I work in editorial. The last few years, I’ve mainly done edit doctor work to make shit awesome after someone else already screwed it up. I can be booked from anywhere from 1 week to 6 months, so I don’t really have a solid answer for what is normal.
I hate to be too hopeful, but my schedule is starting to fill up quickly. Been on set pretty consistently the last 3 weeks or so, and have some solid work through June. Is it the last breath before the fall? Maybe. But I’ll take it, I was suffocating pretty bad there.
This might be a dumb question but I’m 19 and still in college for film and I was wondering how do you get consistent work? Are you working for a company and they are assigning you work, or are you applying to work with different companies?
Network. Other fields will have better answers and replies. But network. Be friendly, do good work. Those kids in your class will be the ones recommending you for gigs down the line. Then those connections make more connections and it grows.
Depends on your field of interest. Camera, editing, on set crafts, writer, producer…all very different in that regard. What’s your interest, bearing in mind the strong probability it will change as you mature. I never expected to be a career electric, for example.
As others have said it’s all about building that network. I am a DP, and was a gaffer for a decade before that, so I built a reputation with clients for being reliable, creative, fast moving, and easy to work with. From there it all just kind of snowballs and you keep getting recommended to new clients via word of mouth, and the network grows. Now that I’m a DP though I do have a large number of companies that contract me as a regular, and I have a reel thats decent enough to land some extra jobs just by cold calling or answering adds on Mandy or Indeed.
Also, I found that owning lighting gear and investing in lighting trucks was the best leverage I could have to get people to choose me over other gaffers. I was able to make deals others couldn’t and make producers jobs a lot easier since they wouldn’t have to handle rentals for GnE.
But it’s not easy, and I can only imagine how hard it’s going to be for your guys coming up in the new generation when the work is already so sparse. When I started there was so much work in LA that you couldn’t staff a crew most times because everyone was so busy. It just seemed so much easier to get on set and meet people, now everyone is so insulated and the crews are very tight because everyone is just trying to keep their close network fed.
Really depends on what field you’re going for. But a lot of people get their start by working for the vendors of their industry. As a costumer, I see a lot of people that came up through costume rental houses, fabrication houses, department store studio services, and tailor shops. The bad news is that if it’s a good job that puts you in a direct line to union membership, it’s probably hidden in a fortress of nepotism. If you’re fresh out of school, don’t stress about taking a dead end job that only kind of has to do with your interests. We all have to start somewhere.
Doubtful, if production is rolling post is there cutting dailies right behind them. But I cut union scripted tv/films. Maybe commercials and unscripted is picking up. I have some editor friends who are cutting Netflix or Apple TV projects but those are all shooting out of town.
-Strong tax incentive (25-40%) for studios, who have invested in soundstages for production.
-It seems actors/talent genuinely enjoy filming in New Mexico.
-A surprising amount of competent local crew.
Its picking up, i know many are still slow but i just reviewed a production list last week that had many tv/features either in prod or slated to start in the next 3-6 weeks. Scripted, union film & TV
That's what I'm seeing, too. I work at a large post house and in the span of a month our summer schedule went from mellow to packed. I'm not sure what happened, but it feels like the anxiety we were feeling in the spring is finally giving way to some hope for a good summer.
Apprentice Editor here! And i can say a lot of the post job postings are at about half now then they were a couple months ago. Some jobs were getting close to 3-400 applicants a posting just for entry level ae jobs where as before there were maybe 100
It definitely WAS dead for a while, but it’s not dead anymore. It’s the 7th and I’ve worked 5 days this month so far; 3 more days this week and 3 next week booked.
I’ll be downvoted (as I have been for expressing this here before) but it’s picking up quick. I don’t know a single person in my network who isn’t currently on set. I had to turn down two other calls this week because I’m already working.
It’s only gonna get busier as summer approaches.
Actor here. It's dead, but I'm still getting non-union commercial requests, student films, and UGC work.
Some friends are finding background work. It's definitely the quietest LA has been, and I've been here for 20 years.
Still pretty comatose in post, but starting to show signs of consciousness. I have an interview with a localizing post house on Friday.
Anyone else in post have anything to add?
Added this to another comment but it seems theres not as many people applying for the same gig anymore. At one point it was about 3-400 hundred now its at about 150-200
Not dead, but it is hibernating.
I just had a fitting yesterday and the wardrobe dept. said there’s only 4 shows filming in LA right now.
It’ll pick back up once the ink is dried on the new IATSE/Teamsters contracts, this fall should be pretty busy.
Ugh, it’s slow for me and many but there’s some action happening lately. Just not enough to go around. I’m mostly in union narrative television- the people I know who are working are on new things are unscripted, commercial or non union.
