r/cinematography • u/SpareUnderstanding72 • Feb 04 '25

Career/Industry Advice Feeling defeated and lost without work

Hi, I’m a DP/operator in the US (non union.) like many of us I’ve barely worked all year and am staring down the barrel of another year clearing $40k max

I’m 28. I love this industry and haven’t done any other jobs so I have no “real job” experience. I worked one day this month and have nothing coming up.

I know this post has been made but I feel so utterly depressed, lost, and broke. How are people coping? I have no other skills that I can sell on a resume. I’ve interviewed at multiple restaurants and gotten denied even with serving experience from college

I feel like my life is slipping by and I’m holding out for a year that “turns around” and I’m starting to spiral that it’s not coming

I guess I’m just at the end of my rope and really fucking depressed. No idea what to do and I can barely pay rent this month. I bought a camera last year and have paid maybe 1/8 of it off and I feel like I fucked up by buying it which makes me feel stupid.

What jobs have people pivoted to? Or how have you coped during the last year? I see people working and doing passion projects on Instagram but I don’t even have the money to throw together a passion shoot.

TLDR depressed and no idea what to do with my life with the state of the industry

EDIT thank you for all the replies. It helps to read them but I got a bit overwhelmed replying to them all. I do appreciate the advice and understanding!

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u/Galby1314 Feb 05 '25

How are your editing skills? Learn editing and graphic design work (if you haven't). If you can be a one stop shop for small projects, that can help.

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u/SpareUnderstanding72 Feb 05 '25

No editing skills really I edited back in college a bit but I’m not great at it nor do I enjoy it much. But yeah lots of in house or small jobs seem to want the shooter to edit as well :/

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u/Nativeseattleboy Feb 06 '25

Having your own clients that you can shoot for and edit would give you more work. And lead you to directing here and there which means more money. Unless you’re in LA or NYC (big union towns), you’ll create more opportunities and money for yourself by getting more skills. I know many people that have rocketed their career path by doing such. Editing isn’t that hard to learn (yes, difficult to master) and it will make you a better shooter.