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Moving to L.A. (pg. 3)
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| DaveT |
I think the big contributing factor in SF is there are a lot more 18+ CLUB events. TORQ was really the first one to start doing it, and now various promoters throw them because it's been so effective. (ie. Gareth Emery @ Spundae in May is 18+. One of Armin nights is 18+. The events at 525 howard are 18. etc. Ruby Skye itself throws more and more 18+ parties. You don't see 18+ nights on Fridays or Saturdays, except 525, but on other nights it's becoming more of the norm it seems.)
18+ events are just necessary in some areas. Like in Denver, I think most events there are 18+. Weekends or not (I could be wrong.
One thing I used to run into LA in random clubs (not the major ones) is that the night would start 21+, until 2am Then it'd go 18+ (parties went until 6 or 7 or later).. Haven't seen it in forever, but ran into it in the early 2000s. It was an interesting concept and def saw crowds pick up after the 2am as the 18-20 year olds starting coming in. |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
LA like any other city is what you make of it.
You wanna have a good time, then your gonna have a good time.
BUT
If you wanna have a bad time, you're gonna have a reallyyyy bad time.
I hope you don't plan on starting an acting career :) |
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| Evolve140 |
| quote: | Originally posted by darin epsilon
The recession is really to blame here. Every city across the board is hurting right now and "not as good" as they used to be.
You have a SoundCloud or someplace to hear your tracks? I run a label that releases this style of music. |
http://www.soundcloud.com/tilda140 |
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| first in space |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveT
It's easy to say that, but Ruby Skye and other events in SF have prob sold out or nearly sold out more recently that I can ever remember, to be honest.
And those massives in LA certainly don't seem to be affected by the recession. Explosive growth more than anything.
To the one asking about the job market, in my personal search I saw a HUGE change in openings probably starting last October. I went from a spare email or call back to a number of companies getting on contact with me more...or at least reaching out to me, whether I was perfectly qualified or not. Maybe it's just the industry I work in (video production), but it also seems a lot of people I know (in various fields) who have been looking forever have found new positions in the last few months, too....anyhow, point is I've seen a big shift in the job market for the good. |
hey man i'm actually considering moving to SF from texas. i'm in the same field, video production. i've been producing nightclub videos here for a couple years, been doing production full time for about 5 years. anyhow, you think there's been a growth in that industry recently in SF? cause i've been wanting to move to cali for awhile, just not sure if i wanted to struggle with the whole LA mess. a buddy of mine just moved to SF and he's been encouraging me to come. i know the EDM scene there is certainly better than it is in el paso, even if there's more 18+ clubs. the clubs down here are all ages and thats a HUGE reason parties suck. when i go to hear a dj, i don't want to have e-tard highschool kids w/skinny jeans in my face. anyhow, you think SF is worth a shot? the only thing that really keeps me hesitant is the high cost of living, but thats true of anywhere in cali it seems. thanks for any input you can provide! |
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| first in space |
| quote: | Originally posted by Evolve140
Hey guys,
Most of you probably don't recognize me because I hang around in the Producer's forum. I have been working very hard the past few years to sharpen up my productions and song writing, and I'm happy to say I'm ready to break into the game full force. I'm not here to promote myself or my productions, just to get a little information.
I am not moving to L.A. strictly for the music, or to be "discovered", or anything ridiculous like that. Where I live (Las Cruces, NM) there is no scene and nothing going on. Boring college town, the only thing to do is drink and smoke pot. The nearest party city is El Paso, but it's just a bunch of electro garbage and scene kids and lacks night life diversity. Juarez used to be the best party city for hundreds of miles around, but ceased being safe several years ago. The reason I mention this is because I've just been ready for a change for a while, and L.A. happens to be a good decision right now because of my circumstances which I won't get into.
There are a couple/few international DJs who I keep in touch with who have expressed some interest in supporting some of the tracks (unreleased) I have shown them and I noticed that they have gigs lined up in L.A., which means there is a chance they could be playing them out there as well.
