A host of factors, developments, and dynamics have made most industries more competitive than ever. As a result so many of us wonder whether there is still such a thing as work-life balance. We reached out to the community to hear perspectives on finding the right balance.

Jacob Hayman | Literary Manager, Casting Director, and Production Coordinator

Throughout what could liberally be called my “career” in entertainment, through shorter-form gigs and longer-term staffed jobs, I was simultaneously working 1-2 other part-time jobs on evenings and weekends, typically in the service industry, which was never really ideal, but I needed to pay my bills, and my aspirations alone certainly weren’t doing any legwork on that front. Over time, I have slowly been able to shed what I typically called my “grounding jobs” one by one, and only recently have gone from a work/work/work/life balance, to more of a work/life one, which has been a great comfort and a huge challenge, especially since the front end of that binary is now no longer beholden to someone else’s needs or schedule, and instead exists in a much more nebulous state. Read more>>

David Powers | Photographer and Art Director

I rarely consider balance when I think about my work. It’s not something I consider important. I wake up, work until I am tired or bored or need a snack, and pick it up again after. Some days I work 4 hours, some 18, some none at all.
Many of my heroes seem to stick to these beautiful, regimented, thoughtful practices, but I’ve never been able to do that- I find that consistency is more important than balance and I plan my workload accordingly. With that said, it definitely has changed over time. When I started taking photos as a full-time job, I would often pull all-nighters to meet deadlines or agree to radically large deliverables. I think balance for me these days is less about the quantity of work I take on, or hours worked, and more about respecting my own time and vision enough to draw better boundaries around the types and quantities of jobs I will take on. Read more>>

Vanessa Plaza Lazo | Production Designer

It is very hard to think about work life balance working in the entertainment/Film industry. However, I think it is something everyone that works in it should ask to themselves constantly as a reminder of what your life priorities are and find that balance that makes you happy in rewarding way. In my personal experience, when I first started working in Art Department (12 years ago) my idea of working my way up and gaining some experience was saying yes to any opportunity I would get. Work hours or work conditions weren’t really an important thing as long as I had a chance to show my talent, make new connections and be able to grow in my career. With the past of the years and having gained great experience in the field, I started realizing that if my entire life goes around work, I start forgetting and putting aside other important things, things that I didn’t realized at the time are essential for my health, mood and even for my work performance. Read more>>