I've been in the same boat for over a decade. I was a "top of the game" game developer (multiple console OS teams, multiple AAA titles as lead), when into VFX a

I've been in the same boat for over a decade. I was a "top of the game" game developer (multiple console OS teams, multiple AAA titles as lead), when into VFX and was doing well, got an MBA and was doing better... then I pursued an ambitious startup (what are called deep fakes now, but applied to video advertising), got global patents in '08, and ended up bankrupt by '13 because nobody believed what I was demonstrating in front of their eyes was possible at scale, or they wanted to do porn (which I refused.) Now I'm working in an industry I don't like, facial recognition, because 99.99% of the potential employers I've contacted either can't figure out what I could do for them, think I'd be bored with whatever they do, or think I'd be too expensive. I even had one interview recently when after an hour the interviewer says "sounds like you're tech light, so..." WHAAT? They had no idea creating media production systems or working in VFX is all digital technologies.