Anything Goes : Starting Out by Cara Spiller

My co-author and I are going to be trying our hand at screenwriting. We're currently based out of a college town in Georgia where a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment is $400/ month plus utilities. Just looking at prices in and around Burbank, California... needless to say we're feeling the sticker shock. We knew going in that it was going to be more expensive... But how do you find a safe, inexpensive apartment that's not a million miles from Burbank? How do you find a good starting job to get your foot in the door and enable you to live in this area? There's a lot that seems up to chance and up in the air... and after initial searches, we're feeling a bit depressed. Can anyone shed some light for us?