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Waiters No More: Unemployed Actors Now Drive Ubers
The Hollywood Reporter ^ | October 10, 2014 | Natalie Jarvey

Posted on 10/16/2014 12:20:46 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Been pitched while in the backseat of a car service? That may be because 60 percent of Lyft drivers also had jobs (or aspirations for one) in the entertainment industry.

Before passengers exit from the back of Jerry terHorst's Honda Civic, he makes sure to hand them his card. "Future Famous Actor," it says in block letters. Then, if he gets the chance before they make it to the curb, he tells them about the web series he's working on with his roommate. "I don't want to be that L.A. guy who's like, 'Oh, my web series ...' " he says. "But I just make sure that I mention it."

When terHorst moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles five years ago, he earned a living doing what budding young actors have done for decades: He waited tables. But this year, terHorst joined the growing ranks of aspiring stars who've left the food-services industry behind and instead are supporting themselves — until their big break, that is — by driving for Uber, the lower-cost UberX and Lyft, the app-based car services that have been reshaping much more than Hollywood's traffic patterns since rolling into town in 2012 and 2013, respectively. "I can't imagine a better job," says terHorst. "It's super-flexible, and I don't have to learn new menu descriptions."

According to Lyft (the service with the big pink fuzzy mustaches attached to the grilles of its cars), as of June 2013, about 60 percent of its L.A. drivers also had jobs (or aspirations for one) in the entertainment industry. Uber (which had startup help from such Hollywood backers as Ashton Kutcher and WME) doesn't share data on its tens of thousands of L.A. drivers, but plenty of anecdotal evidence suggests they also are waiting for their close-up, trying to sell scripts...

(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; TV/Movies; Travel
KEYWORDS: ashtonkutcher; california; economy; hollywood; internet; jerryterhorst; lyft; uber

1 posted on 10/16/2014 12:20:47 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Enjoy while you can until your beloved liberal politicians outlaw uber and lyft. The Taxi lobby is extremely powerful.


2 posted on 10/16/2014 12:25:13 AM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Do You Know Your Way To San Jose
3 posted on 10/16/2014 12:29:00 AM PDT by Dallas59
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This explains what I saw on “South Park” tonight.


4 posted on 10/16/2014 12:41:43 AM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: Organic Panic

Looks like the Taxi lobby had their heads handed to them by these upstarts.


5 posted on 11/18/2018 1:17:48 PM PST by SamAdams76 ( If you are offended by what I have to say here then you can blame your parents for raising a wuss)
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