Poll: Entertainment as a profession
 

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i put in painter.
i think it would be an absolutely amazing life.

although i´d dearly love to be able to support myself as a jazz pianist as well.

these forms of expression just seem to appeal to my sensibilities.
i wish i had the talent, and the courage to live that life.

I'd like to be able to support myself with my music. Over the next few years I'll take some steps to do so.

I'd like to play music in a rock band, but not big headed like Metallica, just their money. My friend is in a band, a local cover type band, and the stories he has to tell...

You left out all the other aspects of the Entertainment industry...

Producer, Financier, Broadcaster, Distributor, Exhibitor, etc....

These are just as important to the Entertainment Industry as the creative side is...

Publisher too.

I included only the creative side, on purpose. The others shouldn't care if they work for entertainment or not. They'll still be doing the same job.

Artists, on the other hand, don't have a choice. Their profession, by definition, is only good for entertainment.

Four Fingers, how about answering your own question? ;) Inquiring minds want to know! :p

As for myself, musician. Heck, it *is* what I'm going to school for! :lol:

Of course, every now and then I'll toggle back and forth between that and the last option as I get more and more involved ;)

I work in the entertainment industry for 7 years now... in an IT capacity, and I've also helped in some creative elements too. Currently now, I figure out how to make systems work across the board for all the MTV channels (something like 17 of them... the work is all the same but the content is different,) from computer financial systems, scheduling systems, to video data management.

Not only should you answer your own question, but help some of the readers along describing some of the aspects of each. There are leading actors, character actors, bit actors, and even professional extra actors. Catch my drift?

Nope, not for me.

I do work in the entertainment industry, but not as one of the jobs listed.

I am a lighting designer for theatre. I also work as a crew person for a TV show.

Well, personally, I think us western people consume too much entertainment. If 30 years ago, hardly 500 writers could support themselves by writing, today more than 10,000 writers support themselves this way. This also applies to other forms of entertainment. In Japan, people wait on the streets for 3 days, to be the first to catch a new Nintendo game.

I think this is unhealthy for society. All people do is work by entertaining people, make money, then go home and spend the money on entertainment. What happend to important things that are dull and not entertaining? Like space travel, like curing diseases, and finding new energy sources.

So, ideally, I'd like to see people say, "I want to run an envelope factory, so people can use mail and be productive." Not as deck as saying, "I want to be the head of a music band," but certainly more useful (and more realistic).


Of course, I am a complete hypocrite 'cause I want to be a film director :)

I would love to work behind the scene in the movie industry. I don't think I'm creative enough to be a director, though I think it would be awesome to help make a movie. Don't want to be an actor, don't think I could direct, but in the interest of this poll, I will say director.

Well, seeing as how "vocal performance" is my major, I think that answers the question. :) Now the real question is, how will I make any money in the entertainment industry? :p

I don't think that is entirely true... I work in sales and acquisitions for a Distribution company and I can assure you that I would not be doing sales if it wasn't for the fact that I am selling Film and Television.

I also know of some Film and Television producers that would not be producing just anything... They are only interested in producing entertainment...

Anything except "fluffer"

I've done the musician thing. I even have the t-shirt somewhere.

No thanks, not for me.

Game designer! In fact, I'm working towards that goal right now.

music
 

One day I will be a big star, I know its true because my mommy told me. I will be a musician

All of the above,
I really like everything.

However, painting is what I'm best at,
so that's what I put.

doh, clicked game designer, then saw musician when it was too late.

my choice would be audio engineer - having the chance to play with the high-end professional equipment and software on a daily basis would be very interesting.

Doesn't it bother anyone that less than 25% are interested in a job that's not related to entertainment?

It'd be fun to be a performer, but I think I'd enjoy the creative process of coming up with the piece myself. I put down "writer" because there wasn't a "composer" choice.