I just have a couple questions. How hard is it to break in and start getting gigs here? Would it help if my productions were being supported by bigger acts? What is the scene like? Is the music winning or is it "see and be seen" type of night life?
Just wondering what to expect, so please don't crucify me for asking! Thanks guys! |
yoooo i'm from el paso. you ever used to go hardpop/moroccos back in the days when jtown was the place to be? |
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| DaveT |
| There's growth in both cities. LA has A lot more jobs in video, but there's also a ton more video people there. More and more openings are popping up down there...definitely better than before when 80%+ of the openings I saw were for interns and also a lot with no pay ("but great for the resume"). Was really difficult. |
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| Dartma |
Los Angeles has a very diverse night life, so your visit should be interesting and fun
Awesome that you are moving out here, PM me and I can advise some great places to go. |
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| first in space |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveT
There's growth in both cities. LA has A lot more jobs in video, but there's also a ton more video people there. More and more openings are popping up down there...definitely better than before when 80%+ of the openings I saw were for interns and also a lot with no pay ("but great for the resume"). Was really difficult. |
sweet man, thanks for the advice. what kind of video work do you do up there? you can check out some of the event videos i've done on my youtube page here http://www.youtube.com/user/lev8nightlife?feature=mhum i've done videos for parties with deadmau5, mstrkrft, above and beyond, sander kleinenberg, lee burridge, nic fanciulli and more. |
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| DaveT |
Well, my last full-time position was nearly nine years as a senior producer here, though we also overlooked video for this site and this site. Co-built the team from the ground up. Was laid off when they axed half the team a couple years ago.
Went down to LA for family reasons and thought with my background it would be easier for me to find work than others down there since it's frickin' LA, but there just wasn't any positions anywhere. Everything was contract work, internships, or asking for people to work for free. I survived with contract work -- a number of random one day gigs, but was hired me for events like E3 (produced a couple dozen videos for GameStop, the store), Comic-Con (video engineer/technical director for the booth and coverage for CBS Corp), and was flown to Tokyo for the Tokyo Game Show (for CBS Interactive). Great contract gigs which helped me get by a lot. Things really started looking up in finding work down there when tehre was a sudden shift (as I said before) in October. I thouuuught I was going to get a position in Disney's emerging technologies dept, but they came back and said they did some reorganization and suddenly wanted me to know C+ (programming) and that disqualified me. Had a number of interviews after, just things didn't pan out. I honestly think I might've made myself look overqualified for positions (because I was going after pretty much anything that looked stable. I have a family to take care of and needed work). I just finally got a full-time gig up in SF and started this past week working for this company. I am heading up a video team (though I'm the only one this sec) for this property they own.
OK, prob sound like I'm talking myself up, so I'll shut up now lolz (blame the massive amounts of beer I had today!!! hehe). Oddly, I haven't done much video work with music events. I've been offered many tmies, but it's usually events I care more about having fun at and say no. It's a challenge to do them (club/event vides) in a cohesive manner, and have to say you do a good job. It's not flashy or anything, but gets the job done. I personally like this style because it's more raw and reflective. When videos like this have tons of cuts and effects, they look awesome and exciting, but I like things to be true to their nature and those type of videos often overplay the energy/vibe/atmosphere that actually existed. |
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| system-7 |
| or you guys could get real jobs. jk.. :P |
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| DaveT |
Who said it isn't a real job? :D People think everything is cake in the industry I work in, and it's far from that. 60+ hour weeks are common. Some weeks can be much less, other weeks (due to events, big features, etc) can be 80-90 hours (supposing something requires me to work during the weekend, too). 24+ hour work days happen quite often when a feature is hitting deadline or when there's just a ton of planning to be done for a big event about to start. It's by no means an easy job. During E3 last year, for example, I worked 89 hours in five days. That does not include time spent going back to the hotel, getting up, getting ready, etc. E3 before that, I worked for 68 hours straight at one point, got two-three hours of sleep,t hen worked another 20+ straight (was so exhausted, my alarm in my room and phone calls were not waking me up and security had to break the door fearing something happened to me). You know how it feels carrying a camera around with a big ole tripod and a camera bag around a show floor, just to go back and edit all night, then go back lugging all that stuff around again the following day w/o getting a wink of sleep...oh just to go back and edit all night again? It can suck at times, especially when it's in another country and you are f'd from jetlag, hehe....