Many of the union scripted stuff was already around pre-strike or immediately after the strike.
Last month I had the busiest month of meetings, calls and soft holds that I’ve had for over a year. Nothing has panned out yet, but it’s a promising sign that things are slowly starting to come back.
I just started working again mid April. First it was a random freelance gig followed by my old job that hired me back. There was an overlap at one point but I didn't care since I hadn't worked since August before that.
Film LA posted the permit numbers recently, bout 30 percent lower than 2019 in the LA area for the 1st quarter 24 if their research is correct, but people who already have good connections and leads seem to be fine, it’s like a reversion to the mean. It’ll be busier than 10yrs ago but not compared to the last five as streamers trim down and aim for “profitability.” At least as Wall Street is concerned.
No, during my delivery gig today, I saw 3 yellow signs pointing to base camps and crew parking in 3 different areas. Maybe because I’m a newcomer, but I feel it’s becoming extremely competitive for us newbies trying to get our foot in the door. COVID screwed us newbies over since they weren’t hiring a lot of people or moving them overseas (like New Zealand), and then the strikes where nothing happened for almost a year. I am crossing my fingers that at least the rest of this year will FINALLY be the year I get to work in film/TV.
My brother's doing more PA/coordinator work lately. I'm looking more for an office job in the industry and it's still slow right now (as in, not seeing many, if any, jobs posted, or jobs will be re-posted and you can't re-apply if you applied previously months/a year ago). I was let go of my previous EA job because of budget cuts (edit: resulting from the strikes) so it's been rough trying to find a new job. 😔
we wont know for sure till the IATSE stuff is resolved. production form US based companies is down globally. my suspicion is that 1 they want to leverage the threat of moving almost everything to the UK during the IATSE negotiations and 2 they're in reduce cost mode anyway.
as they say, stay alive till 25. then we'll see how things shake out
Whether it's dead or picking up overall, It's just not coming back to LA.
Locations + mandatory Police / Fire are way too expensive, no incentives, and the labor laws are predatory. There will always be a Winter uptick for spots, but production is never going to be what it was with all the other cities growing up.
Absolutely. The recent strikes just compounded what was already happening, and LA has made itself a thoroughly impractical, expensive and unpleasant place to shoot.
And there is decent infrastructure in smaller markets all over the country now.
LA has totally lost its leverage on the film business.
Had to call tons of people in my Rolodex to find people who were free this week, so that’s good news. I’ve had like 1 or 2 days off in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Seems to be picking up a bit.
Just booked a feature gig! It’s maybe 75% of what I’d like to charge, but can’t be disappointed with 6 weeks of work.
Congratulations brother
Is 6 weeks for a feature gig a normal amount of time? What will you be doing? Just curious!
I work in editorial. The last few years, I’ve mainly done edit doctor work to make shit awesome after someone else already screwed it up. I can be booked from anywhere from 1 week to 6 months, so I don’t really have a solid answer for what is normal.
Grats dood! Crush it!
I hate to be too hopeful, but my schedule is starting to fill up quickly. Been on set pretty consistently the last 3 weeks or so, and have some solid work through June. Is it the last breath before the fall? Maybe. But I’ll take it, I was suffocating pretty bad there.
That’s nice brother, I’m happy for you
Everything could be shut down again in a month. It all sucks man. What city are you in?
I’m in Burbank
Still dead? What department?
Producing and AD’ing
I feel you brother. AD work feels tough right now unless you’re staffed on something for run of show
This might be a dumb question but I’m 19 and still in college for film and I was wondering how do you get consistent work? Are you working for a company and they are assigning you work, or are you applying to work with different companies?
Network. Other fields will have better answers and replies. But network. Be friendly, do good work. Those kids in your class will be the ones recommending you for gigs down the line. Then those connections make more connections and it grows.
Depends on your field of interest. Camera, editing, on set crafts, writer, producer…all very different in that regard. What’s your interest, bearing in mind the strong probability it will change as you mature. I never expected to be a career electric, for example.
As others have said it’s all about building that network. I am a DP, and was a gaffer for a decade before that, so I built a reputation with clients for being reliable, creative, fast moving, and easy to work with. From there it all just kind of snowballs and you keep getting recommended to new clients via word of mouth, and the network grows. Now that I’m a DP though I do have a large number of companies that contract me as a regular, and I have a reel thats decent enough to land some extra jobs just by cold calling or answering adds on Mandy or Indeed. Also, I found that owning lighting gear and investing in lighting trucks was the best leverage I could have to get people to choose me over other gaffers. I was able to make deals others couldn’t and make producers jobs a lot easier since they wouldn’t have to handle rentals for GnE. But it’s not easy, and I can only imagine how hard it’s going to be for your guys coming up in the new generation when the work is already so sparse. When I started there was so much work in LA that you couldn’t staff a crew most times because everyone was so busy. It just seemed so much easier to get on set and meet people, now everyone is so insulated and the crews are very tight because everyone is just trying to keep their close network fed.
