College and Careers

I fully intend to enroll in a four-year college after I graduate from high school.  I would like to major in either Film/TV/Radio or Political Communications. Depending on the college in which I will attend I will either major in one of the two fields above, but if I want to pursue a job in political communications and the college does not have a political communications major, I will major in journalism, and either double-major or minor in political science. 

Some of the jobs for a political communications major include a journalist, speechwriter, and press secretary/directer of communications. For a Journalist in New York the average salary is $55,000, but there a higher up positions at profitable papers where the salaries are higher, but by being in NY there are less politically oriented journalism jobs than in DC. For a Communications Director the average national salary is $96,000 and it is surely higher in DC and they are many more job openings in DC than any other part of the nation.

Some of the jobs I would be interested in as a Film/TV/Radio are a TV writer/executive producer, a screenwriter, and a director. A staff writer makes on average $96,000, but a writer with a higher title earns over $100k a year. An executive producer on average makes between $56k and $132k a year. Screenwriter's and director's salaries are harder to gauge because the yearly amount of work varies so much based on the person as well as the studio in which the film is being made.

I am a very creative person and there are many different lifestyles out there that I would love to learn about and tell stories about that I wouldn't be able to experience otherwise. I would also like to work in political communications because I think that it would be interesting to work with people high up in the government behind the scenes. 

One of the benefits of the entertainment industry is that you can start at any age. I know of a reputable executive producer of a fairly popular tv show who worked on Wall Street until he was thirty and began his writing career. As long as I am making enough money to cover reasonable expenses all I want from my future career is to enjoy what I do with the people that I work with. The definition of success for me is simple: happiness.