And it's all salary pay (and when I did contract at the big events, it was per day not per hour or anything), no overtime. I'm heading up stuff in my new job. I could do the 40 hours a week if I wanted to, but then I'd look like I'm doing a horrible job compared to the competition. Gotta put in the hours to make a good product.
That said, it's still a great industry. It lets me travel around the country and all around the world. I didn't do as much travelling the last few years in my last job just do to me working more behind the scenes (helping plan what the rest of the team would be doing, working on emerging technologies, etc), but being a one man show at my new job while I work on building up a team I'll prob be taking a lot of flights in the future.
Actually worried about being able to see Armin in May in SF because afraid a pre-E3 event is going to happen that I'll have to go to. |
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| first in space |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveT
Who said it isn't a real job? :D People think everything is cake in the industry I work in, and it's far from that. 60+ hour weeks are common. Some weeks can be much less, other weeks (due to events, big features, etc) can be 80-90 hours (supposing something requires me to work during the weekend, too). 24+ hour work days happen quite often when a feature is hitting deadline or when there's just a ton of planning to be done for a big event about to start. It's by no means an easy job. During E3 last year, for example, I worked 89 hours in five days. That does not include time spent going back to the hotel, getting up, getting ready, etc. E3 before that, I worked for 68 hours straight at one point, got two-three hours of sleep,t hen worked another 20+ straight (was so exhausted, my alarm in my room and phone calls were not waking me up and security had to break the door fearing something happened to me). You know how it feels carrying a camera around with a big ole tripod and a camera bag around a show floor, just to go back and edit all night, then go back lugging all that stuff around again the following day w/o getting a wink of sleep...oh just to go back and edit all night again? It can suck at times, especially when it's in another country and you are f'd from jetlag, hehe....
And it's all salary pay (and when I did contract at the big events, it was per day not per hour or anything), no overtime. I'm heading up stuff in my new job. I could do the 40 hours a week if I wanted to, but then I'd look like I'm doing a horrible job compared to the competition. Gotta put in the hours to make a good product.
That said, it's still a great industry. It lets me travel around the country and all around the world. I didn't do as much travelling the last few years in my last job just do to me working more behind the scenes (helping plan what the rest of the team would be doing, working on emerging technologies, etc), but being a one man show at my new job while I work on building up a team I'll prob be taking a lot of flights in the future.
Actually worried about being able to see Armin in May in SF because afraid a pre-E3 event is going to happen that I'll have to go to. |
damn man it sounds like you've had some pretty nice gigs! even with the workload, i'm sure covering E3 was a great gig. i've always been a big gamer and that kind of thing sounds like it would be worth the effort! like i said i've been strongly considering leaving texas and moving to cali, either so-cal or the bay area. i really love doing the production stuff, but i'm thinking it would be in my best interest to just shoot for some kind of corporate job just to start making money, and do the video stuff on the side. i'd love to work with some local nightclubs/promotors over there and do some video work. i know what you mean though about not wanting to cover those kind of events, because you'd rather have fun and enjoy it, but i think its possible to do both. not to the extent you might normally, but ever party i've ever filmed i've always had a ton of fun. getting to be on stage with the dj and pointing the camera to the crowd is a cheap thrill in and of itself. i do thank you once again man for the advice and input on this matter! peace! |
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