Explaining Hollywood: How to get a job as a Hollywood animal trainer
LOS ANGELES — The sounds of lions roaring outside her trailer in Acton lulled Ursula Brauner to sleep.
That was in 1986, and Brauner was a recent graduate from the Exotic Animal Training and Management program at Moorpark College. Her trailer was on the grounds of an animal training facility; her trailer-mates were a baby kangaroo and chimpanzee.
Brauner went to Acton to try to break into the entertainment industry, volunteering her time, as so many others starting out do. But instead of making coffee runs, she was cleaning kennels and rearing baby animals. Brauner said she often found herself finishing her chores early so she could watch her more experienced colleagues as they trained animals, absorbing everything she could.
Her first chance to work on a movie set came when a job opened up that required an animal she'd been working with. She never looked back. Today, Brauner is the co-owner of Animals for Hollywood, an animal training facility that's coordinated animal filming and stunts for more than three decades.
And while each person's experience is as unique as a zebra's stripes, here are some tips that Brauner and two other trainers, Karin McElhatton and Sarah Clifford, agree can help you to become an animal trainer in Hollywood.
