After nine years working in Hollywood as a cinematographer, editor and director, Robby Piantanida has moved with his family to Texas to save money. Los Angeles has long been a magnet for those chasing their big break in film and TV, drawn by the allure of creative fulfillment and fame.
When their landlord decided to sell their house, they knew something had to give. “We’ve been surviving for several years on one income,” Piantanida says. “We’ve drained a lot of savings just trying to keep this dream alive. … If we were able to find something for the same price, that would be great, but everything like this house would be close to four grand. Work is so slow right now that I couldn’t justify spending four grand a month that I don’t have on rent.
Piantanida has poured much of what he has made into equipment, at an annual cost of $20,000 to $50,000, which he is able to count as a business deduction on his taxes. “There’s so much expense in staying up with the latest stuff,” he says. “All this stuff would change if I went union. I would make as much money as I could, and I wouldn’t spend it on gear — I would spend it on savings.
Still, going from Southern California to East Texas is a major adjustment. “I love the climate in L.A. and the access to the mountains and the beach,” Piantanida says. “We’re going to miss it a whole lot. … I need to change my plates, too, because we’re in Trump country now, and if we drive around with a California tag, we’re going to get harassed.”
Looking back now, given all that’s happened to the industry since, she feels like she just about missed it. “I’m obsessed with Kathryn Bigelow, and when I first got to New Line, I was trying to put her on all of our director lists ,” Brody says. “I was essentially told that she was unhirable and that we weren’t even allowed to meet with her. I remember being like, why? Because I had just worked for Michael Bay — you want to talk about difficult?”
In late 2021, in search of cheaper housing, Brody moved to Dana Point, California, where she rented a one-bedroom apartment for $2,500 a month. A year later, when the landlord raised the rent to almost $3,000, she decided to move out to Joshua Tree, where she found a three-bedroom house for $1,900 a month in a welcoming creative community with stunning desert vistas.