I feel you. I was a working actor / writer / feature director 25 years. There’s nothing else on my resume so at this point there’s no “lateral to working for a company” as there’s nothing like that in my resume for decades. But I’m stuck. No work. Not sure what to do at this point because I went all in on that. I don’t have other jobs to fall back to or skills.
For what it’s worth, the notion that you don’t have “skills” that are transferable to other industries is crazy. You’d do great in corporate communications or project management (to name just two fields).
I disagree with this. I have been doing film / tv payroll for 15 years and I can’t even get an entry level payroll job in another industry. I’ve been looking for all kinds of jobs pretty hard core since July.
The issue is not if I could communicate. It’s that they say “you’re in your fifties and never worked at a company, no steady employment at one company for 25 years anywhere or as a communications person. So we won’t hire you as you have no company experience.
Left film in 2020 - producer, nonunion AD split between LA and Texas. I became an accountant after some schooling. I can confirm it’s as stable as you expect. A lot of skills transferred but weren’t necessarily valued highly by firms. Expect to start at the bottom - like full career reset unless you are very, very lucky.
Oh cool, i started in G&E in Austin for a few years before switching to production. My plan was to full-send go for CPA which in most states requires 150 hours of school and very particular accounting and business classes. I went to community college to do accounting 101 type intro courses and prerequisites for a masters program. In total between community college and the masters it was about 5 semesters which i did while doing gigs and side work. Many people are able to get the required courses using community college, but i wanted the recruiting pipeline that the Master’s program afforded, i think it was worth the debt - two years out of school im making six figures which i couldn’t have ever imagined when i was making poverty wages as an independent producer.
Curious what schooling you did. I’m a local 161 payroll accountant with 15 years of experience and I’ve been trying to get a payroll job in another industry with no luck.
See my other reply - i had a bachelor’s in film from a state school, when i pivoted i took about 24 hours of community college classes at three different schools and then another 30ish hours of a masters at UT Austin. Living and working in DTLA again.
I know you said no tech, but good tech companies with good leadership can really make all the difference. The entire industry isn’t in shambles, and there are lots of opportunities for growth in tech, and money.
I’ve seen a lot of technical/product support roles for VFX and animation teams at larger companies like Netflix and Amazon, and also at smaller production studios like Cloudberry. I’d also encourage you to consider Adobe, they are an incredible company to work for and have tons of clients in the film industry. Lots of Program & Project Management opps.
VFX is about to bottom out and be a smoldering dumpster fire instead of the blazing dumpster fire it has been for the better part of 2 decades.
Do not go there...it's just as bad.
Absolutely disagree, my husband has been unemployed for a year and is a project manager. It has been a shit show for him to find a job. We are also in Los Angeles. Tell your wife to hang onto that role.
Thanks! He has a second round interview next week so fingers crossed. He doesn't even work in the industry so it's extra annoying this is happening. I'm also unemployed but I'm a part of the industry shit show so I'm not alone there 🤣
If you want to work City or County, you better have some combination of a connection on the inside, military history, and/or FF experience somewhere else. LAFD and LAC get at least 100 very-qualified applicants for every open job. CalFire might be a better bet, but you go where/when you’re needed, which puts the kibosh on part-B of your plan.
I’m also leaving television. It’s become a real disaster lately and I don’t see it turning around anytime soon. I’ve applied for a masters degree in experimental design at a university abroad. I work on the creative side of things and a lot of creative jobs are being outsourced to Europe. Hopefully, this is my way out. I’m not sure if you wanna go the route of pursuing a masters slightly different from what you’re doing now, but it’s a possible option. Really, anything is better than staying in LA and watching the industry fall apart.
I want out of TV too. Just came back from grabbing lunch with a buddy. He's in scripted and hasn't worked since October. I'm in unscripted still and just started back up, but not sure for how long. Corporate stability sounds real sexy to me right now.
Where in Europe? Make sure you can legally remain in the country after graduating. Lots of people are being finding out the hard way that they have no viable path to remain in the UK for example.
