Is the Entertainment Industry Dead? No! Here's Where the Jobs Are.
🌟Career Coaching: How to Navigate the Changing Employment Landscape, 5 Hot Industry Jobs, Plus 10 Industry-Specific Job Boards.
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The entertainment industry often feels like a locked vault guarded by a fire-breathing dragon who is flanked by the old monster Nepotism on one side and AI, a younger beast, on the other. We all hear the horror stories. It’s hard to avoid the headlines about layoffs and shrinking budgets. It's easy to get discouraged.
But what if I told you that there are still jobs available in the entertainment industry?
While it's definitely not all sunshine and roses, the industry is evolving, and with that evolution comes opportunity. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the motion picture and sound recording industries is projected to grow 8-12% from 2023 to 2033, which is faster than the average for all occupations.
As our clients learn from our coaching: it's not about magically bypassing the challenges, but about understanding where the demand is, what your skills are (or need to become), and positioning yourself accordingly.
Here are five of the areas where employers are actively hiring today:
Content Creators: Skilled storytellers, video editors, graphic designers and anyone who can craft compelling narratives across various platforms is in demand. Platforms are hungry for fresh content and brands are desperate for engaging online experiences.
Digital Marketers: Remember the days when marketing consisted of a press release, a poster or flyer and a few posts on Facebook? [Sigh.] Now it's all about social media strategy and understanding the ever-shifting demands of online engagement. It’s about SEO, PPC and key words. 😒 Entertainment companies need digital gurus to reach audiences in the digital realm.
VFX Artists and Animators: From blockbuster films to the latest video games, visual effects are more crucial than ever. If you've got the skills to bring imaginary worlds to life, your talents are in high demand.
Cybersecurity Professionals: Okay, maybe not the sexiest job in entertainment, but absolutely vital. With so much content being created and distributed digitally, protecting that intellectual property is paramount. (Interesting to note that “information security” is one of the fastest growing sectors across industries worldwide.)
Data Analysts: Numbers might not seem very "Hollywood," but they're the not-so-secret weapon of the entertainment industry. Understanding audience behavior, tracking trends and using data to inform decisions is absolutely key to success in the industry.
How do you find these and other industry gigs, including more traditional ones like actor, director or producer? While networking remains the single most effective way to land a job, here are ten industry-specific resources worth checking out:
ShowbizJobs – a free, easy-to-navigate platform. The jobs and companies are vetted prior to posting, so you can have some confidence that the listings are real.
EntertainmentCareers.Net – An old-fashioned platform that has been around for nearly three decades. Again, listings are vetted.
Media Match – While this link takes you to film and tv jobs in the USA, the site also has separate job boards for music industry jobs in the US, Brazil, UK and Italy.
Mandy.com – Global listings for talent and crew.
ProductionHUB – Focusing on connecting professionals with production opportunities in film and tv.
CrewMeUp – An app-based platform to connect crew members with filmmakers.
CastingNetworks – Opportunities for union and non-union talent.
Playbill – The place to go if you want to work on Broadway (or off).
NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts) – For jobs primarily in the NYC non-profit arts and culture sector.
The List – for those with a head for numbers, Wrapbook hosts this muscular list of job opportunities in production accounting and finance.
The film commission in your town and/or state may have additional resources, as will entertainment union locals. And the legacy studios and streaming services (Disney, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) all have career pages on their websites, so check those out if you’re interested in taking a more corporate journey.
The hard truth of it is that your next job is more likely to come through someone you know rather than an online listing. I’ll repeat it loud and clear: networking is still the single best way to find a job.
But job boards are a fantastic way to stay informed. By regularly browsing a couple of these sites, you can see what skills are in demand, what types of projects are being developed and who companies are looking to hire. This knowledge can be invaluable when you're networking, allowing you to hone in on who you want to connect with and put a spotlight on the in-demand skills you can deliver for that person.
Is the entertainment industry a walk in the park? Absolutely not. But is it a completely barren wasteland? Definitely not. By staying informed, honing your skills to meet the demand and building your network, you can dramatically increase your chances of finding your place in the ever-evolving world of entertainment.
