quote:

---

Originally posted by jau

Is there anyone out there who is earning a living working in the film industry?

What do you do?
How much do you make?
Do you work full time?

How did you get in?

Thanks

Joe

---

Hi, Joe!

I don't know how many answers you'll get on a forum like this across the vast spectrum of jobs that are available. I've got the realistic pay ranges and info on how to get into each on set job listed in detail in the book named below.

For me, however, I moved to Los Angeles from Ohio in 1992. I didn't know anyone, but people I knew in Ohio gave me names of friends and relatives who I called when I got here. Those calls led me to a couple of meetings and got me on a set working for free as a 2nd Camera Assistant. A few months of that and meeting people led me to my first paid job on a Roger Corman/New Horizons movie called White Wolves II where I made $200 a day. I eventually got on a non-union Warner Bros movie called Murder in the First as a Loader... six weeks in, the movie "went union" and many more doors opened up. I was now making union scale on very large features and episodic television.

Years later, I burned out of that and went to work shooting behind-the-scenes for marketing and DVD use. For this I can earn $700 for a 10 hour day. The business ebbs and flows, but I usually average around 15 to 18 days of work a month. I can also earn extra money through camera/lighting rental depending upon the company I work for.

But for more detailed information on how much people make and how much they can expect to really work, check out the info in the book. Most people won't be willing to share their income information with you.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

Two bucks a day on a Corman show?

I started at "The Roger Corman School of Film" (New World) about 10 years before you. I was making $35/day

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

You know, I've heard nothing but good things about Roger Corman, even a coworker who almost ran him down in his car (by accident) said he was incredibly cool about it. It's a shame that more people in Hollywood aren't like him.

RJSchwarz

quote:

---

Originally posted by rjschwarz

You know, I've heard nothing but good things about Roger Corman, even a coworker who almost ran him down in his car (by accident) said he was incredibly cool about it. It's a shame that more people in Hollywood aren't like him.

RJSchwarz

---

He is a very nice man! 🙂 He established his niche and is very successful at it. We should all be so fortunate. 🙂

My 2nd AC/Loader rate on the film was actually $175/day but they gave me an extra $25/day for driving the "camera truck." Great experience actually. A month long shoot in the mountains and forests of Bend, Oregon. Got my a$$ kicked, but I didn't know it as I was pretty much fresh off the boat. Of course I'd never work that much for that little now... I couldn't afford to... but at the time, it was a great experience.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

So Corman's not in business anymore? So, how can newbies get started?

He's not in business? I could be wrong but I think it was Corman's people that made the CYCLOPS for the Sci Fi channel recently.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=230328117

RJSchwarz

quote:

---

Originally posted by jau

So Corman's not in business anymore? So, how can newbies get started?

---

I don't know where you got the impression Roger Corman
isn't in business anymore.

Roger doesn't produce or direct any more. But his company
New Horizons is still in business.

Newbies can get started in hundreds of different ways. Make
your own movie, work for free on micro budget movies and
work your way up - like Brian and I did. Get an internship in
a production office.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

Brian and Joseph's insight is awesome. Thank you guys for that!

Is there anyone else out there making a living in the film industry? or they not tuning into these kinds of discussion forums. That may be the case.

If you're out there, and would like to tell us about what you do and how you got started, it would be welcomed.