MAKING IT

“Your Uber is Arriving Now” pops up on my phone as I wheel my suitcase out the door. I get in the car, introduce myself, and mention I will need a ride to LAX, which is nearby. Although a brief ride, I almost always strike up a conversation with the driver. This particular instance, one in which happens more often than not, an animated guy in his mid-20s gets out of the car to help me with my bags. He is more energetic than usual but I go along with it as he is a refreshing character from the norm. Instantly within a few words, it was as if we had been friends for some time. After the initial introduction of him asking “what’s your story?”  It was my turn to ask him. Instead of asking however, I said “let me guess, you’re an actor…” He flashed a smirk saying, “How’d you know.”

No matter where you go in Los Angeles, I can assure that you will have a variety of these encounters with locals around the city on a daily basis. Whether it is an uber driver that keeps a portfolio of his photography work in his backseat, a bartender making tips to survive living in Silver Lake with his “up-and-coming” band, or a waitress working by evening so that she can attend casting calls by day, Los Angeles breeds and cultivates striving artists and creative minds from all over the world. How can you blame them? What artist wouldn’t be drawn to a city that is known for being the “the city of dreams” and “the entertainment capital of the world”? For these artists, both struggling and striving, there’s truly “no place like Hollywood.”

WHY LA?
 

So how did LA become the “Entertainment Capitol of the World?” one may ask: The answer is in its rich history of decades of activity in film, television, music and live entertainment production. According to Ben Hill’s article, “Hollywood” has truly become one of “the major brands of and its ‘logo’ is probably recognizable by more citizens of the Earth than the facade of the White House” 

HISTORY

A man by the name of HJ Whitely, also known as the “father of Hollywood, known formerly as “Hollywoodland,” was a real estate developer who initially created the Hollywood subdivision of Los Angeles. In the 1880s, Whitley arrived with his wife in Southern California and built The Hollywood Hotel and a bank on the corner of what is now Hollywood and Highland. During this time, Whitley also coined the name “Hollywood” for the geographic community he began to build while he was with his wife on his honeymoon in 1886. Today, the former Hollywood Hotel is now home to the famous Kodak Theatre, as well as other entertainment venues, and is a part of the stretch of Hollywood’s “Walk of Fame."

The entertainment industry truly took off in 1910 with "D. W. Griffith and his Biograph Company…the first full-fledged studio to set up shop was New Jersey-based Centaur Co at the corner of Sunset and Gower.” By 1915, “Paramount, Warner Bros, RKO, and Columbia all had a major presence in the burgeoning film capital” and from there, the rest is history.

In the 1940s and 50s, in addition to film, the rise of television grew in Hollywood. Additionally, according to Ben Hill's article from Hollywood Fringe, “the music recording business began its trek towards Hollywood as did radio. With radio, film, television, and music colliding, the neighborhood solidified its reputation as the unchallenged entertainment capital of the world." From this point forward, Hollywood was no longer just a geographic community founded by HJ Whitely, it was the iconic symbol of  a shared vision. It became “a promise of the American Dream.” It was then that Los Angeles truly became the place to be for aspiring actors, musicians, artists as it remains its reputation as home to all of the major film, television and recording studios such as Warner Brothers, NBC Universal, Sony, Walt Disney, Paramount, ABC, CBS, among many other entities.

HOW MANY ARE HERE? 

Before diving into cultural specifics, it is important to understand the economic impact various components of the entertainment industry has on Los Angeles. According to The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce report on "The Entertainment Industry and the Los Angeles County Economy" , “The entertainment industry employed nearly 162,000 wage and salary workers in Los Angeles County during 2011, equivalent to nearly 5% of the 3.3 million private sector wage and salary workers in the county. In addition, the industry employed more than 85,000 free-lance professionals and other independent contract workers. With a combined total of 247,000 workers, this is one of the largest industries in the county.”

It is evident that this industry has a tremendous impact not only on Los Angeles but the entire country as well. As a result of the digital age, the entertainment industry is undergoing prolific changes as content produced in Hollywood is able to be shared and “distributed across a variety of platforms." This technological development places an enormous amount of pressure on the industry. Los Angeles is one of those key cities producing enormous amounts of content, becoming a hub for entertainment on an international level. The entertainment produced is entering the lives of people from all walks of life all around the world at movie theatres, theatre venues, radios, televisions, and the internet, to name a few. Creating and producing entertainment for the world is no small feat, which is why it takes a decent sized army to tackle the industry in Hollywood alone.

