This article is adapted from Television, Film, and Digital Media Programs

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities in motion picture and video production are expected to rise about 17 percent industry-wide by 2014. With new technologies on the rise, opportunities in the entertainment industry—especially those below the line (animators, technicians, and the like)—are expanding. Some of the hottest careers in the industry today can be found behind the scenes. Above-the-line people—actors, directors, and producer—get a lot of the glamour, but right now their below-the-line counterparts—those who provide skilled craft and technical services—are in higher demand than ever.

Read about these hot careers and some of the majors that lead to them, and then pick up Television, Film, and Digital Media Programs: 556 Outstanding Programs at Top Colleges and Universities across the Nation to find out where you can get unsurpassed training in these hot fields.

Special visual effects director: With equal parts creative vision and technical innovation, the career of a successful special visual effects director toes the line between conceiving of incredible illusions and then working out the kinks to make even the most inspired imaginings appear real. Typically, special effects require both live-action footage and computer-generated images (or other model work) to simulate environments that might not be possible to achieve given the constraints of the real world (cloned dinosaurs, anyone?). While most of these effects are finished during the postproduction phase, they nevertheless need to be choreographed and planned for during the preproduction and production phases. Special visual effects directors can create anything, provided they have the imagination.

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Animator: While basic animation has been around for a century, in recent years the medium has virtually exploded, and employment opportunities abound. Modern-day animators don't just work with stop-motion clay animation (A Claymation Christmas, Wallace & Gromit), but also with photographs of drawn or painted images (The Lion King) and computer-generated images (Finding Nemo). In fact, computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation is fast becoming one of the hottest fields in the industry.

The award-winning animators at Pixar (The Incredibles) have raised the profile of animation, and they've also pioneered 3-D computer graphics technology. With the public's insatiable appetite for animated sitcoms (The Simpsons) and films (A Bug's Life), the growth and glamour potential of this career promise to keep skyrocketing. At the moment, there are only about 94,000 multimedia artists and animators in the country—and demand for industry professionals is on the rise, expected to increase by 40 percent in the next decade. Oh, and did we mention that a good animator can earn a salary in the six-figure range?

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Audio engineer: Unlike many of their on-the-set counterparts, "sound guys," as they're typically called, are involved in both the production and postproduction phases. During the filming of a motion picture, they operate microphones, mixing consoles, signal processors, digital audio workstations, sequencing software, and speakers. Once the actors have left for the day, audio engineers often work closely with the director in postproduction to ensure the fulfillment of the director's creative vision (and, at a more practical level, to make sure there's proper balance). Jobs in this key behind-the-scenes role are expected to grow by nearly 28 percent over the course of the next decade.

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Gaffer: These chief lighting technicians on the sets of movies handle not just the lights, but also all the electrical needs on the set. They place and focus fixtures, of course; but they also take care of distributing power, managing generators, and making sure that all departments have the electricity they need. Working under the cinematographer, they make sure that the lighting on the set promotes the cinematographer's creative vision. Top gaffers can expect steady employment and take-home salaries in the six-figure bracket. (The median salary across the industry—including both feature films and smaller-scale projects—is about $50,000 a year.) Many gaffers start out in a position called best boy electric and then ultimately become gaffers. Take Jerry DeBlau, whose thirty-year career took him from best boy electric for Working Girl and other popular films to gaffer for such features as Quiz Show, Boys on the Side, Almost Famous, and Analyze That.

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Cinematographer: With the release of such aesthetically enhanced films as Amélie and The Lord of the Rings has come an increased demand for well-trained cinematographers, or DPs (directors of photography). While cinematographers are charged with ensuring the technical quality of the images that are captured and produced—and, hence, they direct the lighting crew—they also have the more creative task of working with the director to ensure that the images in the film produce the desired aesthetic. Top cinematographers in the industry (such as the late Conrad Hall, who won Oscars® for American Beauty and The Road to Perdition) often work with top directors on more than one film. They can earn significant salaries, and once they've proven that they can produce breakthrough aesthetics for a major motion picture, they have the continuous opportunity to produce aesthetic innovation.

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Key grip: While the term grip is at least several decades old, the functions that key grips (that is, heads of grip departments) perform have become increasingly technical with the near-nonstop development of new technologies. Grips are lighting and rigging technicians who work closely both with camera operators and technicians as well as lighting technicians. Their job is to ensure that the cameras and lights are properly situated to get good shots. To that end, they work with dollies and cranes to make sure the camera is mounted properly. And while they don't touch the lights themselves, they make sure that all the necessary equipment is in place so the lights can produce the desired effect. These key problem solvers figure out how to satisfy all rigging needs on the set. Out-of-the-box thinkers fare especially well.

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Business and legal affairs representative: Every business has a nitty-gritty aspect, and the entertainment business is hardly an exception. Business and legal affairs personnel are key behind the scenes—they make sure that copyright laws are adhered to, that productions comply with union regulations, that studios enter into deals that will be profitable.... The list goes on. If you're good at math, like detail work, and love the entertainment industry, this may just be the perfect way to satisfy your unique combination of strengths.

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Publicist: Ever notice the people next to the stars on the red carpet, usually on their cell phones? These people are publicists, and they are in the business of creating and maintaining images—and of making sure those images get all the right exposure. Publicists work to manage (at times, manipulate) the public's perception of their clients. They make sure their clients make the news, and they try to have an effect on what that news is. A good publicist understands the consumer, the client, and the marketplace—and stands to make salaries that even the celebrities themselves would consider formidable.

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Makeup artist/Costume designer: These personal-appearance workers have to have style, know style, and know the styles that work with the celebrities they make up and dress. They work to create the aesthetic of the movie by rendering the actors believable as the characters they play. And they must do all this while complying with time and budgetary constraints. While a relatively easy gig may entail blue jeans and a dab of foundation, some more complicated projects--period pieces, for example—require cosmetologists and costume designers to completely redefine an actor's look. In her acceptance speech, Academy Award-winning makeup artist Jenny Shircore (who transformed Cate Blanchett into Queen Elizabeth in the feature film Elizabeth) acknowledged, too, the importance of working with actors who can assume the qualities as well as the appearances of their characters. Some designers--take Sex and the City's Patricia Field, for instance—also open their own boutiques after achieving relative fame and fortune themselves.

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Scenic designer: Scenic designers are involved in every step of the creative process, from conceiving of the initial aesthetic to devising models to scale to constructing the set in collaboration with other technical staff. While they're not responsible for, say, the lighting or electricity, they do need to plan for all the systems needed on the set, and they need to work with the behind-the-scenes professionals who coordinate those systems to ensure that everything functions properly. Scenic designers often hold MFA degrees in their craft, and many parlay their educational experience and training into very successful careers in TV, film, and digital media.

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