I'd love to be a film technician of some sort. Set design, special effects, and the like. If I didn't choose my current career path, that would definitely be next on my list. :D

Musician of course. It keeps me occupied doing something I enjoy and it's useful, unlike the many hours I used to spend playing video games.

back in the days before electricity... you went to bed relatively early... and you got up really early... entertainment was a live medium and since it wasn't commonplace was quite expensive. even the wayang kulit of indonesia was entertainment for the king.

entertainment is about having disposable time, from TV to books, video games to movies... it's all about doing something when you aren't working.

I clicked musician, but to get specific, I'd like to work as a composer/arranger. We'll see how that works out.

It is quite a fun job, but tough to make a decent living at until you get well known.

Well, that's my point. As you said, entertainment is about having disposable time... it's about doing things for pure fun, when you're not working.
What happens when most of the things people do are for entertainment? Society degenrates.

Imagine that suddenly people stopped consuming entertainment. In ancient times, nobody would notice. Today, most of us would be unemployed.

Man this was a tough one between musician and computer games. I had to go with musician however, because in all my experiences in life, music not only entertained, but has been able to deeply touch my emotions. A game, on the other hand, is mostly just a game ;) So if I was going to be able to entertain, I'd want the chance to be able to reach some people in a way that certain musicians have been able to do to me!

However, I really don't want to be famous. So that's almost enough to make me want to entertain behind the scenes and just make games for people to get lost in.

Ironically I left living in LA because I didn't want to work for Hollywood, and here I've been working for cable television for almost 7 years now.

Even with entertainment, someone is still working, there are people who take in the concessions, the projector operator, the maintenance and facilities guys.. it's not just as simple as you've put out there Forks.

There's much much more beneath the surface. It's why I moved away from LA. I didn't want to work for the industry even in a tertiary capacity. Now, I'm very happy to have been involved in it, since the brand I work for is recognized all over the world.

Ahhhh, to be the drummer in a rock band.


If only Bob Seger would call. I've listened to "Live Bullet" enough times that I could fill in on any given night.








...still waiting by the phone.

I've done some theater and seemed to get good responses. I've been Stage Director for some theater as well. I hater that job. No body seemed to listen - they all wanted to do their own thing. Maybe it was the age I was working with - Teens. lol I've done a lot of public speaking though and enjoy it lots. The type of acting I'd want to do isn't the talking kind. ;) At least not much talking. At the last party we went to another guy and I inadvertantly put on a show for almost 25 people or so. That was hot but that is a whole nother story. :D

There are way too many people more talented than me in the entertainmetn world who are starving. I don't have the drive to compete.

as someone who works in the entertainment industry, I can tell you that it is at times very rewarding, and at other times very boring. I work for a TV show and we tape 6 shows a week, so days are long. But we're well compensated and get to see some pretty cool people (musicians, actors, politicians, etc.)

I really like this thread. It's nice to see other entertainment professionals on TFP.

I'm an actor. Stage, film and TV, although most of my experience is on stage.

There are too many actors out there. Specifically, there are too many actors who are out there for the wrong reasons. People need to become actors because they have no other choice. It's the only thing that will satisfy them.

I'm also a musician, but not by profession. I enjoy performing music up on stage, sometimes even more than when I'm acting. I think it's about control.

I answered actor, but although I'd love to do that, specifically i'd really like to be a stand-up comedian.

since around 1997, i've had the same dream. i'm beginning to write some material, and i'm going to see about filling some spots at open-mic nights at a couple of clubs.

i'm terrified to bomb, but i can't put it off much longer.

Seen a bit of that scene...it does absolutely nothing for me at all.

been drummin' since 3yrs old.played in countless bands,i've played in tons of clubs,halls,parties,basements and backyards.

it would have been nice to go somewhere with it back then but......momma got pregnant and i had to grow up.

But......i still write my own stuff with my brother in law....and we're recording through this lovely unit called a PC now.

man if i only knew about comps 15-20 years ago.

we've about 5 damn near complete songs already and are going to shop them around.

when the disc is done.....maybe i'll try and throw it out there for you to hear.

I'd love to write and make money doing it. Therefore, I could write more and not have to worry about having another job to make money. Of course, that's in a perfect world.

It would also be cool to manage or have some part in tours for Bob Dylan. That'd be a dream come true.