How much do people make in Hollywood?

Hollywood actors make an average of $56K per year

While a Hollywood actor’s average salary can vary based their experience and the size of their projects, the average annual salary. in 2024 was $56,903.

The film industry is responsible for more than 200K jobs in California

Hollywood films generate roughly $49B for the US economy each year. In California, the film industry provides more than 200,000 jobs. Industry employees were paid more than $42B in wages in 2022.

Hollywood, explained

It all began in 1887 when Hollywood was registered as a small town before merging with Los Angeles in 1910. Filmmakers moved west to avoid Thomas Edison’s patent lawsuits, and the sunny California climate provided the perfect setting for year-round production. By the 1910s, studios like Paramount and Warner Bros. established themselves, and Hollywood's global dominance was cemented during its golden age from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The economic impact of the Hollywood strikes

The 2023 strikes in Hollywood resulted in significant wins for the WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA unions. Workers were promised to receive bonuses that allowed them to benefit from high-performing streaming shows and films. This article shares how the rewards have been distributed to union members since their implementation. See a breakdown of the bonuses for each union, how the industry has improved, and the challenges some members still face.

A statistical breakdown of the global film industry

Dive into this collection of stats and infographics explaining the current state of both Hollywood and the global film industry. The page covers a variety of topics, including independent film production, box office revenue, global film markets, movie-going demographics and more. It also addresses the relatively new phenomenon of home video streaming.

Broadway employs tens of thousands of people in various roles

While we often just think of the actors and directors who take top billing, Broadway productions operate as distinct businesses employing numerous people in various roles: stage managers, sound designers, house managers, ushers and more.

Hollywood’s best scandals

With all the money, power, and beautiful people in Hollywood, it’s no wonder there’s no shortage of scandals. This list highlights 10 of the most salacious ones, from Marilyn Monroe’s affair with then-president John F. Kennedy, to the mysterious death of starlet Natalie Wood in 1981.

Six body doubles explain the hidden labor behind Hollywood's seamless performances

When actors faces are out of view in a film, it's likely you're seeing a body double. Six such actors describe their experiences: as a curvier set of legs in "Pretty Woman," Michael B. Jordan's double in "Sinners," Hermione when her face is out of view (to abide by child labor laws), pianist hands, and more. A rich behind-the-scenes look.

The 50 best (and highest paying) jobs in America

Here are the 50 Best Jobs in America, according to Glassdoor. Where does your job fall? This report ranks jobs according to each job’s Glassdoor Job Score, determined by combining three factors: number of job openings, salary, and overall job satisfaction rating.

Tom Hanks reportedly made around $65M for the film 'Forrest Gump'

His salary for the Forrest role is one of the highest-paid parts in movie history. This article details others, from "Gravity" to "Alice in Wonderland."

The Madison Avenue Walk of Fame

In Hollywood, the most prominent celebrities get “stars” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now, industry events producer Advertising Week has created a virtual walk of fame for the biggest stars of the ad world, from the Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear to the Energizer Bunny.

A small fraction of creators make money on YouTube

YouTube has become one of the world's leading entertainment platforms almost entirely on the back of users who upload their own content. An estimated 3.7 million new videos get uploaded to YouTube each day, but only a small, very popular fraction are able to make money from their content.

Learn how Hollywood tries to get mental health portrayals right

"Entertainment is always the first priority," the director of medical research for "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" explained in this Newsweek article. But, medical consultants and dedicated groups like the University of Southern California's Hollywood, Health, and Society program, can help inform shows' characters, actions, and sensitivities on subjects like mental illness.

Pay transparency 101

The star of this Harvard Business Review video interviews experts—from an organizational psychologist and business professor to a TikToker who asks people how much money they make—to get to the bottom of core issues about pay transparency. Why is talking about money becoming less taboo? How do pay transparency laws impact workers, employers, and office culture? Watch this video to find out.

Nollywood is Nigeria's booming film industry

With storytelling roots in the Yoruba tradition of traveling theater troupes, Nollywood has slowly expanded its influence—and the world is taking notice. Over the last decade, Netflix invested more than $23M in the Nigerian film industry.

The data on sequels in 11 charts

Sequels, reboots, and other adapted content are generally on the rise in Hollywood, with nearly half of all movies based in some previous film or story. This set of 11 charts dives into the data on sequels, including their budgets, critical success, performance in relation to the original, and more.

The average salary for Harvard MBA grads within 3 months of graduating is $193,837

That number (from 2024 and inclusive of signing bonuses) is higher than the average for all MBA grads in the US who secured jobs within three months after graduation (about $121,324), which signifies the impact of programs on MBA ROI. This list includes ROI for 30 different business school programs.

How life looks different with a $75K household income versus $150K

"The cleanest way to describe the gap is that $75K is often about stability, while $150K can be about optionality, but only if fixed expenses do not expand to consume the raise," said one finance professor.

Why is cocaine worth so much?

The global cocaine trade is worth an estimated $100B a year. But, where does that money go, who is spending it, and who is making it? Vice follows the money to understand why the cocaine business functions the way it does. From illicitly growing...

The official podcast of A24 film studio

They've made arthouse cinema mainstream while winning critical acclaim at the Oscars, Golden Globes, and more. Catch up on the latest episode of A24's official podcast here with interview of actors, directors, and more.

Making the Oscar statuette is a thorough and involved process

From casting the molten metal into its iconic shape, to the electroplating process that gives Oscar his signature 24-carat golden glow, to assembling the finished product and engraving the winner's name, there's much more to this knight than meets the eye.

The hypercompetitive world of becoming a K-pop star

K-pop, a global $8B industry, rose from its 1990s regional roots to worldwide fame thanks to hits like “Gangnam Style.” Trainees endure years of intense training in performance and media skills, with only 4% to 5% debuting.

Full-time employees can cost up to 1.4 times as much as an independent worker

While gig work jobs often have a low barrier to entry and flexible work hours, there are a few downsides to the sector, too. For instance, gig work platforms like Airbnb likely won’t pay for an Airbnb host’s health insurance or paid time off.

Hedge funds make money from imposing steep fees on investors, as well as from investment performance

Hedge funds often operate on a "2 and 20" model: Investors pay fund managers a 2% management fee, and the hedge fund keeps 20% of their profits. (The 2% is imposed annually, irrespective of performance.) Hedge funds are known for chasing big returns—and taking big risks to get them. This explainer not only breaks down how they work in detail, but also the strategy first introduced in 1949 that still shapes hedge fund investing today.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

How much your blood really costs

In the US, donating plasma twice a week can earn you $400 a month. But this system only works by targeting people who need the money most. Plasma clinics are placed in low-income zip codes, and frequent donation may increase health risks.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Poison ivy's rash-causing compound is found in the plant's roots, stem, and leaves—so coming into contact with any part of the plant can lead to rashes for the 85% of people who are allergic to it.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.