Sunset Studios owner eyes leaner leadership and brighter AI-fueled real estate future as Hollywood’s soundstage slowdown continues.

Hudson Pacific, one of Hollywood’s biggest soundstage landlords and the company behind the iconic Sunset Studios brand, is making moves to streamline amid the ongoing production slump—starting at the top.

In a strategic belt-tightening move, Hudson Pacific announced on Monday that two board members—Ebs Burnough and Christy Haubegger—are stepping down, reducing the board from 10 members to eight. The decision comes as the real estate and studio giant faces a colder content climate, with occupancy rates sliding industry-wide and studios still cautious after last year’s dual strikes and pandemic-era overproduction.

“This more efficient board structure maintains the experience needed to guide our management team while contributing to our ongoing focus on corporate costs,” said Hudson Pacific CEO Victor Coleman in a statement. He added that the company is bullish on California’s recently expanded $750 million film and TV tax credit program and the accelerating investments in AI, which have created unexpected tailwinds for the company’s office portfolio.

Hudson Pacific owns more than 60 stages across the Sunset Studios banner, including Sunset Bronson—home to Netflix—and is a major player in production services thanks to its acquisitions of Quixote and Star Waggons. But even with premium real estate and marquee clients, Hudson isn’t immune to the downturn. According to FilmLA, Los Angeles stage occupancy dropped from 90 percent in 2022 to just 63 percent in 2024. Hudson fared slightly better, reporting a 73.8 percent lease rate as of March—still down year-over-year.

Burnough, known for his work with the Sundance Institute and as a former senior adviser to Michelle Obama, and Haubegger, the trailblazing exec who served as WarnerMedia’s Chief Inclusion Officer and spent years as an agent at CAA, depart as the company shifts its focus toward operational efficiency and long-term resilience.

The pivot comes at a time when “Peak TV” feels more like “Plateau TV.” With streaming services tightening budgets, episodic television—long the bread and butter of L.A. production—has taken a hit. Coleman pointed to an uptick in feature film activity statewide but noted episodic remains “critical to Los Angeles production.”

Adding pressure, S&P Global Ratings in May downgraded its business risk assessment on Hudson Pacific from “fair” to “weak,” citing prolonged headwinds in both the studio and office markets. “Access to capital will remain constrained,” the agency warned, though it acknowledged that production activity is likely to bounce back over the next couple of years.

Still, Coleman remains optimistic. “With our high-quality portfolio in markets benefiting from AI investment—and now California’s enhanced incentives—I’m excited about what the future holds for Hudson Pacific.”

Time will tell whether Sunset Studios can stay golden. But if the past year has proven anything, it’s that even Hollywood’s most storied players aren’t immune to industry disruption—and reinvention.