The writer’s strike hit Hollywood days after Eva Bloomfield, Communication ’07, moved to Los Angeles. As an aspiring actor, she knew it would be hard to find work, but she didn’t anticipate it would be impossible. Once the strike began, she could not go on auditions.
“Hollywood basically shut down,” the theater and animate arts major said. “Everyone was brutally affected. Everyone is completely out of work.”
For recent graduates, the strike is not a drastic change because they haven’t been working in the film industry for very long, she said.
“I’m in a situation where it’s not do or die,” she said. “But a lot of people are.”
Though Bloomfield is completely supporting herself, a lot of recent graduates are primarily supported by their parents, she said.
“Most people are strumming their fingers,” Bloomfield said. “A few people I know of are leaving L.A. (because they can’t find work).”
Aspiring writer Jen Howell, Communication ’07, has found work in reality television, which has not been hit hard by the strike.
“It’s not a direction I intended to explore,” the radio-TV-film major said. “But I really like it and see myself doing it for awhile.”
There is a sense of nervousness in Hollywood because people don’t know if their jobs are secure, Howell said.
“So far everyone has been able to get by,” she said. “A lot of it has been through odd jobs, like babysitting.”
When Andrew Lampl, Communication ’07, graduated from NU, he moved to Los Angeles to write. He auditioned to be a production assistant for Disney’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and would have gotten the job if the strike hadn’t started.
“They said they wanted to hire me but they had to shut down production,” he said. “So they couldn’t offer me a job.”
The strike hasn’t affected Lampl, a theater major and graduate of the Creative Writing for the Media Program, too much. As a struggling actor or writer, there aren’t many opportunities in the big leagues anyway, he said, adding that he wouldn’t be submitting his resume anyway because he does not have an agent.
Because of the strike, one of Lampl’s friends who was a writer’s assistant had to move back to Chicago, Lampl said. Despite the challenges the industry is facing, Lampl said he fully supports the strike and hopes the writers will settle and get what they want.
Northwestern seniors planning to go to Los Angeles after graduation said the strike probably won’t change their plans, but their confidence is waning.
“I was 95 percent sure about moving to L.A. (before the strike started),” said Communication senior Dan Foster. “But it’s getting lower as the strike continues.”
It will be an exciting time after the strike ends because there will be a lot of openings since there has been such a lag in production, Foster said. At the same time, competition will be tough because a lot of people will be looking for jobs. Currently, Foster said he is working on a television pilot script that he hopes to pitch to studios next year after the strike ends.
With or without a strike, aspiring writers still need a tough skin.
It’s a hard industry to find work in any time, but the opportunities aren’t even there because of the strike, Communication senior Andrew Thomas said.
“I’d be nervous finding work in any circumstance,” he said. “The strike does intensify the worry.”
Reach Rachel Kopilow at [email protected].
