Tatyana Kim and her husband Anatoliy O immigrated to Los Angeles from Almaty, Kazakhstan, 12 years ago in pursuit of the Hollywood dream.

When the filmmaking duo first arrived in the United States, they scraped by, living in small rooms and back houses in Pasadena while studying their crafts at L.A.-area arts colleges.

They eventually upgraded to a rent-controlled apartment in Hollywood, where they paid $1,500 a month to share a single bedroom with their infant daughter. At the nearby TCL Chinese Theatre, the couple would eat oatmeal for dinner while waiting in line for movie screenings.

But even that relatively low housing cost was a stretch for independent artists trying to make it in an increasingly challenging industry while taking care of a young child and juggling extra film and commercial producing gigs to pay the bills.

“Let’s just be transparent,” O said. “Most artists who I know are having a day job. That’s the reality of it. There’s no way around it.”