Transcript of Hollywood gears up for Oscars after devastating L.A. wildfires

Hollywood is rolling out the red carpet for its biggest night of the year, as Los Angeles gears up for the 97th Academy Awards.

But this year, Oscar's Weekend feels different, with many in the entertainment business still reeling from the devastating wildfires that ravaged swaths of LA.

Everything is gone.

We've just been-Bj and Adrian McDonald lost their home in Malibu, which had been in B. J. 'S family for generations.

People look at the Palisades and they just think, Oh, there's these rich millionaires, and just these actors. There's a lot of people that have generational homes that live here, and we are all union workers. We work paycheck to paycheck.

The couple have worked behind the scenes in film for years, and they have mixed feelings about this weekend.

It's tomorrow's the Oscars. How are you guys feeling about that?

We haven't even had a chance to digest it.

Do you think you're even going to watch the Oscars?

Probably not.

The Academy faces a delicate task, celebrating the glitz and glamor of Hollywood while being sensitive to the overwhelming loss.

It did say shortly after the fires that it planned to honor frontline workers and recognize those impacted. Last month, the Grammys pulled off a similar balancing act.

Thank you for supporting all of us and recognizing the heroes that are standing behind me and the she-ros.

But the fires are only the latest in a string of setbacks to hit film industry workers.

How would you say the industry is doing right now?

We're struggling. We had COVID, then we had the strikes. Now we have the devastation of the fires.

The thing that I think a lot of people understand is that if we don't work and we don't get a certain amount of hours, we don't have health insurance.

Film production in Los Angeles is on the decline. According to Film LA, which tracks permitting in the city, the number of shoot days has plummeted 30% compared to the average of the last five years, excluding 2020.

What happened here in California is that everything just went because of tax incentives, and things got cheaper to make in different places.

Just the garage.

This weekend, B. J, Adrian, and so many others affected by the fires can think only about the uncertainty of their own futures.

We're all struggling. Our heart aches not only for ourselves, but for everybody. We just want everyone to be okay. We want our community back.

David Noriega, NBC News, Malibu.

Thanks for watching. Stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.