Life Outside the Industry

What happens when film school doesn't lead to a film career, or when the grueling reality of the business finally forces you to choose financial survival over a dream? This section focuses entirely on alumni who are currently unemployed, still waiting for their first major industry break, or who made the conscious decision to walk away entirely.

What is your current non-filmmaking job title:​

Repair Agent

Commercial counsel

AV Design Engineer

Bar staff / stage staff

District Manager

I’m an independent scholar living on earlier employment income.

TV cable guy looking for a job as Social Media Manager

Editor for web

Project Manager

Corporate events

Public Information Officer

Copy editor

Business School Student

Photographer/entrepreneur

Bartender

Unemployed

Director of Marketing

I haven't graduated yet. But, I got my first support staff gig (writers PA for a few weeks) while being a full time student.

Cinematographer

English Teacher

Copywriter

Arts Administrator

Valet

Writer

Security Guard

Executive Assistant at a media corporation

Technicial Specialist at SUNY Adirondack Community College

Unemployed due to lay off. THANKS NETFLIX

unemployed

Media Teacher

Customer service representative

Producer/Art Director

Senior Executive Events Producer

Communications

Please go into detail on how you came to have this non-filmmaking job:​

Background in Computer Science and now I work at a Geek Squad fixing computers

Left LA for personal reasons and applied for corporate, in-house legal jobs with other companies. Got a job with a fintech company.

Pivoted via post production and tech skills

I applied on indeed

Went on Indeed and applied for anything that looked remotely within my sphere of knowledge and experience.

It is a logical continuation of my academic pursuits. My doctoral work (Birmingham) was interrupted by covid so I just continued as an independent scholar while applying my skills to projects from time to time.

Contacts in the German Tv Industry

Old boss

I applied at a company my friend worked at for a project manager role.

Through connections at a cafe I worked at during grad school

I started working for an ad agency in DC that was focused on political advertising, specifically TV Ads, which landed me into politics/government communication work.

While in film school I got a part time job at CNN and stayed there 12 years with steady advancement until layoffs. Then I found work at Reuters and have been there for 20 years.

Friend referral

Had it prior to attending school

Retraining

I needed to make money and got this day job

Hustle

Museum work

Unemployed and searching for work after graduation. Got hired to work at Breakdown Services/Actor’s Access as a Customer Service Rep 7 months after grad. I was then fired as I got cast in my first feature and wouldn’t receive the unpaid time off. Applied to jobs for months, took on a temp gig and turned into a job since I was reliable and professional.

Because it's impossible to get a film job unless you know someone and LA is too expensive.

Spent over four months applying and interviewing, somehow secured my first ever full time corporate job. It’s soul sucking, but it pays the bills and I have a good boss, so I’m grateful.

One of my peers who dropped out of film school works at my current job as a librarian. They forwarded me the job listing for this role.

Carnegie Mellon offers a fraudulent program that provided zero education and no resources to support learning or to help me launch my career.

Decided to apply for a CTE certification through NYS and then started applying to teach at public schools.

I applied to everything and it was the only thing that got back to me.

Promotion

Same job I was doing before I went to school.

Did it before grad school

What do you love the most and dislike the most about your non-filmmaking job?​

I love helping people out with tech. I would say it's a thankless job for the most part, it can be draining talking to customer service and dealing with all sorts of people but its a decent environment

Way less stress than working for a studio, much more flexible. There’s not a ton I dislike but some days I miss being so dialed in to what’s going on in the industry.

Love the stability hate the corporate structure and politics

It isn't my passion but it is more consistent

I have time to enjoy weekends, health insurance, PTO benefits, and job security.

Intellectually stimulating, complete control over my time, but a bit isolating.

It is awesome. The only thing I don't like is that it is extremely difficult to get a full time job

Easier hours than Network TV Editor jobs

I like that I have a good work life balance, make decent money, and get to use my brain. I dislike that the work is kind of unfulfilling.

I am still surrounded by creatives which is awesome, but not so stuck in the industry fighting for scraps or a seat at the table.

I like making a difference in my community. I do not like being at the whims and changing tides of politics.

Strong union and steady hours but ideologically it's a little icky

tips

stable, health insurance, good pay, flexible

Financially was great creatively no.

I help kdis and get paid, easy to schedule life around it. I dislike it because its not what i want to do.

I like that I can actually make a living and that it’s only 75% as toxic as film

Interacting with people, luxurious place to work, driving fancy and nice cars, tips. I dislike the hotel management, grunt work, and the fact that I’m not doing any real “work”.

I hate it

I love having a stable income; pretty much everything else about it is hellish.

I enjoy the stability of state work. I dislike that the pay is low and that my co-workers have no rigor.

Cannot eat or take care of myself

Stability

Loved how much routine there was. Hated how they treated me.

Same as before :(

I love getting to travel and attend exciting events like F1, Super Bowl, and World Cup. I hate that I don't get to write and be creative in the way I want to be. I also work in tech and don't love the industry.

Not creatively fulfilling

Does your current non-filmmaking job utilize any skills you learned in film school?​

dealing with higher ups, audience, marketing, strategy

I negotiate contracts, a lot of what I learned in school and as a prior movie studio lawyer is still relevant.

All the tech know how

Idk

‘Job’ is probably the wrong word for an independent scholar but the subject area is storytelling-specific.

It is basically the same, just with money and stability to be honest.

Editing

Project managing is similar to film production in that you are managing many things at once. It’s all bringing a project to completion

Soft skills like dealing with tough clients and knowing how to give constructive feedback and how to take not-so-constructive feedback are skills I feel I learned in my MFA program that still help me today.

I'm often editing, creating shot list and doing content creation. It's not as involved on the production lift as film sets but I often employ a producer mindset to create the videos and shoots that are needed.

I learned storytelling skills that are useful in journalism

Basic camera know how. FilmSchool was not worth the money.

Storytelling, video for advertising content

I work at HEB, the local grocery store and as a teaching assistant for film/TV writing and development classes. I've become more skilled in communication and collaboration as a result!

Cinematography

Filming and editing for social media

Writing non-filmed narratives is related to writing screenplays. My decades as a professional writer clearly have an impact on my overall skill level.

My admin work is heavily reliant on all the skills that made me a great PM - it’s just a whole lot less fun. Lol

I had to troubleshoot Operating System and hardware issue in a post facility. I also do remedial AV setups for events.

Absolutely. I'm a better teacher because of what I learned in grad school.

It was for a casting company so there are scripts sent in and breakdowns needed.

I sometimes get to write copy and pre production packets, as well as produce some of the trailers I work on

I'm still a producer, so I feel like the skills are very transferable.
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