income taxes, and sales taxes directly and indirectly generated by the creative industries totaled $16.4 billion across all of California.
- The largest direct job counts in California’s creative sector were in entertainment (192,200), publishing and printing (160,200), and fashion (120,700). Together, these three industries accounted for 59.4 percent of direct creative industries employment in California.]
- Attendance in arts courses continues to rise through the K-12 students, underlining the importance of arts education to facilitate creativity and move students towards high-earning creative industries.
The 2018 Otis Report features an addendum with commentaries from Mark Slavkin, Director of Education at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Angie Kim, President and CEO of the Center for Cultural Innovation, Tacy Trowbridge, Global Lead, Education Programs at Adobe, and Steve McAdam, Chair of Product Design at Otis College of Art and Design.
The 2018 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region and California is available for download online through a newly designed website that allows greater exploration into the report findings at http://www.otis.edu/otisreport.
Funding for the 2018 Otis Report on the Creative Economy was provided by California Arts Council, City National Bank, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Marsh, Mattel and Moss Adams. The California Arts Council generously underwrote the Otis Report addendum.
Media partners include Arts for Orange County and Californians for the Arts.
About the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
The LAEDC provides collaborative economic development leadership to promote a globally competitive, prosperous and growing L.A. County economy to improve the health and wellbeing of our residents and communities and enable those residents to meet their basic human need for a job. We achieve this through objective economic research and analysis, strategic assistance to government and business, and targeted public policy. Our efforts are guided and supported by the expertise and counsel of our business, government and education members and partners.
About the Otis College of Art and Design
Established in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of visual and applied arts, media, and design. Core programs in liberal arts, business practices, and community-driven projects support the College’s mission to prepare diverse students to enrich the world through their creativity, skill, and vision. Throughout the 2018/2019 academic year, the College celebrates its centennial year with the 100 Percent initiative, a wide-ranging initiative spotlighting the contributions of Otis alumni and current students with a series of commissioned projects, talks, exhibitions and events at the campus and throughout Los Angeles.
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The mission of the California Arts Council, a state agency, is to advance California through the arts and creativity. The Council is committed to building public will and resources for the arts; fostering accessible arts initiatives that reflect contributions from all of California’s diverse populations; serving as a thought leader and champion for the arts; and providing effective and relevant programs and services.
Members of the California Arts Council include: Chair Nashormeh Lindo, Vice Chair Larry Baza, Phoebe Beasley, Christopher Coppola, Juan Devis, Kathleen Gallegos, Jaime Galli, Donn K. Harris, Louise McGuinness, Steven Oliver, and Rosalind Wyman. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.