"When a movie is filmed, actors, costume designers and special effects creators benefit, but so do persons working in industries as disparate as food services, security, transportation and florists" - OTIS Report on the Creative Economy, 2014

“The industry does not just provide jobs; it is a key component in the Los Angeles County economic engine. With most of the industry’s “sales” taking place outside the county -- even outside the United States – the industry makes a significant contribution to the local economy as proceeds from sales of movie tickets, videos, and other programming come back to the county.” This economic significance causes an effect not only on those directly related industry jobs, but also on taxes, wages and the need for more unrelated jobs and services. Beyond the 247,000 workers estimated, the demand for the industry and its activity creates the need for jobs such as delivery, catering, clothing stores, restaurants, among many other fields. This leaves the industry in some way or another responsible for “nearly 586,000 jobs in the county, yielding over $43 billion in labor income."

It becomes overwhelming to think about all the factors that goes into successfully producing this rapidly growing entertainment industry of Hollywood. What is astonishing beyond this is that these numbers fail to include the major key to what hold the industry together: the talent. These artists are difficult to calculate as the majority work as “freelance artists” and claim to be self-employed, making the economic statistics difficult to follow. Although some may say this vocation is rather unstable, producers in the industry rely on the work of freelance talent heavily, which is what makes it such a scene. This free-lance talent, according to The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Report, “numbered 85,032 in 2010…This segment of the labor pool has grown consistently over the past 10 years” and only continues to spike in grow in 2016. Additionally, According to the 2011 OTIS Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region, “For example, in the visual and performing arts, there were nearly 2.0 self-employed persons in Los Angeles for every traditional (i.e. salaried) employee."

Although many artists claim to be freelance or self-employed, a majority are represented by entertainment labor unions and guilds. Most notably, “the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) organization alone represents over 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcasters, journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals nationally."

“SAG-AFTRA brings together two great American labor unions: Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Both were formed in the turmoil of the 1930s, with rich histories of fighting for and securing the strongest protections for media artists. Our members united to form the successor union in order to preserve those hard-won rights and to continue the struggle to extend and expand those protections into the 21st century and beyond." More specifically, actors are eligible to join SAG-AFTRA after their first major speaking role while extras can gain access by being hired into three separate union productions.

Although it is nearly impossible to accurately calculate the thousands of non-union artists, looking at the numbers of SAG members against how many are actually getting work helps put a perspective on the competitiveness of the industry. According to statistics, although SAG-AFTRA does not disclose legitimate statistics, a source found that there are roughly “108, 640 actors in the union living in Los Angeles,” and roughly only 21, 728 of them are ‘working.’ or have worked." However, this rough estimate does not account for the 100,000’s of non-union actors also in Los Angeles. Although just an estimate, these numbers can give good indication as to just how competitive the industry can be in a city like Los Angeles.

Image of a letter to the "creative person" in the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LACMA) written by museum architect, Frank Gehry

SO WHY ARE CREATIVES HERE?

Can you really make a living by being creative?  There are periods of unemployment between jobs. There are multitudes of creative, dedicated, and unappreciated persons living their passion.  There is no stability, no security; there are only those who make it, and those who keep trying.  They are a gang of socializing self-promoters who would not have it any other way.  It’s all about the portfolio, second jobs, and a high level of job satisfaction that keeps them coming back for more.

So with all these hundreds of thousands of people going after the same gig or role, one may ask why even try?

For the true artist, The City of Los Angeles – Hollywood, becomes more than just a city of fame and glamour. More importantly for these artists, they are drawn to Los Angeles as it becomes a hub of creativity where inspiration and like-minded freedom of expression and individuality is embraced. According to Richard Florida’s article, Cities and the Creative Class, “Creative people are not moving to these places for traditional reasons…What they look for in communities are abundant high quality experiences, an openness to diversity of all kinds and above all else, the opportunity to validate their identities as creative people." Los Angeles is one of those cities artists flock to as it is a city where although competition is heavy in the industry, there is still a sense of a desire and need for magical self-invention. These artists know that Los Angeles is truly a place that embraces free and creative expression. Most importantly, anyone coming to Los Angeles with a dream knows that if their efforts fall short; there are hundreds of others in the midst of the same pursuit that will be willing to support and collaborate with other struggling artists.

"Los Angeles is unique because of its combination of place, resources and open attitudes toward new ideas. Here, new ideas are constantly given form and brought to life by creative people" – OTIS Report on the Creative Economy

The four artists profiled below will tell their very diverse stories about their passions, pursuits, success, and failures in coming to Los Angeles to pursue their dream in the arts along with a cast of thousands just like them In addition to opening up personally, they are able to unpack words of wisdom and advice on their experiences to those embarking or contemplating the attempt of this artistic vocation.

Although all very different stories, collectively these artists cultivated a similar message – that passion of the craft and community of creative minds outweighs the pressures of “making It” in Hollywood.