Honestly, how difficult is it to find work in this industry?

[RachRenee]

.

[Bill Denton]

Self definitely excluded...

But look at how many extremely talented folks spend a lot of time posting on here...

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by Bill Denton

But look at how many extremely talented folks spend a lot of time posting on here...

I am a Mod here and post here a fair bit. I am also a completely self employed audio engineer and have been since 1991. About 50% of my work is unattended mixing/mastering. This allows me to work for a bit, have a coffee, work some more, check the DUC, work some more, take a walk... etc.

You know what happens when you assume Bill.

[albee1952]

Its really easy easy. All you need to make a small fortune in this business is...........a LARGE fortune. Okay, more seriously, you need talent(you're saying "that's a given", but it isn't), skill, perseverance, luck, a good market that wants your skills and talent, luck, dedication, luck, a chance(and don't blow it)....did I mention luck? Finding work is one thing, but really, most of us(at least in the beginning) MAKE most of our work. You have to find a way to build a reputation as someone that has something to offer, then the work finds you

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

I am a Mod here and post here a fair bit. I am also a completely self employed audio engineer and have been since 1991. About 50% of my work is unattended mixing/mastering. This allows me to work for a bit, have a coffee, work some more, check the DUC, work some more, take a walk... etc.

You know what happens when you assume Bill.

Sorry...I thought my "tongue-in-cheek" was relatively obvious...

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by Bill Denton

Sorry...I thought my "tongue-in-cheek" was relatively obvious...

one word: emoticons!!!

savior of the interwebs!

[conleec]

I graduated from film school in 1991. Couldn't really find enough work to pay the bills, so I joined the U.S. Army for 4 years. Grew up a bit and still had a burning desire to try again, so when I got out I took out a lease on an Avid Adrenaline system and started cutting actors' demo reels in Los Angeles. That was before everybody and their dog had an NLE and thought they knew how to use it...

One of those actors produced a small independent feature, and I cut it. After that I struggled along for 4 or 5 years doing those kinds of projects and had the presence of mind to save my timecards and get myself in the union. Then I met an editor at the bar who's assistant was getting a bump to editor on Veronica Mars, so I told him I would be interested in assisting on a union show. He gave me a shot, and that was my first union gig.

Pretty quickly after that I met William Dear, director of Harry and the Hendersons, thru a mutual friend. He was going to do a small low-budget horror film and needed an editor (non-union). I jumped back into the no-budget world of indie films. We hit it off and when he had a mini resurgence in his career, I followed along with him. The next three movies we did together were union: Sandlot 3 for Fox, Mr. Troop Mom for Warner Brothers, and The Perfect Game which was theatrically distributed by an indie company which no longer exists.

After that, Bill sort of semi-retired and I was unemployed for 6 months or so, so I made some calls and managed to get back into union assisting on quite a number of episodic television shows. I was always looking for a bump back to editor, but nearly every show I worked on was at the end of it's run, didn't get picked up for another season, or the folks who were on it ahead of me had seniority. Or the producers simply weren't interested in promoting assistants.

Finally got a gig assisting on The Flash at Warner Brothers and my editor just left to do a pilot; the producers have given me a shot, and I have been bumped up to editor for two episodes at the end of this first season. If I don't F' it up, I'll be back for the whole season in the fall. Fingers crossed.

Basically that's 24 years of my "career" rolled into a few paragraphs to show you that you absolutely NEVER know what's going to happen. Some days you're up, the next you can be down. And every person's career trajectory follows a unique path.

As has been mentioned: luck, luck, luck, skill, luck, timing, and tons of perseverance are pretty much necessary. And once you get a break, don't screw it up.

Good luck.

Chris Conlee
Editor (today)
Who Knows What (tomorrow)

[RachRenee]

This is all very reassuring. Thanks.

[John_Toolbox]

I had freelance/part time work, but could not pay my bills with audio income for the first 6 years after I finished my audio degree. If I could do it again, the one thing I would have changed: I would have went straight to LA to find work right away. Getting a job still requires luck, but you are much more likely to find work if you are in the middle of it all.

That being said, in 2015 we now have things like skype and dropbox, so it is easier to work remotely, but that doesn't change the fact that meeting and interacting with people in person is much more likely to get you hired.

[Bob Olhsson]

It's all about who knows what you know. Remember that the people who hire us are always betting their careers on our work. They only hire people they know or recommendations from those people when somebody they know isn't available. Chris's example is what all of us have experienced.

For this reason I'm pretty skeptical of most recording schools. For music recording, it's better to go to a music school where you will develop relationships with future successful musicians who will need to hire audio people. The same is true in film. Internships need to be in places where you can develop relationships with lots of different people. You also need to be in a location where people work. I've been forced to relocate across the country twice.