Looking To Move To L.A. To Work In Entertainment Industry (Los Angeles: renter, how much)

[disgruntled la native]

the whole law school/MBA thing and thinking that's your golden ticket. first off law school is prohibitively expensive. unless you're a trust fund baby or have a lot saved up you're looking at 200k in loans. law school does not necessarily translate into cushy entertainment law job unless you're at a top law school (think UCLA or better) and even then, in this law economy (see NY TIMES over the weekend) there are no guarantees. I'm not sure why you'd even want an MBA if you're looking to get into show biz. Hell why are you even wanting a JD? A JD might be mildly helpful to become a music exec CEO but is that really worth 200k in debt and 3 years of slavery? And MBA? That's another crapload of money. Plus all the studying for the LSAT, GMAT, then bar, then the years there. BTW, you can't work in law school, so that's lost income.

Music business is about connections so you'd start to have at the bottom and somehow work your way up, or daddy should be a record exec already. Most entertainment execs I know of and know either had family connections, or were scrappy people who worked their way up from the bottom... in the 60s or 70s (an easier time to do this)

Also your spiel about being special because you graduated in a top school of a field doesn't mean anything. Everyone's special. Everyone graduated from the top of the top. And they're still struggling. The problem with our millenial generation is we think we're too special. Well, the odds are against us - like in law school, over 90% won't make big law six figure salaries ever. Still, we're gonna beat the odds and be that under 10%, right?

Maybe you'll make it just fine. I don't know. But one thing for certain, I think you should have a job lined up before you move or substantial savings or parent backing. Because money evaporates real quick here. And no matter how amazing and special you are, the odds are against you. I'm not saying this to be a jerk who doesn't want you out here. I'm actually trying to warn you and protect you.

[Ceece]

I imagine you will end up moving wherever you can find job and you are casting a wide net. Do not assume relocation will be paid for in your very first job. When you have a job you can revisit the forums for area specific advice. Right now there isn't anything to go on and this forum can't offer help, you may be in an entirely different state.

Good luck!

[Eric La Vida]

Thank you all for your help. As an aside, does anyone have any recommendations of places to go/places to avoid when I come out to visit in August? I will be staying at the Westin downtown and will not be renting a car (will be making use of the 7th street Metro station).

[nighthouse66]

Originally Posted by allenk893

I'm definitely not surprised Cali-natives are the ones giving the rudest advice. They don't want anyone to move there. Your going to have better luck on this forum with people who are in the entertainment industry who actually KNOW what their talking about.

Backstage Message Boards

uh huh. no, its just that "we" know how hard it is right now even for golden boys and wunderkinds in Los Angeles. its cut-the-fat time for everyone and i have countless friends who had to move out of the city who had thriving careers here- in, oh yeah, THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. but i know that concrete experience and educated opinions don't count for much when you are stubborn and determined, so go for it. but saying "we" don't want anyone to move here is the sort of statement that should be beneath anyone with a modicum of intelligence.

[Fontucky]

nighthouse, that Southern boy's never even visited here. Clueless and uninformed are two apt adjectives that apply.

And he believes in demons.

[readymade]

Hate to be negative, but the "music business" has been going down down down for at least 10 years now. I know... I used to work in it. I know a lot of laid off and unemployed and VERY experienced music business folks. It's tough! Not the best field to go into right now.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by readymade

Hate to be negative, but the "music business" has been going down down down for at least 10 years now. I know... I used to work in it. I know a lot of laid off and unemployed and VERY experienced music business folks. It's tough! Not the best field to go into right now.

Forget it. We're going to tell him the truth and we're going to warn him, but we'll just get crickets in return. Because, he's special, he's better than the other 99%, he's going to make it... he knows it so it will be true!

[fatmancomics]

North Hollywood. That's the area you're looking for. Specificaly between Vineland and Whitsett and Chandler and Ventura Blvds. Avoid anything above Burbank Blvd in NH as a general rule. Also try to stay out of any apartments between Vineland and Cahuenga Blvds although the ones that are ACTUALLY on Cahuenga are quite nice. Ending up on Chandler would be ideal for public transportation since that's where the Orange Line runs on its way to the metro station but, if I were you, I'd spend my visit looking at apartments on Cahuenga Blvd between Burbank and Riverside Dr (once you get to Riverside Dr it's technically Toluca Lake so they get expensive).

Good luck.

[JmanAA]

Well, after reading some more of the posts in this forum in regards to the entertainment industry, I'm really starting to lose any real confidence in my chances of making it. I wrote something alot different in a recent post about my plans to move to LA and build a career in filmmaking, but now I'm getting a clearer picture of what I'd really be getting myself into. I was in LA for a year and alot of the things that people told me were similar to what most of you are saying, but I didn't want to believe it. I have the same problem that original poster in this thread has as well as alot of other people that post in the Los Angeles forum about pursuing their dream career in the entertainment industry: I think I am special, that much more talented, that much more creative than the competition. I seriously think I am destined to become the greatest director of my time. I think I am going to draw alot of attention to myself once I start making films, and people are going to start offering me all kinds of movie deals because they're so impressed with my work. I believe there are academy awards, hundreds of millions of dollars, all the wealth I could ever want (and more), power, noteriety, high social status all waiting for me down the line once I start pursuing and building my film career in Hollywood. I really believe I'm that good of a filmmaker (even though I've never made a film in my entire life).

I believe we (myself and the other people on here with these hugh, grandiose dreams and fantasies) have a disease. I don't know whether to call it narcissism or what. Lord knows, this disease has been impacting my life for literally the last 5 years. I've lost jobs over this. I have to be rich and famous. If I'm not a rich and famous, then life is simply not worth living. Infact, I'm afraid of what life will be like down the line without the fame and the fortune. The funny thing is, I'm not that young. I'm almost 29 years old, have a bachelor's degree in engineering, and I'm just as naive as the other people on this board with similar (if not the same) plans that I have. I've looked into starting my own film production company and going the independent route, but the problem is, it's going to cost too much money to make the kind of films that I want to make. I could make very cheap guerilla style films, but are people really going to watch them? I mean, will I be able to make any money off those kinds of films? Is it possible to make any kind of a living outside of the mainstream Hollywood circuit (television and commercially distributed feature films). I know people probably use the internet more than the television set, but are people really going to treat an internet show the same way as a television show? The way I see it, unless we somehow get lucky and make it in the Hollywood system, then it will be impossible to make a living as a filmmaker, which honestly makes me feel very angry and frustrated and extremely disappointed. It really depresses the hell out of me.

[Ceece]

You don't actually have to live in LA or CA to be a film maker. People are making films all over the place. The internet has changed the world and many people have found a way in there. Do something that will get you noticed, in a positive way of course, and put it out there.