We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kaitlyn Cramer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kaitlyn below.

Kaitlyn, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

It certainly has not been easy and I’ve had a lot of luck on my side to make it work, but I’ve been extremely fortunate to earn a full time living from working in creative fields. Like most people who start out pursuing theatre or creative work, I spent many years as a waitress, had a stint as a barista, and worked from home as a call center employee during the day while doing shows in the evening.

A big part of my journey has just been saying “yes!” to things, with a whole lot of luck thrown in. When I first came to Los Angeles in 2021 it was for a part-time job stage managing at AMDA Conservatory in Hollywood. Obviously, LA is one of the most expensive cities to exist in… but I knew I could find another job to supplement while I tried my hardest to claw my way into the entertainment world. One project took me to another and another, and as I worked on more shows and made more contacts, I managed to drop my survival job to focus entirely on industry work.

The two that really changed my career were Arcane: Enter the Undercity, an immersive experience produced by Netflix, Red Rock, and Riot Games. I got hired onto that project as an Assistant Stage Manager. It was my first experience doing immersive entertainment, and because of the amazing experience I had I continued to seek out jobs that would be just as thrilling. My next big break was a few months later when I got hired onto Stranger Things: The Experience as the Touring Stage Manager.

Looking back on everything and knowing what I know now, I honestly don’t think there’s anything I could have done different. I like to think that things work out when they are supposed to, and sometimes the pieces just fall together.

Kaitlyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a Stage Manager and Production Manager! I fell in love with theatre in high school but didn’t know there was a backstage out-of-the-spotlight option until I was in college. I didn’t even know what a Stage Manager was until my sophomore year of undergrad. My life plan was to become a high school English teacher and run the school musicals. I grew up in a small, rural part of Pennsylvania so when you aren’t exposed to a lot of arts and creative job opportunities, you don’t think it could ever become a reality for you. At least, I didn’t. I ended up having a really great college professor convince me to change my Theatre minor to a major, then to a Dual Degree, and THEN to stage manage a show when I didn’t think I was ready. That kind of catapulted me into a life of taking risks – especially with my career. Stage Managing is the perfect combination of being involved in every aspect of a production, from pre-production to strike, and I love that. I like to see things become fully realized, and I like that I get to form relationships with the production team, designers, and technical team as well as the directors and actors. It’s the best of both worlds.

After college, I decided that I was going to continue pursuing stage management and see where it took me. My first long term professional job was in Oceano, CA at The Melodrama – a kooky theatre on the central coast that puts on some fantastic, funny, and goofy shows and vaudeville revues. I probably would have stayed at The Melodrama for years if it wasn’t for the pandemic closing everything down, but that was my biggest blessing in disguise. It forced me not to get too comfortable. I fell in love with California while I was on the central coast, so when the chance to head to LA a few years later popped up I couldn’t say no.

I think what I am most proud of in my career is the way it’s grown over the last few years. I started out as a Stage Manager with strictly theatrical experience, branched out into immersive events and touring, worked as a Production Coordinator for a production company in Asia, did some corporate events and keynotes, stage managed a film that is currently premiering at various festivals, experienced the Halloween Haunt world, and am currently part of the pre-production for an awards show. It’s been a crazy journey and I’m excited to see what comes next.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think the hardest thing to understand about my career is the lack of stability and the fact that I never have two days in a row that look the same. That stresses a lot of people out, but I thrive in the chaos. I think it’s fun! I get bored if I do the same job or work on the same production for too long. I think that’s why this career path is so great for me – everything changes, or ends, and then it’s on to the next thing!

It can definitely be hard, especially being away from home a lot and the constant traveling, but I look at it as something to be grateful for. I think traveling is exciting and I’ve gotten to visit so many places – like beautiful Brazil – that I never would have visited if not for work. I’ve also made so many incredible friends. The community that you form while on the road is so different from a typical 9-5 job. I met some of my lifelong best friends working on Arcane, Stranger Things, and other shows because of the absurd amount of hours we spend together in high stress environments. It’s crazy, but I wouldn’t change it.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Facebook! That sounds so silly, but when I first moved to LA I got almost all of my jobs off of Facebook. It’s a huge asset, especially for those early in their career who don’t have the connections to get recommended right away. Jobs pop up daily on those groups, and they’re usually looking to hire immediately as well, so it’s a really awesome tool to get yourself out there and onto the next thing.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: kaitlynrcramer
• Facebook: Kaitlyn Cramer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-cramer-8a1b09217