Stability and Parallel Careers

Guest post by: by Jenny Yerrick Martin of Your Industry Insider!

From Jenny's Blog:

In an interview with Criminal Minds creator Jeff Davis on TheScriptLab.com, the interviewer noted that Davis famously had no backup plan should his writing aspirations have failed to pan out. She then pointed out that if everyone’s pitches and spec pilots were bought, there wouldn’t be enough television stations to air them, and she asked Davis what kinds of backup plans people should have in place. He replied, “What I usually say to would-be writers is that if you want a career in Hollywood, don’t have a backup plan. Persistence is actually just as important as talent, and if you want to succeed in this business, you have to give yourself over to it completely.”

“So, when should one give up?” the interviewer asks. Davis replies, “Never. Not if you truly want a career in this business. The only time I would ever give up is if everyone around you told you bluntly and repeatedly that you are the worst writer to have ever walked the face of the Earth. And even then I wouldn’t give up. Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life.”

Things worked well for Davis, making it easy for him to give the “have no backup plan” advice. But I think we can all agree that Vincent van Gogh is not a good role model for many reasons, the most relevant of which is that he died at age 38 (by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, but that’s another story).

These days, people live about twice that long or longer. Thirty more years struggling to get your first paycheck in your dream pursuit would be quite a long haul. And even if it didn’t take that long, some people don’t want to put off being able to build a “real” life for themselves, sometimes with spouses and kids who require things like health insurance and diapers, which do not come cheap.

So when does a day job become a parallel career? Beyond day jobs are what some people call “real jobs” and I call “career jobs.” I differentiate day jobs from career jobs in that a career job allows for professional growth, so even some of the jobs in the previous chapters would qualify as parallel careers depending upon how they were pursued. For instance, a bookkeeper could develop an ongoing clientele that would provide “real life” money and potentially lead to hiring associates to help with the workload and grow the revenue. But if you are a bookkeeper who lets that business drop when you have acting income or another money-making opportunity, that is a day job.

Actress Carey Peters became a certified holistic health coach through the Institute for Integrative Medicine in addition to auditioning and studying acting. She developed a nutritional consulting business and then added coaching other nutritional coaches on how to build their businesses to her professional roster. These days, she appears with Judy Greer in the “Reluctantly Healthy” video series on Yahoo TV, in addition to running her “Lose Weight Like a Celebrity” weight loss program and her “Holistic MBA” coaching program. Oh, and she still takes acting jobs when she is available.

One of the secrets of being a working entertainment professional is that the vast majority do not actually “make it” and then never have to worry about money again. Most people, even actors who are in series and writers whose screenplays have been optioned by studios and sometimes even made into films, have flush years and lean years.

Writer Sterling Anderson, who was profiled on YourIndustryInsider.com in December 2011, hit a brick wall in his successful career writing TV movies of the week. Around the time of the 9/11 attacks, when he had just bought a nice home in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood, his six-figure income disappeared almost overnight. Tightened network budgets coupled with the popularity of the relatively cheap new reality genre led to the rapid demise of the TV movie.

Lucky for Anderson, the woman who had just sold him his house and become a friend in the process happened to own an animation production company – and she welcomed him as creator and writer of new shows for the company. From there, he transitioned into writing for one-hour TV dramas, which remains his primary genre today. He has also done some teaching and speaking, so had he not gotten into animation, he had other ways to go. But for many, a shift in the industry can be devastating.

Whether it’s something extreme, like what happened in Anderson’s case or in the case of a prolonged labor strike, or just a normal lull in work opportunities, lean times can be highly stressful. Some people are forced to return to bartending or administrative work. Others have to come up with a new line of work in their thirties, forties, or beyond.

A compatible “career job” developed as someone is beginning to pursue his or her dreams in entertainment can provide both a backup if things don’t work out and an alternative should the work dry up or become unsatisfying mid-career. In the ideal world, not only does the parallel career provide more stability, it also involves some kind of passion.

Actor/comedian Ken Jeong (The Hangover movies, Community) studied and then practiced medicine first in New Orleans and then in Los Angeles. He performed standup on the side, until he broke through as an actor. He has said he enjoyed being a doctor and still keeps his license current in case he should need to go back to it.

In some cases, the stable career job and the dream pursuit can somehow merge. In Carey Peters’ case, a health issue led to an interest in wellness that led to getting formal training. And eventually her nutritional work merged with acting – hence, the Yahoo series and other web and television opportunities to discuss her nutritional work, which utilizes her on-camera chops.

Also worth noting is that in some cases, the parallel career path actually facilitates the aspirant’s entry into entertainment. For instance, David E. Kelley was a practicing attorney who wrote on the side when he landed his first staff writing job. That first gig was on L.A. Law, and he was hired because Steven Bochco was looking for writers with legal backgrounds. Kelley has undoubtedly gotten more than enough out of his study of law by developing several legal-themed one-hour dramas such as Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Legal, and Harry’s Law.

Your day job can turn into a parallel career path and inspire your creative work, as was the case with Nick Offerman from Parks & Recreation. A skilled woodworker, he had made money building scenery in Chicago early in his career. Soon after moving to Los Angeles, he opened Offerman Woodshop, which makes small boats and furniture and employs several people besides Nick.

When the writers on Parks & Recreation found out about Nick’s passion for woodcraft, his character became a skilled woodworker as well. It is one of the defining characteristics of Ron Swanson and a source of income he still has today. Think about the opportunity to have that kind of synergy (or Carey Peters’ or David E. Kelley’s) at work in your career!

Jenny is a 20+ year veteran entertainment professional with experience in the film, television and music branches of the industry. She has spent the majority of her career as a hiring executive at a studio-based production company. Her website, Your Industry Insider, strives to inform people about the realities of the entertainment industry.

Jenny is running an incredible Los Angeles orientation panel on October 11th helping people with typical questions about the entertainment industry. Are you worried about pursuing your passion AND making money? Are you overwhelmed by the amount of choices you have and have no clear path to where you want to go? Are you unsure just where you want to go? Are you trying to get a job (or get cast or sell a script) and wondering why you’re not hearing back after submitting your materials? Do you have a nagging feeling there are right ways to do things and if you knew what they were, you would be making more progress?

Speakers include: