Emurse

Wage and salary employment in the motion picture and video industries is projected to grow 17 percent between 2004 and 2014, which is faster than the 14 percent growth projected for wage and salary employment in all industries combined. Job growth will result from the explosive growth of demand for programming needed to fill an increasing number of cable and satellite television channels, both in the United States and abroad. Also, more films will be needed to meet in-home demand for videos, DVDs, and films over the Internet. Responding to an increasingly fragmented audience will create many opportunities to develop films. The international market for U.S.-made films is expected to continue growing as more countries and foreign individuals acquire the ability to view our films. As the industry registers employment growth, many more job openings will arise through people leaving the industry, mainly for more stable employment.

There is concern in the motion picture industry over the number of films that are being made abroad. Tax breaks offered chiefly by English-speaking countries, especially Canada, have induced U.S. filmmakers to increasingly move the production of films abroad. Production of many lower budget films, such as made-for-television movies, and commercials has been moved abroad to reduce production costs. In addition, more feature films are being made abroad, but mostly for artistic reasons. When film production leaves, it takes away large numbers of jobs that are filled at the site of the filming—most of the noncritical supporting actors and behind-the-scenes workers, caterers, drivers, and production assistants. To address this issue, several cities and States have initiated tax breaks and other incentives to encourage filmmakers to make movies in their locales. Also, the U.S. Congress has considered legislation that offers tax incentives for filmmakers to stay in the United States.

The motion picture industry is also concerned about piracy of its work, which can occur in several ways. For example, as the power and speed of the Internet grows, more movies are being downloaded directly into homes, causing declines in theatre attendance and losses in revenue from ticket sales. The industry has launched an anti-piracy initiative in order to combat this trend, which potentially could have an adverse affect on employment. Digital transmission of motion pictures from studios directly to movie houses for exhibition will be able to prevent some piracy problems, but it also has high start up costs—expensive digital projectors and costs to install transmission and distribution technology and security software.

Opportunities will be better in some occupations than in others. Computer specialists, multimedia artists and animators, film and video editors, and others skilled in digital filming, editing, and computer-generated imaging should have the best job prospects. There also will be opportunities for broadcast and sound engineering technicians and other specialists, such as gaffers and set construction workers. In contrast, keen competition can be expected for the more glamorous high-paying jobs in the industry—writers, actors, producers, and directors—as many more people seek a lesser number of these jobs. Small or independent filmmakers may provide the best job prospects because they are likely to grow more quickly as digital technology cuts production costs.