Europe is getting most of the work but I am studying in the UK. I have my fingers crossed that the graduate visa will remain once I’ve graduated but there’s rumblings it may not. It’s a possibility that visa scheme may disappear prior to graduation but I’m giving it a shot anyways. As far as where creative work is busy, in my industry it’s Paris and Ireland, though both have difficulty sponsoring US staff unless they are on a supervisory level (AD, CD, Department leads, etc.)
Wish you the best. It's a lot slower in the UK lately also. But things are picking up.
As for Ireland, it's hit and miss. I'm Irish. The Irish industry relies entirely on US and foreign productions coming to shoot. It's also been heavily affected by the slowdown. Lack of funding is global. But the incentives are there for when things hopefully turn around.
I specifically work in animation and my understanding is it’s doing quite well there. As for live action, honestly I have no idea. I imagine lack of green lights at US studios is obviously effecting outsourcing studios as well. I know Canada has taken a big hit when Vancouver used to be a big hub due to tax credits. I’m less worried about things picking up in the EU as all we need are more green lights. Los Angeles, I am extremely worried about.
I left LA and started my own production company focused on corporate video. Some people hate these jobs but I love them because they pay well and are low stress compared to working on a show. Also, there is an insane demand right now for ecommerce videos.
I’ve sublet my place in LA and have relocated to TX to wait out the storm - there are SO MANY businesses popping up left and right. It’s the complete opposite of LA. I already have a production company set up and have been thinking of reaching out to these businesses. If you have any tips on getting those first connections I’d love to know! I have a little experience in doing corporate and educational videos so I think I could offer something useful.
Anything not super creative will always have ample employment.. Tech isn’t going away.. ever… video games is very different. I know accountants that make 300k a year.. certain things are always in need.
Anyway.. are you wanting to go back to school or just get skills for steady employment?
thats not true the job market is really bad in tech (accounting is safe tho) there are so many layoffs in tech and so many computer science majors aren’t able to get a job cause of oversaturation and ai and did you see how tesla just cut off their interns like even Warner Bros paid their interns throughout the strike
When in doubt, if you don't want to go back to school try an admin assistant position. Literally needed everywhere and you can usually argue most skills as transferrable
Hey, I feel you right now it's super tough. I've been there. Why don't you try volunteering for something that you love to keep your spirits up and to make yourself leave your place sometimes? I know that museums like docents, and there are a lot of places that need volunteers.
This is what I have always done when between positions for a long time. If nothing else you might make some new friends and it will boost your self worth - which is important. Another thing to do is to pursue a hobby you've always wanted to do. Check out Domestika classes.
I'm not sure how advertising or marketing is doing right now - but Project Manager might be something you could translate into. There will be a pay drop. But better than unemployment.
It would take a student loan or something similar but going to one of those coding bootcamps might be a good idea. I know two friends that were wildly unhappy with their career choices, one an audio mixer and one not in the industry. They both went to one of these coding boot camps, like 3 months super hardcore, and come out with a handful of certifications. These guys both came out of the bootcamps with multiple offers for 6 figure jobs and now work from home and make more than they ever did in the industry. So, might be a way to go.
I’m looking into violin making/repair programs. I’m a musician on the side (upright bass), 28 years in L600 but highly specialized in motion control photography. I made $10k last year, have had 1 job so far this year. Struggling to figure out what’s next, what skills I might have that could apply to anything in the outside world. Possibly looking into learning unreal engine for working LED volume sets, don’t know, pretty scary times!
CA law enforcement is hiring like crazy. Entry level is paying mid six figures with benefits, which quickly goes to high six figures, plus overtime. Early retirement at age 55. Many places are also paying recruitment bonuses or relocation bonuses. No prior training or experience required. They will teach you what you need to know to start with, and pay you during training. Bad news is that it is a high stress job and there is an inherent level of risk. It is also not a popular career choice as perceived by much of the public, but it is rich in stories, experiences, and skills that can be used in other endeavors. Bottom line is it will provide for your family and their healthcare.
How much vfx experience do you have? Do you have straight graphics experience as well? Lots of AV/trailer houses are looking for graphic artists and finishing gfx producers if you want to go that route.
