I had a conversation recently with a young film school grad that was feeling betrayed by his choice of career. He’d managed to turn an Office PA position into a Story Assist gig on a reality program back in 2012.  That show wrapped in February, and as of the time we spoke in late March, he hadn’t landed his next gig.  He was getting by and had some good leads, but was rapidly depleting his savings and none too happy about it.

One of the realities of the entertainment industry is that you’re likely to have more down time between jobs early in your career than you will in the middle of it.  It sucks, but that’s the nature of project-driven careers.  You will have down time, but as the years roll by, you’ll (typically) have less time on your hands between jobs.

The reason is simple: as you continue…