Though Hollywood is known internationally as the home of American cinema, Burbank is the place that makes it all possible. Known as the media capital of the world, most of the nation's major studios and media outlets pay their commercial mortgage for Burbank property.

The combined payroll for all private sector businesses in Burbank totaled $6.7 billion dollars in 2005, $4.2 billion of which belonged to the media, entertainment, telecommunications, and internet industries. Anyone who's had internet marketing Toronto or television production experience would have no problem grabbing any one of the over 126,000 jobs in these sectors. To put things in perspective, the nearby city of Glendale California employed a total of just over 74,000 people in 2005.

As stated before, much of Hollywood's actual movie production takes place in Burbank. When an audience sees two actors chatting about wedding rental Hamilton over coffee, chances are it was filmed in Burbank. Dozens of major studios and companies, ranging from ABC and NBC to Warner Brothers and Walt Disney have their headquarters located in Burbank. In addition, many of the production related companies and unions are based in the city as well, making it a vital part of Californian cinema.

Burbank's economic story doesn't follow a storybook plot, however. The city has not been immune to 2009's economic turmoil, having suffered severe losses across the employment board. Budgetary cutbacks, intended to save $1.27 million in city spending, forced a cutback in on-duty firefighters by two. Any Hamilton Ontario lawyer could tell you that things aren't going to change anytime soon, with the budget for 2009-2010 expected to suffer a shortfall of 5%.

Of course, these economic troubles did hit the entertainment industry as well. As early as 2008, dozens of the major studios and networks began to cut jobs. In 2009, the losses continued to run like a well oiled strapping machine, with Disney cutting 400 jobs and ABC and NBC continuing to eliminate jobs because of a dwindling advertising market. By mid-2009, unemployment in Burbank rose to 9.2%, only .3% below the national average at the time. One positive during these tough times was the announcement that Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health organization, was moving over 1,000 administrative jobs from Glendale and Pasadena to a location just outside the Burbank Airport.

Despite its recent setbacks, the future of Burbank is anything but dire. With so many of the world's leading media and entertainment outlets so deeply rooted in the city, the economy is bound to recover in time. With recent state efforts to keep Hollywood productions in California, Burbank will continue to be the backbone of American cinema production, just as people will continue to enjoy their efforts in the theater and at home.