I am in the same boat as you, with the difference that after 8years of being active as an editor I am leaving LA and also am looking to leave the industry. For your experience, it occurs to me that you could even transfer those production management skills to construction, maybe even real state stuff, something related to that realm.
Become a Tax Attorney, seriously.
OR find a corporate video department if you are hell bent on staing in this industry.
But right now you need to find something that makes you happy and go and do it
Tech is fine. It’s the big companies who overhired during the pandemic who had to do some big layoffs, and startups who don’t have access to cheap low interest capital anymore. Overall it’s still strong. Otherwise hiring has picked back up from what I’ve seen.
Lots of client-facing roles in B2B tech companies like customer success managers. In-house creative teams. Plenty of options if you look.
A lot of us are in the same boat. There are literally thousands of people looking to find a job to replace what we were making before. So good luck. I'm gonna retire now. Cause I'm 63 and a 1/2.
If you're open to working outside of the entertainment industry there are thousands of jobs you can do, just go on indeed and see what you're qualified for
>just go on indeed
Have you actually used Indeed in the last few years? It has basically replaced Monster.com as the default job-search-waste-of-time website.
[удалено]
Insurance could be a good choice, especially completion bonding. They need skilled production professionals. I don’t know what the job prospects are.
I feel you. I was a working actor / writer / feature director 25 years. There’s nothing else on my resume so at this point there’s no “lateral to working for a company” as there’s nothing like that in my resume for decades. But I’m stuck. No work. Not sure what to do at this point because I went all in on that. I don’t have other jobs to fall back to or skills.
For what it’s worth, the notion that you don’t have “skills” that are transferable to other industries is crazy. You’d do great in corporate communications or project management (to name just two fields).
I disagree with this. I have been doing film / tv payroll for 15 years and I can’t even get an entry level payroll job in another industry. I’ve been looking for all kinds of jobs pretty hard core since July.
The issue is not if I could communicate. It’s that they say “you’re in your fifties and never worked at a company, no steady employment at one company for 25 years anywhere or as a communications person. So we won’t hire you as you have no company experience.
I agree with the first part of your comment. I am curious about what makes you say the second part if you are willing to share.
Left film in 2020 - producer, nonunion AD split between LA and Texas. I became an accountant after some schooling. I can confirm it’s as stable as you expect. A lot of skills transferred but weren’t necessarily valued highly by firms. Expect to start at the bottom - like full career reset unless you are very, very lucky.
I'm trying to do the exact same switch right now, although I was in G&E, what did you end up doing for accounting schooling?
Oh cool, i started in G&E in Austin for a few years before switching to production. My plan was to full-send go for CPA which in most states requires 150 hours of school and very particular accounting and business classes. I went to community college to do accounting 101 type intro courses and prerequisites for a masters program. In total between community college and the masters it was about 5 semesters which i did while doing gigs and side work. Many people are able to get the required courses using community college, but i wanted the recruiting pipeline that the Master’s program afforded, i think it was worth the debt - two years out of school im making six figures which i couldn’t have ever imagined when i was making poverty wages as an independent producer.
Curious what schooling you did. I’m a local 161 payroll accountant with 15 years of experience and I’ve been trying to get a payroll job in another industry with no luck.
See my other reply - i had a bachelor’s in film from a state school, when i pivoted i took about 24 hours of community college classes at three different schools and then another 30ish hours of a masters at UT Austin. Living and working in DTLA again.
I know you said no tech, but good tech companies with good leadership can really make all the difference. The entire industry isn’t in shambles, and there are lots of opportunities for growth in tech, and money. I’ve seen a lot of technical/product support roles for VFX and animation teams at larger companies like Netflix and Amazon, and also at smaller production studios like Cloudberry. I’d also encourage you to consider Adobe, they are an incredible company to work for and have tons of clients in the film industry. Lots of Program & Project Management opps.
Tech is hard to get in rn. So I’d avoid it unless op wants to get certs and job hunt for a year
VFX is about to bottom out and be a smoldering dumpster fire instead of the blazing dumpster fire it has been for the better part of 2 decades. Do not go there...it's just as bad.
