As you'll see over the course of your entertainment career, there are two distinct paths that you can take. You can go down the road to becoming a high powered Hollywood executive, or you can parlay your creative talents (acting, writing, etc.) into high paying studio contracts.

Determining which road you desire to take is something you might want to consider before jumping in. Because although the paths have many similarities, to achieve your goals in the most expeditious manner possible, you'll want to focus your efforts.

That said, there are many out there (including myself) who have gone down both paths over the course of their careers. In fact one often leads to the other. There are a number of cases of executives becoming creatives and even a few creatives deciding to become executives. So don't feel that if you start going down one path, you can't ever "cross over" to the other.

But to help you choose now, start by listing those job attributes that are "must haves." Then as you explore your career options, weigh that list against what you know about each job. This will help you narrow down your choices and hopefully make your initial decision that much easier.