Unsolicited Industry Advice, Part 3

continued discussion from parts 1, and 2  

Nature of the Industry
Its volatile. Just understand that at the door. Lots of factors make it that way, the important thing is to be able to navigate it. Some things to keep in mind: 

• It's a creative entertainment genre with lots of money and lots more passion. More than film for several years now. That leads to the market being measured in big successes or big fails with little in between. Studios come and go all the time, but the talent pool stays about the same. Now with the mobile market so wide, smaller studios are able to make bigger stakes but profit margins are more tight than ever.
• Technology is always changing and studios have to adapt and employees' skill sets grow constantly. We can do stuff now in shorter time frames that are so much more amazing but the market is more saturated. 
• A global audience at your doorstep with the generation raised on the information highway makes for an environment that is hard to have a voice in, let alone get heard. Personal growth is a constant must to stay fresh, in touch, and tech-literate. Learn to have your own voice, and find studios and clients with similar goals makes this curve much easier.

So what does this mean? 

 You will move, and move often. In the Americas, most of the market is English speaking, bigger hubs being CA, Austin, Seattle, and Vancouver, but being bilingual makes you way more versatile. You will Crunch. I don't care what legislation is on the books, time frames are tighter than budgets and to put out any product you can be proud of, you will put in the time. The pay off?  As artists, salary runs the full spectrum of pro-bono, to minimum wage, all the way up to six figures. You're worth is totally dependent on how good you are, with how much experience. You will be pushed: artistically, socially, and personally. As a dynamic industry there is no room for the retiring house for artists to be successful. No one makes this stuff on their own, so learn how to play nice with the other kids.

Hope that helps, more notes to come.

V