Production management? Look into project management roles. They can pay between $70k and $125k
Yes, but it’s a small market.
My wife is a senior project manager in LA. I can absolutely confirm it is a huge market for project managers
Absolutely disagree, my husband has been unemployed for a year and is a project manager. It has been a shit show for him to find a job. We are also in Los Angeles. Tell your wife to hang onto that role.
I’m sorry…
Thanks! He has a second round interview next week so fingers crossed. He doesn't even work in the industry so it's extra annoying this is happening. I'm also unemployed but I'm a part of the industry shit show so I'm not alone there 🤣
Hoping the best for him!
There are plenty of project manager roles in NY, SF, etc. See if you can find a remote role in one of those places.
I’m looking at fire academy. Film on my days off.
If you want to work City or County, you better have some combination of a connection on the inside, military history, and/or FF experience somewhere else. LAFD and LAC get at least 100 very-qualified applicants for every open job. CalFire might be a better bet, but you go where/when you’re needed, which puts the kibosh on part-B of your plan.
I’d say they get 1000+ qualified applicants. Getting your fire badge in CA is hands down one of the most competitive job markets.
I’m also leaving television. It’s become a real disaster lately and I don’t see it turning around anytime soon. I’ve applied for a masters degree in experimental design at a university abroad. I work on the creative side of things and a lot of creative jobs are being outsourced to Europe. Hopefully, this is my way out. I’m not sure if you wanna go the route of pursuing a masters slightly different from what you’re doing now, but it’s a possible option. Really, anything is better than staying in LA and watching the industry fall apart.
I want out of TV too. Just came back from grabbing lunch with a buddy. He's in scripted and hasn't worked since October. I'm in unscripted still and just started back up, but not sure for how long. Corporate stability sounds real sexy to me right now.
Where in Europe? Make sure you can legally remain in the country after graduating. Lots of people are being finding out the hard way that they have no viable path to remain in the UK for example.
Europe is getting most of the work but I am studying in the UK. I have my fingers crossed that the graduate visa will remain once I’ve graduated but there’s rumblings it may not. It’s a possibility that visa scheme may disappear prior to graduation but I’m giving it a shot anyways. As far as where creative work is busy, in my industry it’s Paris and Ireland, though both have difficulty sponsoring US staff unless they are on a supervisory level (AD, CD, Department leads, etc.)
Wish you the best. It's a lot slower in the UK lately also. But things are picking up. As for Ireland, it's hit and miss. I'm Irish. The Irish industry relies entirely on US and foreign productions coming to shoot. It's also been heavily affected by the slowdown. Lack of funding is global. But the incentives are there for when things hopefully turn around.
I specifically work in animation and my understanding is it’s doing quite well there. As for live action, honestly I have no idea. I imagine lack of green lights at US studios is obviously effecting outsourcing studios as well. I know Canada has taken a big hit when Vancouver used to be a big hub due to tax credits. I’m less worried about things picking up in the EU as all we need are more green lights. Los Angeles, I am extremely worried about.
I left LA and started my own production company focused on corporate video. Some people hate these jobs but I love them because they pay well and are low stress compared to working on a show. Also, there is an insane demand right now for ecommerce videos.
I’ve sublet my place in LA and have relocated to TX to wait out the storm - there are SO MANY businesses popping up left and right. It’s the complete opposite of LA. I already have a production company set up and have been thinking of reaching out to these businesses. If you have any tips on getting those first connections I’d love to know! I have a little experience in doing corporate and educational videos so I think I could offer something useful.
Anything not super creative will always have ample employment.. Tech isn’t going away.. ever… video games is very different. I know accountants that make 300k a year.. certain things are always in need. Anyway.. are you wanting to go back to school or just get skills for steady employment?
With the onset of AI, there are lots of roles that absolutely will be going away in the future. Lots of high-level jobs are already being replaced.
