THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 54 NOVEMBER 6, 2019
The Business
Analysisattending archetypal industry
networking events or from taking
“meetings” that require them to
buy drinks or meals. “Going out
for lunches, that’s not a thing at
all anymore,” says literary and
talent management company
assistant Toni Baker. “I cannot
feel good about going out and
spending money that I know I
don’t have.”
Individuals looking to work in
creative fields add that, given the
50-plus-hour workweeks that are
typical of lower-level positions
in the industry and the side gigs
that many must take to make
ends meet while paying off loans,
they feel they don’t have the time
or funds to pursue projects that
could get them noticed. “You can
try to work your way up and make
some allies and prove you’re a
hard worker, but for a lot of suc-
cessful creatives, they made their
own path, they made something
that was noticed and they went
from there,” says Thomas Fatora,
an Atlanta-based aspiring writer
and operations manager at a stu-
dio who took out about $135,000
in loans. “That increases the level
of difficulty of trying to make a
low-budget project.”
To cut costs, several of the
young entertainment profes-
sionals who spoke for this story
choose to work outside of New
York and Los Angeles in such
cities as Atlanta and Cincinnati
because of the lower cost of living.
Others have developed side hus-
tles: tutoring, nannying, shooting
actor headshots, bartending and
driving for Uber and Lyft. Still
others have minimized lifestyle
costs by selling off their cars and
commuting by bike, living with
several roommates in one-bed-
room apartments in Koreatown
or Glendale, or making meals out
of the passed plates at awards-
season events.
David, 27, a Los Angeles-based
assistant for an A-list writer-
director who asked to remain
anonymous, owes about $250,000
in undergraduate and graduate
school loans. “It’s a scary thing,
just sort of realizing there’s not
sources say employees receive up
to $100 a month to pay off their
principal loan balance for a maxi-
mum contribution of $6,000.
And many assistants who
spoke with THR suggested other
changes: that employers stop ask-
ing lower-level employees to put
business charges on their credit
cards to be reimbursed; that
employees receive reimburse-
ment for the use of a car, often
required; that they receive over-
time wages; and that salaries rise
higher than the minimum wage.
While a possible Democratic
presidential win could mean
some legislative debt relief begin-
ning in 2020 — Sens. Elizabeth
Warren and Bernie Sanders each
have unveiled ambitious plans
to alleviate student debt — and
a California minimum wage
increase to $15 will take effectgoing to be a big income change in
the near future based on how the
way that system out here func-
tions for assistant-level people,”
he explains. His backup plan is to
move back to his parents’ home in
New Jersey and teach.
While Hollywood can’t solve the
nationwide student debt crisis,
several companies are taking
small steps toward addressing
the issue. Last year, ICM Partners
revamped its student loan assis-
tance plan (the company had a
tuition reimbursement program
in its benefit package for years),
bringing in an outside company,
Vault, which includes a match-
ing program where the agency
pays $50 a month to assist in
paying down employees’ loans.
(This month, the agency doubled
its matching allowance to $100
per employee.) “Affordability
and financing student loan has
become a big factor in who can
come into our industry,” says
Rick Levy, ICM COO and general
counsel, who took out student
loans himself. Currently 60 to 70
employees are enrolled in the new
program. “Now we are looking to
expand,” he adds. Since last year,
Hulu also has offered student-
loan-debt-burdened employees
a monthly contribution to put
toward the balance of their loan
and help them pay it off faster.
While Hulu would not comment,$30K25K20K15K1995-1996 1999-2000 2003-2004 2007-2008 2011-2012 2015-2016Student Loans vs.
Agency Assistant Pay
The average amount borrowed by
four-year college students in the
past 20 years (today’s dollars)Source: Department of Education’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS); THR research$29.4K $29.7K$23.3K$18.7K
$17.4K$12.8KStagnant Pay
In 2006, assistant pay ranged
from $27K to $29K; by 2015,
that pay had only gone up to
$30K to $32K, about a 10%
increase. Meanwhile, debt load
increased by nearly 28%.in 2022 for employers with more
than 26 employees (and for all
employers in 2023), most strug-
gling with student loan debt
are not counting on any relief
coming from outside or inside
Holly wood. “The current plan is
to wait out my 25 years,” says an
assistant at a big four studio. She
is referencing a stipulation under
the income-contigent repayment
plan for federal student loans that
allow for a borrower’s remaining
balance to be forgiven after 25
years, if the borrower can prove
a high debt-to-income ratio.
Several sources with federal loans
say that unless they somehow
earn a major pay raise in the next
few years, they also will wait.
But for many — especially those
who took out private student
loans — waiting only will mean
falling deeper into personal debt.
Fatora, who recently assisted a
producer on Netflix’s Hillbilly
Elegy, notes that he’s approaching
a “breaking point” in his career —
his monthly payments are about
to increase — which he says will
add to the stress of his financial
situation. His message for the
industry: “There are people here
who are working hard, not just
outsiders or hopefuls, but people
who are inside the industry and
are around the biggest produc-
tions who are just struggling
to survive.”“ There is a
small number of
people who can
afford to take
[low] pay, and it’s
rich white kids.”
TV writer Deirdre Mangan