The 25 Best Places to Work in Hollywood

3 weeks ago 3

Riot Games office

Riot Games office Courtesy of Subject

This town may be in flux, but it’s still one of the greatest places on earth to earn a living. THR teamed up with Glassdoor to crunch the data on the top entertainment companies from Netflix to Riot Games, ranking the culture, the money and, of course, the snacks.

Working in Hollywood may not be as sexy or as lucrative as it used to be, but you might want to hold off on signing up for that coding class just yet. Because even amid such uncertain economic times, the entertainment industry still offers some of the most rewarding careers on earth. There are the creative thrills (when you’ve got a hit), unique perks (your movie night is opening night) and potentially massive payoffs for those with the stamina to hang on (have you heard about Iger’s new yacht?).

So, what are the best entertainment companies to work for? In April, even as contraction roiled the industry, THR partnered with Glassdoor on a data-driven quest to find out, aggregating employee reviews for 163 companies in the entertainment space — studios, networks, streamers, game makers, agencies, management firms and media conglomerates — submitted between June 2021 and May 2024. To identify the top 25, Glassdoor averaged each company’s overall employee rating as well as ratings across eight workplace satisfaction categories (see “How This List Came Together” on page 38). To supplement that data, THR dispatched a team of reporters to dish (off the record, of course) with execs, assistants and midmanagement types about what the work culture at their companies is really like, from the perks (free concerts! Omelet Thursdays!) to the pitfalls (office in the middle of nowhere). 

Some companies landed in the top 25 because they dole out big bucks (here’s looking at you, Netflix!), or because of their good vibes (the magic of working on a historic lot still has real appeal), or because as naive as it may sound to cynics, its employees remain passionate about producing great work that’s consumed by billions. And then there are the disrupters, non-legacy outfits like YouTube, Meta and Riot Games, that made the top 25 by changing the very definition of what it means to work in entertainment. 

If your company didn’t make the cut — or, if you are in disbelief that it did (to be honest, we were occasionally surprised ourselves) — just remember, these rankings are based on the reviews of your peers, so feel free to walk down the hall and have a word. Or, better yet, scroll down the list and look for inspiration. Because while Hollywood today may have lost a little glitter, compiling this package reminded us of something very important: Despite the negative headlines, fierce competition and constant agita, this town is still the cultural capital of the world, and people still really, really want to work here. 

Illustration by Edel Rodriguez

Profiles by Patrick Brzeski, Mesfin Fekadu, Nicole Fell, Ryan Gajewski, Caitlin Huston, Lexy Perez, Zoe G. Phillips, Christy Piña, Jeanie Pyun, Carly Thomas, Beatrice Verhoeven, Brande Victorian and Alex Weprin

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

Subscribe Sign Up

Read Entire Article