According to the 2020 Otis Report 1, in California alone the creative industries support 2.68 million jobs, $209.6 billion in labor income, and $650.3 billion in annual output. Over 1.0 million workers are directly employed in the creative industries, with an additional 1.6 million jobs generated indirectly. The direct employment generated by the state’s creative industries and the indirect employment they create through multiplier effects constitute 15.4% of California’s total employment.

The Entertainment and Digital Media industry, which includes motion picture/video production and independent editors, writers, film sound, etc., remains the dominant portion of the overall California Creative Economy, employing 743,000 wage and salary workers in 2018, accounting for 71% of the Creative Economy workforce. Workers in this category earn the highest wages, $132,000 on average per year. This category also added the most workers, 138,000 wage and salary jobs, from 2013 to 2018.

Most of those who work in this field (87.9%) have attained at least some college education with 22.4% holding a graduate degree, 43.3% holding a bachelor’s degree, and 22.2% having taken some college. This is a field that respects the attainment of higher education.