Since this is a rather slow day here, I thought I'd post a very off-topic diary asking for advice from my fellow Kossacks.
As many of you know, I've been unemployed for a long time now. I'm lucky in that my wife has a decent government job, but we are just barely scraping by. The big problem is me and my job skill set and experience set.
I have basically spent my entire adult life in some form of media business and that work has dried up. I live in Los Angeles, the center of the country's media empire, and I haven't found work in months. I think it's time for me to get out (we're even looking into moving back to Indiana), but what do I do when my entire life has been specialized to this one field?
It gets more complicated than that too.
The longest I ever worked in a traditional office was two months as a temp job, at the end of which I was let go for being too overqualified (it was an ISP where I was a receptionist and I helped the tech support people field calls when they were too busy and it apparently intimidated the others). So, essentially, I have no office experience.
Here is a basic timeline of my adult working life-
18-23 College plus managing a recording studio and working as an audio engineer and sound designer in Indiana.
24 Worked for local cable company in Indiana writing and shooting TV commercials
25-27 Ran own local TV/Radio Commercial and animation production company in Indiana.
28-31 Worked freelance entertainment industry jobs in Los Angeles, own small project audio/video studio.
Now, as I said, the problem is that those jobs just aren't around anymore and I don't know where to turn. I have impressive credits within my industry and if there were jobs to be had here, I'm convinced I would have one by now, but there's just nothing.
So, barring going back to school (which will land me in more debt), who would hire me with these skills? What industry do I turn to? Is there anywhere I can work where I don't have to work my way up from the very bottom? Who else in this world needs a person who's talents are pretty much all on the creative side?
Here is my resume (with personal info edited out). It works really well in my industry, but I'm sure it looks ridiculous to anyone outside the entertainment world. I wouldn't even know how to tailor it.
Skills: Writing, editing, animating, voice-over (characters and accents), sound design, ADR/Foley
Experience:
Year • Company • Production • Role(s)
2008 • JibJab.com • Video Greeting Cards • Writing, editing
2008 • Beyond the Fall • Music Video • Animation, editing
2008 • Cinemagraphix • Night Driver animated feature • Sound Design/Audio Editing
2007 • Heavy Inc. • Short Videos for the Heavy Horror Channel • Writing, Editing, Voices
2007 • B7 Media / Sci-Fi Channel UK • Blake's 7 Audio Adventures • Voices
2006 • Radar Magazine • Short cartoons • Writing, animating, voices
2006 • Hanna-Barbara.com • Short cartoons • Writing, editing, voices.
2006 • Flying Squid Studios • The Skeletor Show • Creator
2005 • The Wowzies • Childrens' Television • Ralphie, other voices
2004 • Take Two Interactive • Scaler (Console Game) • Leon (Secondary Lead) / Rhombus (Villain)
2003 • Minerva Media • Produced, wrote, edited local TV and radio commercials
2001 • PBS (WTIU-TV) • Inventoons • Writer, Animator
2000 • Insight Media Advertising • Wrote and produced local cable TV spots
1995 • LodesTone Media • Studio Manager, Mastering Engineer, Audio Editor
Education: BSc. Audio Engineering - Indiana University - 2000
Video Samples: [EDITED LINK OUT OF DIARY]
Media Mentions: [EDITED LINKS OUT OF DIARY, INCLUDES USA TODAY ARTICLE AND NPR INTERVIEW]
Any ideas on where I should go from here?