Stuck with My TV / Film Career and Unsure If It's Time to Quit and Where to Go?
I've been working on and off in the TV / Film industry for about 7-8 years now. I started before covid and during that time loved it very much. I still really love filmmaking, but it's been an absolute struggle finding consistent work the last couple years since the pandemic happened. The pandemic put me out of work for 1-2 years, the WGA and SAG-Aftra strikes another 1-year, then the slow season made it difficult for another 1-2 years.
During the slow season of the last few years, I found a couple occasional gigs, but nothing consistent, and have seen many mentors that I used to look up to for work, now retire from this industry. I'm considering leaving the industry, even though I deep down inside love it very much, just to finally have financial stability and consistency, but unsure if it's the right decision, and where I should even go. The issue is that I never went to film school, so have no college degree in what I currently do. I already tried to find a traditional corporate job on the side, but have not been successful with it, perhaps because of my lack of a related degree. I'm also getting old now, being in my early 30s, so the need for financial stability is becoming real, especially if I end up actually starting a family someday. I'm stuck where I should go at this point, any advice? Should I go back to college for film? or completely career change, and if the latter, then struggle becomes what I could even career change into?