LOS ANGELES — The spray guns aren't firing as often at Jimmy Jimmy Coco's Mobile Tanning Pros, whose $350 faux tinting techniques have bronzed celebrities including Eva Longoria Parker and Victoria Beckham.

"The tans have really slowed down," said proprietor Jimmy Snyder. "And those who owe money are not in a hurry to pay it."

Snyder, who makes house calls throughout the Los Angeles area in a black double-cab Toyota pickup, is feeling more than the pinch of the yearlong U.S. recession. Hollywood is in a doldrums, still hurting from a 100-day strike by film and television writers that ended 10 months ago and worrying that the Screen Actors Guild will stage a walkout.

The action by the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America cost the area economy $2 billion and more than 30,000 jobs, many of which never came back, said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. A strike by SAG, which has 120,000 members, would be more damaging, Kyser said, and people are already cutting back on spending in anticipation.

Business in L.A. "is on a life-support system at the present," actor Terrence Howard, who opposes a work stoppage, said after presenting Golden Globe nominations at the Beverly Hilton on Dec. 11. "The economy is too bad" to weather another strike.

Studios and media companies are cutting staff. Viacom Inc., owner of Paramount Pictures, said this month it would eliminate 850 jobs. Universal Pictures and CBS Corp.'s entertainment division also let people go. Local movie production was down 38 percent in the third quarter, according to FilmLA Inc., a nonprofit that coordinates location permits.

The entertainment industry accounts for 200,000 jobs in the county, about 5 percent of the 4.1 million total, according to Kyser. Protecting jobs is one argument of foes of an action by the actors union, which is demanding that all Internet productions be covered in its new contract with Walt Disney Co., Metro Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and other companies.

"We do not believe in good conscience that now is the time to be putting people out of work," actors including Tom Hanks and George Clooney said in a Dec. 15 statement. Actors supporting a walkout include Ed Harris and Martin Sheen.

SAG leaders are scheduled to meet Jan. 12-13 to discuss a strike along with internal opposition to it. Balloting will take place after the meeting, giving guild leaders more time to garner support.

SAG leaders are scheduled to mail strike authorization ballots to members on Friday and collect them by Jan. 23. A favorable vote by 75 percent of those casting ballots would empower the board to declare a work stoppage.

While an outcome is impossible to predict, Angelenos are preparing for the worst.

"Just the threat of a strike gives you pretty much a slowdown," said Dan Needham, owner of Green Set Inc. in Los Angeles. The supplier of holiday decorations and stage props laid off five of its 65 employees and asked five more to take unpaid vacation until January.

"People just aren't spending the money for their parties," said Needham, who has worked with studios for 18 years. "I've been through some tough times, but nothing to this scale."

Vanity Fair is scaling back its Oscar-night party on Feb. 22 in a concession to the economy, editor Graydon Carter said on Nov. 25. Aids Project Los Angeles cut the guest list for its fundraising Oscar bash to 350 from last year's 650 and will serve a buffet of "comfort food," executive director Craig Thompson said. With the pared-back guest list, the agency expects to raise about two-thirds of the $500,000 it took in last year, Thompson said.

"To have a lavish party and ask those people to really pony up when their colleagues are being laid off just felt wrong," Thompson said.

Snyder said Jimmy Jimmy Coco's business with clients like actress Denise Richards and model Marisa Miller hadn't been hurt. On the other hand, the number of inquiries he receives from prospective new clients has plummeted — to two in the past couple of months, from as many as 10 a week a year ago.

At Point de Vue salon in West Hollywood, where stylists have treated the tresses of Jessica Alba and Eva Mendes, "even celebrities who don't have any real problems with their incomes feel they should be careful," said co-owner Xavier Guerin.

"Usually this time of year the stations are crawling with presents and chocolate and champagne," Guerin said. "Now there's maybe one bottle of wine and a card. People aren't happy."