FAQs

  • Students are required to apply to LACCD and enroll in the FLM PRD 100 course to become Emerging Crew members with Hollywood CPR.

    This course is free for Angelenos who are new to college and pursuing their first credential. Through our LACCD partners, all first-time, full-time students qualify for LA College Promise.

    If you’re not a first-time college student or resident of Los Angeles, you’re still welcome to enroll, but you may have standard community college tuition and fees to pay on top of the other program expenses noted below. Students will need to apply for the LA College Promise.

    • Read all of the requirements here.

    While the program is free or low cost, living in Los Angeles is not.

    • If you want the program to lead you to a long career in the industry, you’ll need a plan to obtain your own vehicle and drivers license first. This is a priority.

    • Before starting the program, candidates should plan ahead to ensure they will have stable housing, basic gear, and the ability to prioritize long days training and on set for the duration of the program (1-2 years).

    • You’ll need to arrange work and personal commitments that can flex around the training — not the other way around.

    • Success in this program comes from preparation — knowing what you’ll need before you start, asking for help, and organizing your life around the opportunity.

    Calculate your anticipated cost here.

  • Step 1: Orientation (Required)
    You begin by completing FLM PRD 100 through the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). This course fulfills Hollywood CPR’s orientation requirement and makes you eligible for Emerging Crew status.

    • Enrollment, registration, and financial aid are handled directly by the college, not Hollywood CPR.

    • View the Getting Started page

    Step 2: Emerging Crew
    After completing orientation, your college instructor will invite you to apply as an Emerging Crew member to HCPR depending on your performance and overall readiness.

    At this stage, you begin learning how project-based production work functions, build early experience, and prepare to be a competitive applicant for Hollywood CPR’s IATSE craft training.

    Step 3: Training Crew (By Application)
    Training Crew members are selected for craft-specific training with IATSE industry professionals. Admission is competitive and based on demonstrated readiness, professionalism, and baseline skills covered in FLM PRD 100.

    Step 4: Working Crew
    Working Crew members have completed the HCPR Craft training and received endorsement from an IATSE craft professional. Working Crew are able to qualify for job placements with studio partners upon completion of their HCPR Portfolio Requirements.

    Important to know:

    • Hollywood CPR does not guarantee job placement or union membership.

    • Advancement happens through demonstrated skill, reliability, and follow-through.

  • We’re an industry-embedded training hub in Los Angeles, which means your training won’t happen in one static classroom.

    You’ll be learning on real stages and real sets across Los Angeles. One day you might be in Downtown LA at 4pm, and the next you might need to be in Burbank at 5 a.m. That’s why we stress having reliable transportation — the industry moves, and you have to be able to move with it.

    If you don’t have access to a vehicle, start there before joining the program.

  • Productions take place at multiple locations across Los Angeles, often with early call times or late wrap times when public transit is limited. To succeed in the program, students must be able to:

    • Arrive on time to training, set builds, and productions (sometimes as early as 3:00 a.m.)

    • Transport required tools and materials for their craft

    • Travel between production sites and networking events as needed

    Reliable transportation is essential to meet the professional standards of punctuality and preparedness expected in the entertainment industry. There are no exceptions.

  • At Hollywood CPR, you’re training with the same industry professionals who ideally want to hire you one day. That means you’re interviewing every time you show up.

    If you can’t be on time for class, no one will trust you on a set.
    Attendance and punctuality are major factors in whether you advance.

    The industry standard:

    • Plan to arrive 30 minutes early and be ready to work.

    • Treat class exactly how you’re expected to treat a real call time.

    • In this industry, reliability is worth as much as skill. People hire the crew they can count on.

    If you know you can’t commit to showing up consistently, you should wait to start the program again when you can meet the demand.

  • You may be a good fit for Hollywood CPR if:

    • You are interested in behind-the-scenes, craft-based work in film or television or live events (not acting or directing, etc.).

    • You are willing to start with orientation course and follow a step-by-step process rather than expecting immediate placement.

    • You understand that most hiring in this industry is project-based and relationship-driven, not guaranteed.

    • You can show up on time, prepared, and responsive, and take feedback seriously.

    • You are comfortable building skills and experience over time, especially early in your career.

    Hollywood CPR is not a good fit if you are looking for:

    • Guaranteed job placement or union membership

    • Immediate full-time work

    • Someone else to manage LACCD enrollment or paperwork for you

    • A short-term program with minimal time or effort required

    The best way to assess fit is to complete orientation and observe how the work, expectations, and pace feel to you. Orientation is designed to help you decide whether this pathway matches your goals before you apply for advanced training.

  • This program was designed for Angelenos and Californians who are first-time college-goers who lack access to the entertainment industry.

    While anyone may enroll in LACCD’s prerequisite courses designed by Hollywood CPR, a valid U.S. Social Security Number (SSN) is required to advance into Hollywood CPR’s training phases, qualify for studio job placements, and ultimately complete the program with the ultimate goal to be placed on an industry experience roster.

  • If you want to earn a day rate, treat it like a challenge — because it is.

    • There’s always paid work in this industry in Los Angeles, but people won’t pay you until they’ve seen you in action.

    • Day rates come after you’ve proven you’re reliable, skilled, and worth the investment. Nobody hands that to you. You earn it through the relationships you build. And the easiest place to build those relationships is by helping on set.

    The fastest path to paid work is simple: Show up. Work hard. Make an impression.

    • Early on, that means taking the free and low-paid jobs that let you meet department heads, coordinators, and crew. Those are the people who will recommend you, call you back, and put you on paid gigs as soon as they trust you.

    If you want to get on a set, think like someone who wants to work:

    • Use social media like a tool. Follow film school pages, indie filmmakers, ADs, coordinators, and creator accounts. They post crew calls constantly.

    • Go where filming actually happens. Film schools, indie shoots, creator sets, community film events.

    • Talk to the people who control the call sheets. Student directors, ADs, coordinators, producers.

    • Respond to posts fast and follow up. Half the industry runs on “Who answered first?”

    • Show up more than once. Reliability is the currency that builds relationships.

    • Paid work happens after you’ve built relationships with decision makers and peers, not before.