Jobs! Talent Ditches Hollywood for the Creator Economy
Everyone from Dude Perfect to Dhar Mann is hiring legacy execs, writers and producers from film and TV — if they're willing to take the pay cut
I cover the creator economy at Like & Subscribe, a standalone newsletter that’s being sampled for a limited time for paid subscribers to The Ankler. Recently I reported on Nickelodeon’s first original series to launch on YouTube and wrote about Webtoon, where creators can make millions and sell shows to Netflix and Tubi. Email me tips and ideas at natalie@theankler.com
A couple of weeks ago, Elaine Low wrote about something that’s become quite rare in Hollywood these days: a creative exec job opening. Specifically one in scripted television development at Legendary. The majority of the comments on the LinkedIn post about the opening were out-of-work entertainment execs who said they’d applied for (or were interested in) the job. And just earlier today, Lesley Goldberg wrote about the very long odds these days to be hired in a TV writers room and what it takes to be noticed.
It’s a stark contrast to the creator economy where there never seems to be a shortage of open roles. YT Jobs currently lists more than 400 open positions working for creators or digital-first businesses, ranging from part-time remote gigs to full-time jobs with benefits. Meanwhile, Dhar Mann Studios, the Burbank-based company behind creator Dhar Mann’s YouTube channel that tells scripted stories with a message, is currently advertising 13 open roles, including a general counsel and a chief financial officer who would make as much as $300,000 per year plus bonus and equity in the business, and a YouTube writer who would be paid $700 per script. On the hiring platform Roster, basketball creator Jesser has posted an open role for a Los Angeles-based thumbnail designer with a starting salary of $90,000 plus health insurance and a 401(k).
Hollywood workers are seriously struggling. Between the pandemic, the strikes, the industrywide contraction and the wildfires, it hasn’t been easy to find or hold onto a job. The New York Times recently reported that around 18,000 full-time film and TV production jobs have disappeared in the last three years, most of them in California. But this week I’m here to tell you that there are jobs available. You just might be looking in the wrong place.
Scott Fisher has been working as a digital talent manager for 15 years. “There’s so much opportunity out there [in the creator economy] and it’s so easy to tap into,” says the founder and chairman of Select Management Group, which reps digital-first talent like Eva Gutowski, Jordan Chiles and Chris Olsen. He says he’s hired talent publicists and Hollywood agents and helped them build big businesses managing the careers of content creators.
Dhar Mann CEO Sean Atkins tells me lately when he’s hiring, about half the candidates walk in the door with no creator experience. Not everyone is cut out for the fast-paced, startup-like nature of a creator job, he says, but “if you can figure out a way to get into one of those rocket ships and learn and grow with them, it’ll be short-term pain for long-term gain.”
There can be a stigma to pivoting from a career working in movies or TV shows to one helping a twentysomething post dozens of TikToks each week. But as the industry grows — Goldman Sachs projects it’ll approach half a trillion dollars by 2027 — that could change. “Working in the creator economy shouldn’t be looked at as a step down,” says Daniel Abas, president of the Creators Guild of America. “It’s a step sideways, perhaps even a step forward,”
Fisher doesn’t believe people need to leave the filmed entertainment realm to explore creator-economy work, especially not gig workers with a specific skill that’s in high demand — think video editing, graphic design, cinematography and other physical production role. “It’s a great business, and you can do both. It’s like an actor taking their Marvel movie and then taking their art house movie.”
For this week’s column, I spoke to a half a dozen sources in entertainment and the creator economy — including a TV writer making TikTok videos and an executive recruiter — about the areas of opportunity for Hollywood workers eyeing digital-first work. Read on to learn:
Which creator economy businesses are building big production hubs and hiring in Los Angeles
The most plentiful contract roles for people with production experience
The typical pay rates at digital-first companies for writers, actors and video editors
Atkins’ three key pieces of advice for entertainment industry veterans transitioning to creator-economy work
How social media stardom can still be a pathway to the traditional Hollywood dream