The film industry employs millions of people around the globe each year, with the average of around 2,500 per film. With stars in your eyes and a few dollars in your pocket, you may be one of the people heading off to Southern California to become part of that workforce. You may even believe you are going to be one of the stars discovered on the set of some whacky comedy or soulful drama, but statistics show most people don’t stay in Hollywood for more than three years. Here are a few of the reasons why.
Intermittent Work
No matter how hard you work and how great your reputation is, films only last for a few months and then they wrap up. When they do, your paycheck will end until you find another job with another crew on another film. The truth is, although most movies may take many months of set pre-production, the actual filming takes between two and three months. Even the Heather Parry favorite ‘A Star Is Born’ only took less than three months to film. That means you would need to find four to five jobs a year to stay employed all year long.
Terrible Amenities
It is well known that during filming, many directors push the crew to work for 14-16 hours a day, sometimes for weeks on end. If running on little or no sleep, eating cold food, and being yelled at constantly is your idea of the perfect job, then Hollywood film sets are what you are seeking – otherwise, run.
Classic Boredom
The film crew may be working for 14-16 hours a day, and you may be required to be there during the whole time, but most of the time you will need to find something to occupy yourself. Unless you are in lighting or set setup, there is a lot of downtime in film making.
Before you head out to Hollywood to join the other film lovers, make sure you know what you are getting into. It is not all stars and roses. It is sleeplessness and boredom.
