Los Angeles-based Entertainment Careers is an online service that guides job seekers toward careers in the entertainment business.
“Always keep your eye on the final goal. It’s easy to get swept up in the current and taken down rivers you did not intend to go down. This is a pretty consuming business,” Khalil Ghannam, a commercial producer, said.
“Day in and day out in Los Angeles, and elsewhere, movies, television shows and commercials together generate thousands of jobs. Not all are in front of the camera. But with guidance and a lot of perseverance you can get into the biz and feel at home in our company town,” Entertainment Careers’ website said.
Entertainment Careers emphasizes the need to set personal goals, skill, expertise and ability. “From the employer’s viewpoint, the most important thing is not likely to be your satisfaction,” Entertainment Careers said.
Freelancing is pursuing a career in the entertainment industry without written commitment from a particular employer. “Freelance work is totally different from a staff position in the sense that you rrelationships and how you make others feel is what keeps you going,” Mort Rezvani, a sound mixer for commercials, said. Entertainment Careers reports that as much as 80 percent of entertainment-related work is done by freelancers and small establishments.
Importance is placed on networking. “I got my first job in commercials through people I met socially. There are so few people working in the industry in Los Angeles. So, you have to be out there and keep in touch with people,” Ghannam said. Success is often based on whom you know and who knows you, according to Entertainment Careers. It encourages job seekers to ask for contact information regularly.
Most services focus on those entertainment jobs considered “above the line;” those considered creative and glamorous. Producers, directors, actors, writers and development executives are all jobs referred to as “above the line,” Entertainment Careers said.
Unions information, industry associations, related web sites and sample resumes are available on the Entertainment Careers web site, www.EntertainmentCareers.cc.
