Navigating a Career in Technical Entertainment: Your Creative Career Guidebook

Navigating a Career in Technical Entertainment: Your Creative Career Guidebook explores tools, strategies, and motivational advice from a wide range of industry professionals for navigating an artistic career in design and technology in entertainment.

This book is designed to accompany readers every step of the way in their career journey - from landing their first job after school through mid-career pivots and switching industries. It is organized into four parts: Finding Your Career Path; Tools and Strategies for Navigating Your Career Path; Curating a Creative Community as You Sustain Your Career; and Maintaining Flexibility and Finding Fulfillment in Your Career. Filled with motivational advice from mentors in the industry and creative worksheet exercises for personalized career planning, self- reflection, and goal setting, this book demystifies a complex industry, sharing crucial career-related information rarely covered in formal training programs. It explores a wide range of topics, including the types of jobs available in live entertainment and TV/film, education options, job searching, networking, career marketing materials, interviews, unions, financial empowerment, and refocusing on career shifts.

This guidebook is written for designers, technicians, stage managers, production managers, crew members, and creative technical artists in entertainment at all stages of their career. Covering a wide variety of entertainment from theater and television to commercials and theme parks, Navigating a Career in Technical Entertainment is a perfect companion for higher education or postsecondary educators and students exploring career and workforce readiness topics and can also be used by professionals actively working in the field.

This text also includes access to downloadable versions of the worksheets featured in the book, available at www.routledge.com/9780367510442.

Jessica Champagne Hansen is a costume designer and technician with experience in theatre, dance, film, television, commercials, theme park, and corporate clients. She is Costume Faculty at East Los Angeles College in the Theater Arts Department and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

Camille Schenkkan is the Deputy Managing Director at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and an Adjunct Faculty Member at Goucher College. She sits on the Board of Circle X Theatre Co, co-chaired the National Emerging Leader Council through Americans for the Arts, and served as an issue expert for the Kennedy Center’s Alliance for Arts Education Network.