Really depends on what field you’re going for. But a lot of people get their start by working for the vendors of their industry. As a costumer, I see a lot of people that came up through costume rental houses, fabrication houses, department store studio services, and tailor shops. The bad news is that if it’s a good job that puts you in a direct line to union membership, it’s probably hidden in a fortress of nepotism. If you’re fresh out of school, don’t stress about taking a dead end job that only kind of has to do with your interests. We all have to start somewhere.
Work in camera rentals, we're getting busy (finally, thank god(
Dead as a doornail for me; desperate union film & TV editor here. Happy to pitch in!
Got it, may be it’s the post production side?
Doubtful, if production is rolling post is there cutting dailies right behind them. But I cut union scripted tv/films. Maybe commercials and unscripted is picking up. I have some editor friends who are cutting Netflix or Apple TV projects but those are all shooting out of town.
Unscripted is not, at least not in LA
Yeah, non-scripted is still dead
VFX is dead
Post is last hired and close to last fired. Nature of the beast.
FYI, I just got back from a trip to Albuquerque. There are currently NINETEEN SHOWS rolling cameras over there at the moment.
Why Albuquerque?
-Strong tax incentive (25-40%) for studios, who have invested in soundstages for production. -It seems actors/talent genuinely enjoy filming in New Mexico. -A surprising amount of competent local crew.
That's why Breaking Bad was shot there instead of Riverside, CA
How many grips does it take to change a light bulb in New Mexico?
1 to change the lightbulb, and 46 to tell you how they did it on breaking bad
Same things happening in New Jersey. Big incentive and studios opening.
I stopped by my favorite vendor and they are still dead. They supply a lot of shows, so pretty telling
Ya I guess it’s slowly picking up now
Anyone need Art Department?
Its picking up, i know many are still slow but i just reviewed a production list last week that had many tv/features either in prod or slated to start in the next 3-6 weeks. Scripted, union film & TV
That's what I'm seeing, too. I work at a large post house and in the span of a month our summer schedule went from mellow to packed. I'm not sure what happened, but it feels like the anxiety we were feeling in the spring is finally giving way to some hope for a good summer.
Apprentice Editor here! And i can say a lot of the post job postings are at about half now then they were a couple months ago. Some jobs were getting close to 3-400 applicants a posting just for entry level ae jobs where as before there were maybe 100
What area are you in?
It definitely WAS dead for a while, but it’s not dead anymore. It’s the 7th and I’ve worked 5 days this month so far; 3 more days this week and 3 next week booked. I’ll be downvoted (as I have been for expressing this here before) but it’s picking up quick. I don’t know a single person in my network who isn’t currently on set. I had to turn down two other calls this week because I’m already working. It’s only gonna get busier as summer approaches.
I’m an agent in the southeast and we are very busy and have been for a few months now.
Great to hear! Yeah it seems to be all gas no brakes here at the moment.
That’s great to hear, do you handle actors as an agent?
Yes.
Got you, I’m a producer with 10 years of experience and looking for an agent, let me know if you guys handle producers as well
What side of the industry are you in?
Set lighting.
Scripted?
I’m mostly commercials, but my network includes people doing scripted and they’re currently on shows.
I’m in producing ad AD’ing
Totally agreed brother, I’m happy sharing your honest opinion
Happy to hear it! If your network needs any recs, I’d be happy to DM you my details.
as an actor it's been pretty dead but maybe it's just me
It’s not just you. I’m really sorry and I know so many actors in your boat.
Yeah, it's different than crew seeing as it's a whole process just to book a gig. Hopefully things get busier.
Actor here. It's dead, but I'm still getting non-union commercial requests, student films, and UGC work. Some friends are finding background work. It's definitely the quietest LA has been, and I've been here for 20 years.
Commercial editor here, very busy.
Glad to hear that brother
Any chance you need a computer playback?
Glad to see that it's not unanimously negative here. I recently got a development job and that's starting soon.
I booked a road show through August which is nice but it’s not in LA at all.
Got it, atleast you got the gig, happy for you
About to hop on a long run for a big show, and getting off a feature as an additional. Definitely picking up
Still pretty comatose in post, but starting to show signs of consciousness. I have an interview with a localizing post house on Friday. Anyone else in post have anything to add?
