[ghaff]

And it may be worth noting that "aspiring actor" is probably not considered the epitome of someone on a guaranteed safe and lucrative career path. But it does guarantee that if they can land a job, they're going to get paid scale (~$1k/day I believe).

[busterarm]

The film and television unions are a tough nut to crack. On the west coast, that's almost all there is and if you're working you will be in the union easy. Unless you do youtube/streaming content and most of that is non-union.

On the east coast, you're going to be working probably for 10 years before you can get into your union and it's an uphill struggle the whole way.

And union or not, you're only going to get work if people like working with you. One day with a bad attitude and you can find yourself unable to get hired by anyone. Film and TV is long hours and a stressful environment and nobody wants to work with anyone who makes the day harder.

[Scoundreller]

Is it because people get in the union on the west coast and then move east?

Or are you just stuck in the local that you started in (and would then definitely be unwilling to relocate once you’re in?

(Not sure how the regionalization works if the unions are national)