Marian(50)

For twenty years I worked at a post-production company in Amsterdam making visual effects for international films and series. When the company opened a branch in Burbank -- the heart of the Hollywood industry -- I was asked to lead the operation. The L-1A visa for intra-company managers was the logical choice. With my role as VFX supervisor and team lead I qualified easily. The application via premium processing took five weeks.

Burbank is Hollywood's unknown capital. While everyone thinks of Hollywood Boulevard, the major studios -- Warner Bros., Disney, Universal -- are all in Burbank and the San Fernando Valley. My office is literally next to the Warner Bros. lot. My two-bedroom apartment in Toluca Lake rents for $2,800 per month. Expensive, but a fifteen-minute walk from work -- a rarity in LA.

The film industry in the US works fundamentally differently from Europe. Budgets are ten to a hundred times larger, but deadlines are shorter and work pressure higher. "Crunch time" for a blockbuster means twelve hours a day, six days a week, for months. Overtime is paid (1.5x after eight hours, 2x after twelve hours in California), but it comes at the cost of your life outside work. In the Netherlands we worked 40 hours with a CAO; here that's utopian.

My W-2 at year-end was an eye-opener. My gross salary is $185,000, but after federal tax (24%), California state tax (9.3%), Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) I keep $120,000. Of that, $33,600 goes to rent and $3,600 to health insurance. In the Netherlands I earned less gross, but the net difference was smaller than you'd think. The upside: my 401(k) with 50% match and stock options compensate long-term.

Car culture in LA was the biggest adjustment. In Amsterdam I cycled to the office. In LA a car is essential. I lease a Tesla Model 3 for $450 per month -- electric driving is popular here thanks to charging infrastructure and carpool lane benefits on the highway. Traffic on the 134 Freeway is notorious: a ten-kilometer trip can take 45 minutes during rush hour. I've learned to schedule meetings before 10:00 or after 19:00.

After three years our Burbank branch has grown from five to thirty employees. The combination of European craftsmanship and Hollywood budgets works. My green card application is in process through PERM -- my employer sponsors the EB-1C category for multinational managers. My advice: the US film industry offers unprecedented opportunities for VFX professionals. But prepare for long workdays, high taxes and a life in the car. The magic of Hollywood is real -- but it's also extremely hard work.