Careers in the Film Industry: Statistics and Info

The film industry is big business. Even so, there has been speculation about how increased ticket prices, faster turn-around times for new movies being released on DVD and new technology could negatively impact the bottom line for movie theaters and, by extension, the film industry.

Although theater admissions declined at the beginning of the decade, 2006 ended a 3-year downward trend as admissions increased 3.3 percent over the previous year. In 2007 and 2008, box office numbers held steady, and in 2009 the numbers increased another 7.6 percent—coming in at $10.6 billion in U.S. box office sales (see chart below).

The latest published data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the motion picture and video industries provided 361,900 jobs in 2008, and most of these positions were in film and video production. Overall industry employment is expected to grow 14 percent by 2018. In any case, it seems clear that despite yearly fluctuations in box office numbers, Hollywood isn't going anywhere anytime soon. That's good news for people hoping to start careers in the film industry.

Predicting your future earning potential in the film industry is tricky. There are many key factors to consider. What will your job title be? What projects will you work on? How long will they take? What kind of budgets will they have? Will you have a lot of down-time between projects, or will you work steadily? In addition to these factors, your salary may also depend on how well you network and how well-known you become.

The following table gives some general information about film industry salaries for directors and producers:

In film industry jobs, the pay may not be the same on every project. You'll take some jobs for the credit rather than the money. In other words, you shouldn't enter the film industry because of the promise of a big salary. There are no guarantees. However, working in a job that challenges and excites you is a reward in itself. And with determination and luck, you can achieve the financial rewards as well.

• _{U.S. Theatrical Market Statistics report from Motion Picture Association of America}
• _{HR data as reported by Salary.com for October, 2009}