After two years of massive layoffs and the promise of more consolidation to come in media and entertainment in 2025, the mood is bleak among executives of a certain age.
The pink-slip bloodbath has hit hard on Gen X veterans in the middle-management ranks of networks, studios, talent agencies and PR firms. And it’s come at a time when the entire industry
is wrestling with the impact of systemic change — goodbye, cable; hello, streaming — and the most disruptive technology since the advent of talking pictures: generative AI.
Amid all the tumult, however, there is enormous opportunity for professional growth for those with experience, connections and savvy in how to apply those skills in new arenas.
“People are very unnerved about whether there can be another chapter. People get very emotionally locked up when they feel vulnerable. And yet if you don’t feel vulnerable when you’re growing up in the business, you wouldn’t be able to achieve what you’ve achieved,” says Rich Ross, a former top executive at Disney, Discovery and Nickelodeon.
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Moreover, those who have highly specialized skills — research, analytics, marketing, finance — can find themselves in demand as consultants and contract workers from the same companies that have gutted their teams through layoffs.
“There’s so much need because there’s been so much disruption,” says Liz Huszarik, a 30-year
veteran of Warner Bros. who recently launched the research shingle Maverix Insights & Strategies with two fellow WB alums. “They’ve all cut their teams, but they still have the same workload. They can bring in our company at a fraction of the cost.”
For many who reached the highest rungs of Hollywood’s biggest companies, the most humbling thing to accept is the loss of the perks that come with working for a network or studio.
Ross was pushed out of his role as Discovery’s top programming executive in 2018, in a restructuring that followed Discovery’s acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive. He remembers feeling conspicuous the first few times he stood in line to get into a screening in Los Angeles — after years of being a VIP ushered in to a reserved front-row seat. Experiencing how the other half lives was eye-opening and informative.
“At first, it’s jarring,” Ross says. “But it also reminds me why I do what I do. Because you have an opportunity to be among people and have a conversation about ‘What have you seen lately?’ and ‘What did you think of it?’”
Huszarik, who ended her tenure at Warner Bros. as executive VP overseeing research for the studio, emphasizes that launching a business doesn’t happen overnight. It is a commitment that takes mental and financial preparation. And the blow of losing your job in a mass layoff takes an emotional toll.
“It took the wind out of my sails when I was shown the door,” Huszarik says. “I loved everything about working for Warner Bros. and all the people I worked with.”
She considered seeking another research post. “But as I thought about it I was like, ‘Screw it, I’m not going back to corporate. I’m going to bet on me.’ If I’m going to worry about making budget, I’m going to worry about it for me,” she says. Huszarik also founded the Former Women of Warner networking group that meets quarterly.
Ross now splits his time between homes in Los Angeles and Milan with his husband, former Disney marketing executive Adam Sanderson. The decision to put down roots in Milan has opened up doors for Ross, as a producer and as a mentor to executives and creatives on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I’m like the Dora the Explorer of this time of life,” Ross says.
The biggest factor that helps executives of a certain age — particularly the Gen Xers rounding the corner on their mid-50s and early 60s — is a willingness to embrace significant lifestyle changes.
“I’ve seen a lot of people who took the approach of sitting there waiting for something to happen. If you do that, there will not be anything,” Ross counsels. “So let’s talk about what options you have, whether it’s geographically moving to a new place or trying something new from a creative standpoint. Don’t think at 60 or 63 you are finished — unless you like to play golf every day.”