Film student Angela Henderson was relaxing on the porch of the USC School of Cinematic Arts on a recent sunny afternoon, listening to music on her headphones and collecting her thoughts while looking up at the sky. Henderson was taking a short break after applying for dozens of Hollywood jobs.
The 22-year-old film and media studies student graduates in December and is “a little scared” of what lies ahead.
“What if one day I become one of those people who loses their job?” said Henderson.
He’s not wrong to wonder.
Waves of layoffs, fueled in part by media consolidation, have swept across the industry, leading to layoffs at Netflix, Walt Disney and Warner Bros., which was recently acquired by Paramount-Skydance.
Productions continue to leave the state, and artificial intelligence and vertical video are reshaping what gets made and who does it.
But aspiring actors, screenwriters and directors, many of whom are film school students like Henderson, still make pilgrimages to Los Angeles. The Times spoke with some of these students about how they plan to navigate today’s Hollywood. Most have their eyes open to the possibilities, and none of them plan to give up.
“Some of us may see a lot of doom and gloom,” said Miranda Banks, professor of film, television and media studies at Loyola Marymount University. “But this generation has such an eye on the power of human creativity that I’m not sure any of us in other generations have been as attuned.”
He thinks many of his students have a good chance of succeeding if they are “savvy and strategic” about where the industry is heading.
“We’ve had a lot of unprecedented years with strange things affecting the industry and making things particularly difficult,” Banks added. “This has happened before, it will continue to happen.”
Gianna Jordano, a freshman film and television production major at Loyola Marymount University, was photographed on a film stage inside the Wil and Mary Jane Von der Ahe Communication Arts Building, which houses LMU’s School of Film and Television.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Gianna Jordano, Loyola Marymount University, 19
Gianna Jordano said that when she first applied to film schools, she knew the industry was in some sort of “collapse phase.” With fewer movies being made, the influence of artificial intelligence and a general lack of jobs, the Huntington Beach native said he’s nervous about pursuing a career in the film industry.
But after seeing movies like “Primetime,” “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in theaters this year, Jordano was more inspired than ever.
“My friends and I are watching all these new movies and saying, ‘This is what we want to do. This is what I want to pursue and achieve in the future,'” the film and TV production executive said. “I feel less nervous now.”
After graduation, he plans to work his way up to directing, even if it means taking on other jobs like teaching and working at a restaurant to achieve his dream.
“The more open-minded you are and the more willing you are to work, the easier it is to find a job, even if you’re not always at your best or doing the job you want to do,” Jordano said.
Teddy Abularach (left) and Mitch Linebaugh (both 18) visit the Herbert E. Farmer Collection of Motion Picture Technology at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Teddy Abularach and Mitch Linebaugh USC18
Freshman screenwriting students Teddy Abularach and Mitch Linebaugh had recently moved to Los Angeles from New York City and Des Moines, respectively, to pursue careers in screenwriting.
Despite common concerns about finding a job after graduation, both are determined to succeed in business.
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“We’ll have to work a lot harder to find a job. I’m already preparing myself for a brutal graduate school life,” Abularach said. “I wouldn’t be happy if I was in another job. … Even if I have a small chance to be successful and be able to pay the bills and do what I love, it’s worth it.”
They are not blind to the difficulties of being a screenwriter.
But Linebaugh said he worries that “everything is becoming too monotonous” because the industry is so reliant on algorithms and audience preferences.
“I don’t think people in this industry, everyone from writers to managers, would allow this,” Linebaugh said. “I know the cliché is that they like to keep their jobs, but I’m still hopeful that they want to make good movies.”
The two 18-year-olds moved to the city with the intention of staying despite the industry’s diminishing local footprint.
Linebaugh said he’ll try his hand at screenwriting and if things don’t work out, he’ll consider graduate school or entertainment law.
Abularach said he “didn’t have a plan B other than entertainment.”
He is already preparing for life.
“I still can’t get over the stereotype of the Los Angeles writer who does everything in Los Angeles, like attending sales meetings, drinking coffee, and being in writers’ rooms,” Abularach added.
UCLA film student Tomas Carrasco (center) gets his make-up done by UCLA student Song Diqiong just before going onstage in his short film “D-Facer, Reality Break” on the set at Melnitz Hall on the UCLA campus. He wrote, produced, acted and directed the short film.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Tomas Carrasco, UCLA25
In the halls of the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television covered in movie posters, Tomas Carrasco was preparing to shoot his senior film, a surreal horror comedy. The senior, who is on director’s leave in UCLA’s film and television program, said he’s “not too scared about where the industry is going because there will always be room for artists.”
Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Carrasco was always fascinated by filmmaking. Her father worked as a soap opera editor and sometimes brought her to the set; here he learned to love “the feeling of being around people doing things.”
He began his film education at Santa Monica College, where he took every film class offered. He now has his sights set on production design.
Despite his artistic inclinations, he said he was aware that films were money-making products. For this reason, he thinks that the industry is turning to technology instead of taking art-oriented risks.
“I see the mergers happening and the whole AI thing sucks. I don’t like it,” Carrasco said. “But I still have to come to class every day and do my homework. I think about where the industry is going, but that takes up as much space as a movie idea.”
As he prepares for an uncertain future, Carrasco plans to continue working at his family’s Northridge café, Mate Conmigo, where he can pursue his creative passions while maintaining a stable job.
“I want this as a career path and I don’t want to be naive,” he said. “But you must be a little naive. You must be delusional about a career in the arts.”
USC film student Angela Henderson, 22, stands next to a photograph of director Orson Welles in the Herbert E. Farmer Collection of Motion Picture Technology at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Angela Henderson, USC22
According to Henderson, some of the anxiety caused by the job is simple math.
“Unfortunately, it is very difficult to separate myself from this,” he said. “There are hundreds of people here in film programs who all want the same job and career.”
Growing up in Eagle Rock with two musician parents, Henderson always had the world of entertainment close at hand. He started acting at the age of 10 and began appearing in theater and commercials. He started college at UC Berkeley, where he realized he didn’t just want to be in front of the camera, but also cover the media from behind the scenes. He transferred to USC with dreams of following filmmakers like Greta Gerwig, who began writing and directing her own projects.
If it takes a while for Henderson to break into the industry, so be it. He said he is open to all kinds of jobs, including assistant and food service.
But Henderson said his generation of filmmakers are not discouraged, but rather eager to encourage change. He said they were largely tired of watching Hollywood “recycle the same material over and over again” and wanted to bring new stories to the table.
“It feels like we’re on the cusp of something new. There’s a breakthrough about to happen,” Henderson said. “With all these vertical developments and AI declines in social media, there is also a huge renaissance in independent films… there is still hope for something new to come.”