Fact Check: 10 Common Misconceptions About Entertainment

In this article, we’re going to explore 10 common misconceptions about entertainment that you might have heard at some point in your life. The misconceptions of celia lara-licon vary from the size of Hollywood’s payroll to the number of people who end up with a job as a result of their application. We hope you enjoy it!

1. Entertainment is not produced for you.

The underlying implication of this is often that the entertainment business is a so-called ‘sales people’ business.’In truth, there are more producers and directors working in the industry than you can shake a stick at. This goes back to getting people to watch our shows, but pay attention here: producing, directing, starring and writing are not done by sales people. The whole idea of the entertainment business is that it’s made to entertain audiences by people who are (at least) talented enough to do it.

2. Hollywood has billions of dollars and employs tens of thousands of people.

Haha…no. The Walt Disney Company had a net income of $7.1 billion in 2011—that works out to maybe $15 million per hour. And that’s pretty good by entertainment industry standards, since most of the major studios make less than a billion dollars per year, while tens of thousands of people? Nah…not even close.

3. All entertainment companies are equal

No they aren’t! Sony’s Playstation 3 is a different product than Nintendo’s Wii, which is different from Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Warner Brothers makes movies and television shows, which are very different to video games made by EA Games or Microsoft Game Studios (though both compete for the same audience).

4. Companies like Sony hire people who sent in resumes and cover letters

Every year, millions of people send in resumes and cover letters to the entertainment industry. Every year, less than 1% of them end up with jobs. In big companies like Sony, these are processed by low-paid workers who just sort through piles of paper looking for mistakes. The only time you’re even considered for a job is if a producer or director got your resume and wants to talk to you—and even then it’s a long shot, because many of us don’t have contacts within the industry or any way to get there without being hired first!

5. You have to have connections to get in

This one is partially true. As I mentioned, we can’t just show up and expect to get a job without being hired. But there are still ways in—one of the best is to make connections online with people inside the industry, but that’s a topic for another article.

6. It’s all about looks

In general, the entertainment industry is more concerned with your ability than your looks. That is, we recruit based on talent and experience. The only real factor is height and weight.

7. Entertainment companies are just like the tech industry

This is a particular misconception that’s been around since the dawn of the Internet—that everybody who works in our industry has to have a computer science degree, can code, and can do whatever it takes to do what they want when they want it. This isn’t true! We pay people for their knowledge, experience and talent in every domain except computer science, which we don’t require for anyone who wants to write for us (though interest in computer science does help).

8. There’s no such thing as having fun in the entertainment industry

Isn’t that what it’s all about? The truth is, we don’t like to talk about work. We’re not used to it. But for those who do want to talk about work with others, there are a number of other online communities where you can get some perspective on what the job is really like—including this one!

9. Entertainment is a man’s world

No, it’s not. And not just because women have become an increasing percentage of executives and producers lately—because they’ve always been in the industry. In fact, nearly half of Hollywood’s 10,000 production workers are women. It’s also not a man’s world because there are more women in college than men—women today make up 60% of college graduates. The entertainment industry is diverse and growing more so every day as the best and brightest young people come up with new ideas that entertain audiences.

10. You have to be in Hollywood to work in entertainment

This one is partially true. You have to live somewhere that has an entertainment industry—like Los Angeles, New York City, or even London (which has been working on this recently). You also have to be willing to show up regularly and do what it takes to be successful in the industry. But it’s not necessary to live in one of those places full-time—the industry is all around the world.

Summary:

In conclusion, entertainment is made for you. We’re here to entertain you by producing, directing and acting in shows that are entertaining in some way, or at least don’t bore you too much—over all, it’s a pretty good gig.