Sorry I haven’t written in a while. I had final exams/essays/projects and several other things due for five classes all at about the same time. Actually, one of them had enough interesting facts where I decided to turn it into this post. I should give credit by mentioning that all of the sources for this post were provided by my teacher for the Web Video class I was in. Thanks, Ms. Tripp Caldwell.
Basically, the idea is this: web video has become very profitable and there will be huge increases in motion picture / video related job markets. In other words, now is a good time to be a filmmaker.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Guide to Motion Picture and Video Industries 2010-11, the number of video editing jobs is expected to grow 16.8% between 2008 and 2018. During that same period of time, job growth is expected to be the same (16.8%) for camera operators, 17.3% for writers and directors, and 29% for multi-media artists. Web video (and computer games, to a lesser extent) is actually largely responsible for this expected growth. According to the 2009 Nielsen Global Online Media Landscape Report, the amount of time Americans spend on video websites has risen 339% since 2003 and “unique viewers” of web video rose 10% from 2008 to 2009. With the growing demand for web video, someone needs to make all those videos. It isn’t just the big media companies that are making money off of web videos either. An article in the NY Times mentioned several people who used monetization features on various video hosting websites (e.g., YouTube’s “partners” program) to turn video-making into a full-time job. For example, one such individual whose videos are on YouTube (and who has 180,000 subscribers) makes about $20,000 per month from a combination of YouTube’s advertisements and product placements within his videos.
I hope you found these little tidbits of information interesting. I know did. If anyone ever tells you there’s no future in film and video, you now have solid information to prove them wrong.