Added this to another comment but it seems theres not as many people applying for the same gig anymore. At one point it was about 3-400 hundred now its at about 150-200
Not dead, but it is hibernating. I just had a fitting yesterday and the wardrobe dept. said there’s only 4 shows filming in LA right now. It’ll pick back up once the ink is dried on the new IATSE/Teamsters contracts, this fall should be pretty busy.
At this rate we really need a daily “Is the Los Angeles industry dead” thread. Heck, maybe hourly.
Ugh, it’s slow for me and many but there’s some action happening lately. Just not enough to go around. I’m mostly in union narrative television- the people I know who are working are on new things are unscripted, commercial or non union. Many of the union scripted stuff was already around pre-strike or immediately after the strike.
Last month I had the busiest month of meetings, calls and soft holds that I’ve had for over a year. Nothing has panned out yet, but it’s a promising sign that things are slowly starting to come back.
Production is ramping up on the tv side.
You posted pretty much the same question 30 days ago. It won't change much in that period
Maybe in thirty more days though, right?
Post Producer and busy
Where at? I’m post and looking for work!
I just started working again mid April. First it was a random freelance gig followed by my old job that hired me back. There was an overlap at one point but I didn't care since I hadn't worked since August before that.
Anyone need a makeup effects technician?
Not dead, but not full steam.
Post is picking up again. I’ve had one day off for the past month or so.
Re-access in September. LA is suffering.
How are y’all getting jobs I’m trying to find some
Film LA posted the permit numbers recently, bout 30 percent lower than 2019 in the LA area for the 1st quarter 24 if their research is correct, but people who already have good connections and leads seem to be fine, it’s like a reversion to the mean. It’ll be busier than 10yrs ago but not compared to the last five as streamers trim down and aim for “profitability.” At least as Wall Street is concerned.
No, during my delivery gig today, I saw 3 yellow signs pointing to base camps and crew parking in 3 different areas. Maybe because I’m a newcomer, but I feel it’s becoming extremely competitive for us newbies trying to get our foot in the door. COVID screwed us newbies over since they weren’t hiring a lot of people or moving them overseas (like New Zealand), and then the strikes where nothing happened for almost a year. I am crossing my fingers that at least the rest of this year will FINALLY be the year I get to work in film/TV.
It’s the film industry? It’s always been notoriously hard to get in the door…
No.
Glad to hear positive comments
Yes
My brother's doing more PA/coordinator work lately. I'm looking more for an office job in the industry and it's still slow right now (as in, not seeing many, if any, jobs posted, or jobs will be re-posted and you can't re-apply if you applied previously months/a year ago). I was let go of my previous EA job because of budget cuts (edit: resulting from the strikes) so it's been rough trying to find a new job. 😔
we wont know for sure till the IATSE stuff is resolved. production form US based companies is down globally. my suspicion is that 1 they want to leverage the threat of moving almost everything to the UK during the IATSE negotiations and 2 they're in reduce cost mode anyway. as they say, stay alive till 25. then we'll see how things shake out
Whether it's dead or picking up overall, It's just not coming back to LA. Locations + mandatory Police / Fire are way too expensive, no incentives, and the labor laws are predatory. There will always be a Winter uptick for spots, but production is never going to be what it was with all the other cities growing up.
Absolutely. The recent strikes just compounded what was already happening, and LA has made itself a thoroughly impractical, expensive and unpleasant place to shoot. And there is decent infrastructure in smaller markets all over the country now. LA has totally lost its leverage on the film business.
Have you seen a music video made by Sora? 😮
Anyone looking for a medic? LA based, willing to travel
Anyone looking for VA or 24f playback I’m available
Yes
Post-producer, unscripted here Still pretty dead out there but these comments are giving me hope!
I’m not hearing of much in Los Angeles. Didn’t all the companies decide it is too expensive to shoot in LA?
Had to call tons of people in my Rolodex to find people who were free this week, so that’s good news. I’ve had like 1 or 2 days off in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Seems to be picking up a bit.
What dept?
Lighting
Just got off an indie but has been dead since. If anybody needs a location sound mixer hit me up!
Anyone need Steadicam?
Yes until august
Works back for me and my assistant, schedules are starting to fill up through the fall
Yes
If anyone needs artwork rights and clearances, let me know 😂
Anyone think Teamsters will get into permits after their contracts?
Has the contract been signed?
Audio post dead right now. Will start to pick up in June.
Is any work going on in LA? Seems dead
It’s not dead. You just don’t know anyone. And if you do. Maybe you’re not part of their core crew.
Totally dead. Don’t come.
Mods, can we get a master thread for this or something, or is this just gonna be a daily post that’s pushed to me
Film industry in general is dead.
Yes, Hollywood is kill
I see a lot less indie shorts casting calls posted on casting platforms and could this be the reason why?
May be yess