Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). But go see my last post first. 
My hubby is a big videophile/movie hog. LOL. In college he got a minor in tv/radio. Wanted to major in it but his parents are not into "like what you do, be good at what you do" philosophy I was raised with. So pushed him hard to get a business degree - went with marketing - which in the end could be good for his career actually. Not the worst, but I Think he'd be happier too if he just went for what he knew he wanted to do. He is very creative. We don't live in LA but SF is close enough and has plenty of job opportunities. We could always move - I would move there for his career...
He also really wanted to be a teacher - maybe teach the stuff - he has been eyeing our new high school which has a huge video department - I am sure his dream job would be teaching in that department. I really encouraged him first out of school to quit his miserable job (customer service/marketing) and get an emergency teaching credential (at the least) and give it a try - they were handing them out to anyone out of desparation. But he just never had the guts.
I can't remember how he got into videos but he really wanted a fancy video camera after he lost his job and I was pregnant so he started doing wedding videos to pay for it. He did an excellent job, multi-camera shoots, etc., really fancy - $2k valued videos he charged a few hundred for, then $1k as he got more experience. It just never went far and I think once he earned the camera and equipment he wasn't as interested. Bridezillas and all that - too stressful - didn't want the stress of messing up the Big Day. Loved the work, just not an area he was particularly interested in. The idea of films and the ability to reshoot sounded much more appealing and less stressful.
So for whatever reason he noticed there were a lot of small time films being shot in the area. He volunteered through Craigslist to be a cameraman on a shoot. Oh yeah, he also has been volunteering at the public tv station and has met a few people in the industry too. HE did the one job and met another guy he helped him with his movie. Then through him met the director/screenwriter of this film. He absolutely LOVED editing videos and I think is his forte, but in the meantime he has noticed a niche for marketing videos, so the direction he has headed. Plenty of film makers and films, but no one has any marketing skills or time - amazed how many movies just sit on shelves in people's basements - can't imagine going to the effort and not following through. He found this really up his alley and the kind of thing he could charge a decent commission if he actually sold a movie.
So anyway, since he did not have necessarily the time he volunteered on this last movie to help market it. Over time by just being responsible and motivated and being there they have relied on him for much more. They let go of their paid editor and he took over. So if nothing else this is an awesome notch on his resume.
Frankly if he could make even a few thousand a year making movies I think I would be happy. This last outfit he is with has been pretty promising, they have some real talent and some motivation and some contacts, etc. If they can sell one movie I think it is only up from there.
When he can go back to work full-time I am not surprised if he will find some kind of job in tv or radio, maybe to pay the bills, movies on the side. Depends how successful he is. They are right now forming a production company to do films, wedding videos, music videos and such. Music videos was another angle he was trying to break into. He now has the tools and support, and the group did do 1 music video actually, but he didn't get to work on that because he was busy editing the movie! The timing I think is perfect though because he has a little more time, kids can go to preschool, but we are not at the point yet where we NEED more income. He has some time to test the waters for a bit... Editing and post-production has been a lot more easy to fit in his schedule too - watch the kids during the day - edits nights and weekends. IT could turn into a viable/flexible career for when the kids are in school.
In short, I don't think if he wasn't a SAHD he would have ever pursued this career, though it is truly what he wanted. I am excited as the kids get older and he has more opportunities to do more work - he is so happy - in his element! He is that much closer to putting together his own movie. We got to get working on a script though. But he has the crew and the contacts so we'll see. He has tons and tons of movie ideas floating in his head. I am trying to help him take it to the next level - he just needs a script to get started!
Backstory on the movie...
March 6th, 2007 at 07:07 pm
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March 7th, 2007 at 01:36 pm 1173274603
Once upon a time, I would've loved to do that work. Probably still would have , but my situation is obviously very different than your husband's now.
March 7th, 2007 at 04:10 pm 1173283846
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If you have a twin sister who's still single, let me know!
March 11th, 2007 at 04:25 pm 1173630322
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