Westward bound

[Anton Delfino]

Hey guys -

 

I am hoping that some of the LA peeps can chime in with some advice and insight about the industry. It appears my short stint in NY may be coming to an end by the end of summer. While it would be great to continue to live and work here, the significant other is finishing up her PhD and wants to move closer to home (SF). As such, I am considering moving to LA because it is closer and seems like a logical step for me in this career path.

 

While I do expect to have to jump on a few freebies just to meet some folks, how hard would it be for someone like me - who has decent gripping experience - to find sets to jump on? Are there any other production resources other than clist and mandy that I should be looking at? Is it an absolute nightmare making it to set on time with all the traffic?

 

If anyone can share their experiences working in LA, or if anyone has made a similar move, I would certainly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

 

- anton

[Darryl Richard Humber]

Hi Anton,

 

If you've got experience it shouldn't be too hard although now there's a defacto strike for features as everyone is waiting to see what the actors are going to do strike wise. Getting into Local 80. which you'll want to do if you want to do decent budget work is not easy, but it's not impossible. You should be able to find enough work to pay the bills after putting your name around a little (non-union commercials and music videos) but a lot of features aren't going to start up after a certain date (end of March) til the actors have a deal.

Traffic isn't a nightmare if you leave before a certain time (in my case 6:30 AM). If you have an 8 or 9AM call and set is 30 miles away, you might as well still leave at 6: 30 and take a little nap when you get there. I've never been late yet so it's not impossible.

[Anton Delfino]

Hi Anton,

 

If you've got experience it shouldn't be too hard although now there's a defacto strike for features as everyone is waiting to see what the actors are going to do strike wise. Getting into Local 80. which you'll want to do if you want to do decent budget work is not easy, but it's not impossible. You should be able to find enough work to pay the bills after putting your name around a little (non-union commercials and music videos) but a lot of features aren't going to start up after a certain date (end of March) til the actors have a deal.

Traffic isn't a nightmare if you leave before a certain time (in my case 6:30 AM). If you have an 8 or 9AM call and set is 30 miles away, you might as well still leave at 6: 30 and take a little nap when you get there. I've never been late yet so it's not impossible.

 

Hey Darryl -

 

Thanks for the reply. Good to know there's a lot of non-union gigs going on - just like here in NY. Also, thanks for the travel time tip. Good to know there's a time of the day where there isn't traffic - rather, not as much.

 

Oh, and I'm often on your blog. Good stuff, keep it up. Real helpful for guys like me who want to get better at their craft.

 

- anton

[Anton Delfino]

Anyone else? Bueller...?

[robert duke]

Before you make the entire westward journey, are you willing to start from the bottom again. It maybe where you will need to start unless you already have contacts with a key or a DP.

 

You might also look to boston as they are exploding with production right now.

 

Traffic is not so bad just something to deal with. Buy a GPS unit and it will help immensely. Avoid the 10 and 405. the 101 can be bad at certain times a GPS will help route you around traffic with minimal problems. I thought it was the best investment I ever made.

 

It shouldnt take much time once you get your number in the hands of some stand up folks. Call the rental houses and leave your number with them. take as many Mandy.com BS jobs to meet people as you can, go hang out at LAfilmschools and offer up to students. They know people who know people who are looking for people.

 

Be patient, keep at least a couple grand as back up cash in case you get in a pickle.