Beyond the Red Carpet - Industries & Careers Shaping the Future of Los Angeles

Employment in the creative industries

Manufacturing activity

Number of high-growth startups

Central LA

East LA

San Gabriel Valley

San Fernando Valley

South LA

Westside

South Bay

County of Los Angeles

City of Los Angeles

Trainings and/or in-person engagements

The Beyond the Red Carpet Roadtrip will provide Angelenos with a window to high-growth career pathways they might not have known existed otherwise in the creative, manufacturing, and high-tech industries. Moreover, hearing stories from diverse people who represent different backgrounds and cultures that Angelenos can relate to will empower them to make their aspirations a reality.

There are a lot of career opportunities in the LA area that many Angelenos are unaware of and lack access to. At Roadtrip Nation, we want to change that. Our goal is to give everyone access to the same information and opportunities.

Roadtrip Nation’s Beyond the Red Carpet Roadtrip will make LA the best place to CREATE by sharing with Angelenos the inspiring stories of individuals who have overcome obstacles and are thriving in careers in high-growth industries seeking a skilled and diverse workforce right here in our own backyard. The stories will be gathered by three Angelenos who hit the road in a green RV to interview a diverse group of professionals in the high-tech startup, manufacturing, and creative industries. Highlights will be featured in a documentary special on PBS SoCal and the content will be incorporated into Roadtrip Nation’s educational resources for middle school, high school, and college students.

High-tech Startups

LA has become a leading destination for high-tech startups. Silicon Beach, located in the Westside region of metropolitan LA, is home to more than 500 tech startup companies and is considered to be one of the hottest tech hubs in the world. Venture capital in the billions is flowing into the city, thanks in part to efforts by Mayor Garcetti and a council of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and community leaders which introduce investors with local tech funds.

Manufacturing

From aerospace and medical supplies to food and furniture, the Los Angeles area is the biggest manufacturing hub in the country with more than half a million jobs here. There is space to build factories and runways, the weather is ideal for testing planes year-round, the huge ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles let companies quickly ship products to a global market, and a massive logistics region east of Los Angeles is the first stop before products get on trucks to go across the country. Skilled workers are in high-demand, and business are working with local educational institutions to help students obtain training and skills for these jobs, many of which do not require a four-year college degree.

Creative Industries

Los Angeles is one of the most diverse cities in the world, but the entertainment industry remains a very small, largely white, male “club”. This year offered hope that the industry may have reached a tipping point. With the Grammy’s long overdue recognition of hip hop as the dominant genre in music, and with the critical and box office success of films like The Shape of Water, Get Out, and Black Panther, the hope is that the industry is finally changing to better reflect the diversity of our country and the world at large. The challenge ahead is to build from these successes. Beyond the Red Carpet will highlight writers, directors, producers and other creative talents who are forging new ground so that the entertainment industry continues to nurture and attract the best creative talent from all cultures and walks of life.

RTN will launch a digital application to recruit Angelenos to participate in the Roadtrip. RTN and its partners will conduct promotional activities and outreach to encourage Angelenos to apply. RTN will select three roadtrippers, help plan their route, and coach them in how to book the interviews. A RTN camera crew will help facilitate the experience and capture video footage for television, online, and classroom purposes.

RTN will create a hub dedicated to the Beyond the Red Carpet Roadtrip to serve as a resource, marketing tool, and landing page for all Angelenos. The hub will introduce the selected roadtripper team, enable people to follow the roadtrippers on their journey through social media, and showcase the content.

RTN will collaborate with its partners and LA2050 to host a screening event to celebrate the Roadtrippers’ experience and showcase the produced content, inviting local media, government and business leaders.

Roadtrip Nation will disseminate the LA2050 content through:

* A documentary special broadcast on PBS SoCal; LA2050 will be provided with on-air credit

* Partner channels and networks including LA2050, UCLA Extension, LA OC Regional Consortium of Community Colleges

* RTN’s Interview Archive of 5,000+ videos containing edited segments from each interview from the trip

* Roadtrip Nation’s Project-Based Learning Modules enabling participating middle school, high school, and college students in LA to explore the career pathways featured

We will define success by the number of people who have exposure to the project and access to the content.

There are four main metrics we will use to measure the success of the Beyond the Red Carpet Roadtrip:

1. We will track the number of visitors to the LA2050 Roadtrip hub from launch to close.

2. We will track the number of applicants for the roadtripper positions.

3. We will track the number of households that view the PBS SoCal broadcasts of the documentary special.

4. We will track the number of middle school, high school, and college students in the LA area who have access to this content through RTN’s educational resources.