The Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC) is best known as the public/private sector partnership that oversees the Los Angeles City/County Film Office. In recent months, the EIDC has been widely referenced as the body reporting the declining level of spot location shooting activity in Greater Los Angeles during the actors’ strike against the advertising industry.
But the EIDC’s activity encompasses far more than the film office and tallying the number of lensing permits issued. A prime EIDC initiative is to ready the next generation of industry workers and to help keep current employees competitive in a changing marketplace. Thanks to a $195,000 contract it was awarded from the City of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board, the EIDC is developing a publication entitled "A Practical Guide to Finding A Job in the Entertainment Industry." The blueprint publication is being designed for job seekers, career placement advisors, schools, colleges and universities. The guide will be based on a thorough examination of jobs across all segments of industry production, including crews, suppliers, postproduction and distribution. The EIDC bills the publication as differing from typical job guides in that it will focus on paths to employment in the industry, with explanations of the special or particular approaches that are effective in procuring opportunities. The guide will also include ways in which people can determine what types of jobs are best suited to their skills and talents.
"We hope this opens the doors of Hollywood to more people," said EIDC president Cody Cluff. "Over the past several years, we’ve seen more people of color make their way into this industry. We need to be inclusive and our workforce should be reflective of the world around us. Hopefully, this guide can help more people get their foot in the door."
As chronicled in previous installments of this column, the EIDC has a publishing track record, releasing reports on the status of and prospects for breaking into the postproduction and visual effects businesses. These reports have been created in partnership with such groups as the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department and the California Employment Training Panel.
The latter organization has also provided some $500,000 in funding with which the EIDC has created a comprehensive re-training program for workers. It’s designed to help industry employers upgrade the skills of their workers to adapt to changes such as CGI and digital technology in the workplace. Over the next year, a minimum of 300 employees in more than 125 companies will benefit from this program. Areas of re-training include: video/ broadcast/Web production operations; postproduction; animation; and motion graphics and broadcast design. Training will be conducted by such Southern California providers as Montana Edit, Weynand Training International and Spectrum Studios.
According to estimates by high-tech employers, they have nearly 270,000 vacancies and no Americans to fill them. That’s why Congress is considering increasing the number of special H-1B visas granted annually to qualified foreigners for jobs that cannot be filled by Americans (SHOOT, 8/11, p. 1). The technology gap is particularly pronounced in the entertainment industry where digital acumen has become increasingly essential.
Re-training and offering helpful guidance to ensure a strong workforce are part of the EIDC’s mandate, having been created in ’95 to coordinate filming in the City and County of Los Angeles, and to promote the region to the entertainment industry. The EIDC’s programs represent recognition that an integral dynamic in attracting filming and related business is an infrastructure of skilled talent. And key in developing and maintaining that pool of qualified workers are investments in education.
