[Jacob Marley]

Again, thank you all!!! I love reading opinions on this stuff, and your experiences. It enriches me in making my decision, and your helping me out makes me super impressed that the Cow really IS a community of people looking out for each other.

That’s something I sure have not found in LA 😉

When I said the projects probably will pay about the same in both places, here’s the actual numbers: the biggest project I got this year was a high-end local commercial. My takeaway on it was pretty tiny, since the client is made us build two sets and shut down a street to shoot it.
In corporate, my business’ clients have all sat around $5K projects this year. Pathetic! Unliveable, too, in LA.

I’m not a hack. I’m an award-winning small production company here. I stay up on things, I’m reasonably young (not that that should matter), I’m known for fantastic work, etc. My shop’s reel compares verrrry well with the biggest and best. I network well. I can do a local TV commercial that looks like a national. I have some big clients, too- all of whom love us and write stellar testimonial letters for us (but who have not had any new projects this year). My shop can do it all- and very, very well. But the past 8 months? Crickets outside of the $5K jobs and this TV gig we did.

And I know I’m not alone. Speaking privately with 6 of my competitors last month told me they’re ALL hurting. I know shops in LA that own multiple RED Epics that are working for $400/day gigs.

Mark’s right: a big part of it is the vast influx of people wanting to make it in Hollywood. They’ll work for damn near nothing, to make their rent on the studio apartment they’re renting in Reseda with 3 other guys, while they write their masterpiece screenplays and try to get actresses to sleep with them.Here’s a data point: a Lamborghini dealership wanted a custom LA commercial to use on TV and in their showroom, tradeshows, dvds, whatever. They wanted the look of a national spot, and gave us examples. We bid a very reasonable (for what they wanted) bid of $25K for it. They hired a guy for $5K to do it, without permits on LA roads, shooting illegally and hanging off vehicles, risking people’s lives, etc. The end product sucks, of course, too.

Reading today I found an article (should have saved it) talking about how LA, in particular, has NOT recovered like the Bay Area or San Diego. It had some good points, which make me feel SoCal (LA) won’t be changing soon.

As for me, a fantastic fantasy is to move more into corporate work, but look for gigs that pay $10K or more (surely that’s not asking much!), live in a place where I could actually own a home, and raise a family where I won’t be scared about the filth that is Hollywood f’ing up their values, and actually make enough to go on vacation more than once every 3 years.

I’m not sure my plan of attack, yet. But damn, something’s gotta change.

[Jacob Marley]

Again, thank you for your thoughts, guys!

One of the reasons I’m seriously considering moving that I probably didn’t make clear was this: while I’m lucky enough to get a few well-paid gigs in LA every year, the fact is the size of the average gig has gotten quite small for the non-big-ones: consider $3-5K for a product launch video for an established company’s new product.

So it doesn’t matter if I get a nice payday a few times a year, if I’m not making enough to pay rent when I’m not working. I just am not making enough on the few big jobs and the half dozen or so smaller jobs I’m able to get, here.

I look upstream, and the bigger prodcos are terrified, certainly not a good atmosphere for being brought on to do bigger projects. And forget Hollywood- the only way they’d take me is if I direct a feature that does well at festivals or something, and that ain’t happening right away. The “film” work is pro-bono or $150 for 18 hour days, and even that’s not a “for sure”. Other small prodcos keep going out of business, too. It’s bleak!

So I look at places like Dallas and Austin, who have so many new tech startups, and figure that each of those startups is going to need a product video. Sure, their budgets are probably no better than the ones I’m doing here, but I bet there’s a lot more opportunities. At least, I think there ought to be…

[Jacob Marley]

Thanks, guys. Mark- very smart ideas, especially.

It’s a weird huge leap, and I’m not too proud to find a variety of work- after all, I’m constantly running between commercials and corporate, happily.

What do you think of building a virtual presence there, first, to gauge potential response?

ps: Texas and OK… yeah, I don’t know what those two states’ deal is on hating each other. They seem pretty similar to outsiders. Then again, so do the Israelis and Palestinians.

[Jacob Marley]

Well that’s just depressing as shit, Andy…