How important is it to LIVE in LA?

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UncleKornicob

Member
I'm positive this same topic has been discussed recently or deep down into the archives of this forum - yet I didn't seem to find much about it. Its a rather broad topic, but I think your opinon and experiences could be very beneficial to young and old filmmakers looking to take directing or anything in the industry to a professional level. I personally know that professional film-making shouldn't be limited by location, but the main question being, how important is it actually to live in Los Angeles, or other artistically rich cities like NYC for example. If one is striving to be a professional director, how important is it to actually live in LA?
Thanks!
 
UncleKornicob said:
I'm positive this same topic has been discussed recently or deep down into the archives of this forum - yet I didn't seem to find much about it. Its a rather broad topic, but I think your opinon and experiences could be very beneficial to young and old filmmakers looking to take directing or anything in the industry to a professional level. I personally know that professional film-making shouldn't be limited by location, but the main question being, how important is it actually to live in Los Angeles, or other artistically rich cities like NYC for example. If one is striving to be a professional director, how important is it to actually live in LA?
Thanks!
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Given that LA and New York are major centers for filmmaking as well as other artistic disciplines... I'd say 'very important'.

I'm sure one can make a living elsewhere, but I would also say that it would be more likely in such areas as corporate/event coverage, perhaps some limited regional 'content' production, etc.

That said. It is my firm belief that 99.99999% of those who move to LA (or any other center of film making...), never really achieve their goal, and usually drift out of LA one way or another.

I think things are changing due to the democratization process of 'digital', but I don't think that at the present moment one would be able to really effectively 'live' off of income as one is able to do if one finds work in LA in the 'theatrical film making' business.
 
The answer is no. As made apparent by this years "Beasts of a Southern Wild", you can make a film just about anywhere these days. In the past, you needed to be in LA because frankly that's where all the cameras were. Obviously not the case anymore.

That being said, if you want a realistic shot at a career, then being in a major hub is important as that's where most of the PA jobs are. Right now the major hubs are LA, NY, Atlanta, New Orleans, and North Carolina. You can make a career for yourself in any of those areas. Outside of that, and you will mostly end up doing weddings, local commercials, etc.
 
Greenwich, Connecticut
Wellington, New Zealand
Palo Alto, California
San Carlos, California
London, England
Pacific Palisades, California
Toronto, Canada
Miami Beach, Florida
San Francisco, California

Just a few places where big name directors live.

In my mind being a professional director simply means earning a living by directing, and there are many different ways to do just that. Sometimes young wannabe directors stigmatize every job aside of being a Hollywood film director. But the truth of the matter is the likelihood of someone becoming big Hollywood film director is right up there with playing football in the NFL. Can it happen? Absolutely! But it is not likely. Want to direct? Then you need to be somewhere there are jobs for directors. Or jobs openings which you can learn from on route to becoming a director. Does that mean LA? Not necessarily.
 
If you are a big-name director, you can live wherever you bloody well want and get flown in (first class, on the studio's dime) to wherever they need you. Must be nice.

As far as getting to that point...

The advantage of living in a big production city is that you have infrastructure for the industry. Certainly there is more work in different cities than there used to be, thanks to the tax incentive program. More opportunities for crew, for sure. And if you intend to work your way up in this industry (which sadly seems to be a dying-out approach) you can gain valuable experience this way.

But the important factor is where the deals are made, and that is still LA. The vast majority of producers, directors and actors have a presence here and that is because the initial part of the process still happens here, regardless of where the films are shot.

On the indie level, there are certainly opportunities for filmmaker to live anywhere and make a great film and if they are lucky, get distribution. Subsequent to that, they will need to be able to take meetings and get into the system, and most of the time that happens in LA. Flying back and forth, keeping an apartment in LA and staying in one's hometown is possible but it's a tough road!

Finally if one is doing pure indie work, it's more than possible to do it anywhere now. The tricky part is having the access to great actors. I work all the time on budget-strapped projects that have amazing and well-known actors in them, usually doing it as a favor. They are a lot less likely to jump on a plane as a favor. Again, it's possible to find a great actor anywhere--it just becomes that much less likely!
 
jghenderson said:
The answer is no. As made apparent by this years "Beasts of a Southern Wild", you can make a film just about anywhere these days. In the past, you needed to be in LA because frankly that's where all the cameras were. Obviously not the case anymore.
Click to expand...

"He [Benh Zeitlin] was born to folklorists Mary Amanda Dargan and Steven Joel "Steve" Zeitlin, who founded City Lore in New York City.".
"City Lore: the New York Center for Urban Culture was founded in 1986 and was the first organization in the United States devoted expressly to the "documentation, preservation, and presentation of urban folk culture."".

While Zeitlin did move to New Orleans, don't think he 'just dropped out of the sky'...

A location needs to have a 'filmmaking' infrastructure. New Orleans has something in that regard, and Austin as well... but what about Tucumcari New Mexico, about 170 miles east of Albuquerque?

Further, such a location needs a steady stream of work for it to be a career...
 
If you want to become a professional movie director, living in Los Angeles gives you some big advantages. Aside from the obvious things, there is the business itself, which operates like a private social network. You can't join from the internet, you have to be here in person.

If you start working as a PA on other people's films, you will make connections. As time passes, the folks you met on a film set will become more successful, and you will have friends who can help you take a step up. Getting out to LA and starting to network makes a huge difference.

If you can't make it to LA, just keep putting movies on YouTube, and promote them on the net. If people liek your work, they will bring you to Los Angeles.
 
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