In Phoenix, Brandon Miller made his living creating commercials and public service announcements for charitable organizations. He moved to Los Angeles hoping to break into the local film industry, only to find that the recession had hit Hollywood hard. As in many other industries, jobs in entertainment were increasingly hard to find. Even more so for an outsider trying to get into the market.

“I didn’t expect the transition to be so difficult,” Brandon said. “I wasn’t getting enough revenue from my clients, and I wasn’t signing up enough people because no one had any money. Ultimately I didn’t have money to pay my rent so, since I’m a veteran, I went to the veteran assistance program over at the Los Angeles VA and they sent me to PATH.”

Despite becoming homeless, Brandon refused to give up on his goal of succeeding in the film industry. Instead, he strove to find a way to continue in his chosen career while living in the transitional housing program.

“I told them when I came in that I have a degree…so I still want to stay in my industry as much as possible,” he said. “Because that’s all I have skills in is the entertainment industry. I can’t really do anything else, so they’ve helped support me to be able to still continue to do that even in a homeless situation.” The toughest part, he admits, is that “it’s kind of embarrassing going out into the work market trying to get clients, and telling them my address is at PATH and that I’m homeless.”

Shortly after finding himself in the program, Brandon discovered a new way to use his film experience in his current situation: A video journal documenting his experiences while homeless.

“I was telling this editor I know in Arizona about my situation and he said, ‘You should create a documentary while you’re in there, because nobody’s going to have access to that and this is what’s going on in the times right now,’” Brandon said. “So I started making a digital journal.”

Homeless in Los Angeles includes information about Brandon himself, his personal experiences with homelessness and interviews with other homeless individuals and community members in Los Angeles. Episodes are approximately 10 minutes long.

Brandon first entered PATH’s six-month transitional housing program in May 2009, which means he is getting ready to move out. He has been saving money from jobs he has worked while living at PATH, and plans to move into permanent housing this month with the assistance of The Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.

Watch the first episode of Homeless in Los Angeles.