Brad Hall took his first job in the entertainment industry as a production assistant at Warner Bros. to make ends meet during college.
As Hall went on to search for new positions in entertainment, he began to collect resources and make professional connections within the industry. He used this network to launch EntertainmentCareers.Net, an online recruiting website that helps people land jobs in music, film and television, in 1998. He said he created the website to share his knowledge with newcomers to the industry.
EntertainmentCareers.Net posts public listings of entertainment-related jobs, which are open to anyone looking for a position within the entertainment field. However, users who pay a $9.95 monthly fee see job listings first and can also speak with Hall and other staff members to improve their resumes, cover letters and portfolios.
“We help people who are from different areas, or do not have mothers, brothers or fathers in entertainment jobs, get resources unavailable to them,” Hall said.
Hall said people who use EntertainmentCareers.Net often do not fit the Hollywood demographic — namely white, male and affluent entertainers.
“It makes sense because the people who cannot get resources tend to go online for help and find us,” Hall said.
Peter Riley, a prospective talent agent who joined the website in 2015, said he used EntertainmentCareers.Net to advance his career because he lived in Miami and had no family in the entertainment industry.
However, Riley said his resume and other work related materials were not polished enough to receive job offers.
After he canceled his membership, he received a personal message from Hall explaining why he failed to get job interviews and how he could remedy the issue. Riley then worked with Hall to improve his resume, cover letter and interview skills, which eventually landed him a job at the Creative Artists Agency.
UCLA alumnus Brian L. Tan also used EntertainmentCareers.Net to obtain an internship at DreamWorks Animation.
Tan studied political science and international development while in college. He did not plan on entering the film job market, and therefore did not start networking in the film industry until he was a part of the Film and Photography Society at UCLA. Tan said the club made him want to work in film, so he turned to EntertainmentCareers.Net to compensate for his lack of connections within the industry.
“The entertainment world is like a crapshoot and I decided to go for a membership as I applied for the DreamWorks internship, among other positions, because I wanted to increase my chances of finding a job,” Tan said.
In addition to its job-searching resources, EntertainmentCareers.Net provides recruiters with an opportunity to find new employees, said Kristena Hatcher, a former EntertainmentCareers.Net user and current recruiter for CAA.
Hatcher said the site allows recruiters to target a specific group of people serious about finding jobs in the industry.
Hall said he thinks EntertainmentCareers.Net democratizes the entertainment industry by opening up resources to people who differ in race, gender, experience and connections.
“The people that seek our services and get jobs from us do not mirror the people in the industry today,” Hall said. “I like to say that we have been able to serve an entire generation of people in the industry that probably would not have made it otherwise.”