I talk regularly with a group of working actors in Hollywood.These are young people getting their first taste of paid experience in film, television and commercial work. OK, full disclosure we’ll call them friends and family. I regularly forward them interesting items from the many industry newsletters I subscribe to. Whether you’re an actor, creative, craftsperson, or provide some other form of support service, we are living in a time of huge opportunity in media production and there has never been more work available.
Aside from the broadcast and cable networks that keep thousands of entertainment and news production people busy everyday, online continues to grow exponentially. Every major web portal has a strategy to both acquire finished content and support the creation of new content. Brands like YouTube, Yahoo, AOL, and Netflix are dedicating tens of millions of dollars to produce original programing. This isn’t the cheap UGC (User Generated Content) of the past. This is reality and scripted fare with high production value, the kind that requires skilled professionals. Good times.
And it’s not just the entertainment, advertising and news industries; corporate media production is also booming. Online data company comScore reported that 181.9 million Americans watched 38.8 billion online content videos in April 2013, while the number of video ad views reached an all-time high at 13.2 billion. Companies recognize that with Americans watching so much video online, one of the best ways to engage with customers and stakeholders is to get in the game. More and more of them are utilizing thoughtfully produced, high-quality video as a major component of their content marketing strategy.
So, what this all adds up to is a lot of work for media production people in places they maybe haven’t thought to look. TeamPeople is looking for work in all these places so we can put more folks to work. The same advice I give my actor friends in Hollywood applies to everyone in our industry. Cast a wide net because there are more ways than ever to get busy and stay busy in the production business.