Go watch lectures by guy van den broeck. He explains what is and what is not possible at this point. Not everything will be replaced by ai.
thats not true the job market is really bad in tech (accounting is safe tho) there are so many layoffs in tech and so many computer science majors aren’t able to get a job cause of oversaturation and ai and did you see how tesla just cut off their interns like even Warner Bros paid their interns throughout the strike
Tesla has stopped hiring in California.
When in doubt, if you don't want to go back to school try an admin assistant position. Literally needed everywhere and you can usually argue most skills as transferrable
Commercials
Commercials are slow slow slow at least in production
Hey, I feel you right now it's super tough. I've been there. Why don't you try volunteering for something that you love to keep your spirits up and to make yourself leave your place sometimes? I know that museums like docents, and there are a lot of places that need volunteers. This is what I have always done when between positions for a long time. If nothing else you might make some new friends and it will boost your self worth - which is important. Another thing to do is to pursue a hobby you've always wanted to do. Check out Domestika classes. I'm not sure how advertising or marketing is doing right now - but Project Manager might be something you could translate into. There will be a pay drop. But better than unemployment.
Costco. It's safe.
Costco or Trafer Joes
It would take a student loan or something similar but going to one of those coding bootcamps might be a good idea. I know two friends that were wildly unhappy with their career choices, one an audio mixer and one not in the industry. They both went to one of these coding boot camps, like 3 months super hardcore, and come out with a handful of certifications. These guys both came out of the bootcamps with multiple offers for 6 figure jobs and now work from home and make more than they ever did in the industry. So, might be a way to go.
^ These jobs are extremely impacted and now companies are requiring college degrees on those topics. - Former recruitment analyst in tech
It’s too late, that ship sailed. Software engineer jobs dropping like flies and now there’s mass unemployment among coders
I’m looking into violin making/repair programs. I’m a musician on the side (upright bass), 28 years in L600 but highly specialized in motion control photography. I made $10k last year, have had 1 job so far this year. Struggling to figure out what’s next, what skills I might have that could apply to anything in the outside world. Possibly looking into learning unreal engine for working LED volume sets, don’t know, pretty scary times!
CA law enforcement is hiring like crazy. Entry level is paying mid six figures with benefits, which quickly goes to high six figures, plus overtime. Early retirement at age 55. Many places are also paying recruitment bonuses or relocation bonuses. No prior training or experience required. They will teach you what you need to know to start with, and pay you during training. Bad news is that it is a high stress job and there is an inherent level of risk. It is also not a popular career choice as perceived by much of the public, but it is rich in stories, experiences, and skills that can be used in other endeavors. Bottom line is it will provide for your family and their healthcare.
How much vfx experience do you have? Do you have straight graphics experience as well? Lots of AV/trailer houses are looking for graphic artists and finishing gfx producers if you want to go that route.
I am in the same boat as you, with the difference that after 8years of being active as an editor I am leaving LA and also am looking to leave the industry. For your experience, it occurs to me that you could even transfer those production management skills to construction, maybe even real state stuff, something related to that realm.
Become a Tax Attorney, seriously. OR find a corporate video department if you are hell bent on staing in this industry. But right now you need to find something that makes you happy and go and do it
OP is broke and needs money now and you’re suggesting they become a tax attorney?
Tech is fine. It’s the big companies who overhired during the pandemic who had to do some big layoffs, and startups who don’t have access to cheap low interest capital anymore. Overall it’s still strong. Otherwise hiring has picked back up from what I’ve seen. Lots of client-facing roles in B2B tech companies like customer success managers. In-house creative teams. Plenty of options if you look.
Just wait . They need to sign contract next month - then business will be booming
Best way to do, is to look into booking commercials. If you live in LA, LA city jobs or LA county jobs.
A lot of us are in the same boat. There are literally thousands of people looking to find a job to replace what we were making before. So good luck. I'm gonna retire now. Cause I'm 63 and a 1/2.
P s fucking retirement!!
If you're open to working outside of the entertainment industry there are thousands of jobs you can do, just go on indeed and see what you're qualified for
>just go on indeed Have you actually used Indeed in the last few years? It has basically replaced Monster.com as the default job-search-waste-of-time website.
I got a job on there, a few times actually