MOVING TO TINSELTOWN

If you’re moving to Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta or another major production hub or just getting out of school and trying to make it on your own for the first time, do you have enough seed money to pay for rent, utilities, phone, car maintenance, auto and health insurance, food and miscellaneous expenses for several months until you can generate an income? Can you afford to live alone or do you need to find a roommate (or two)? Do you know the lay of the land and how you’re going to be getting around? What are you going to do if you can’t find an industry job right away? What if you can’t find a job that pays enough to cover all your expenses or you have to work for free for a while just to get your foot in the door? Do you have other skills to fall back on? Do you even know what the job market is like? And even more basic, what type of lifestyle are you up for, and where would you be happy living? Before you make any move or strike out on your own, do your research, know what you’re up against and be prepared.

Actress Tracy Weisert tells younger actors that today they have much more direct access to filmmakers around the world than they’ve ever had before. Actors who live anywhere in the world can use social media to do their due diligence and research multiple resources and make connections before actually moving to Hollywood (or any other major production hub).

And here’s some advice from my friend Alison that applies to anyone moving to Hollywood to break in. She moved to Los Angeles from Maine several years ago with the goal of establishing herself as a writer/director, and these are her thoughts on just starting out.

BEING A BIG FISH IN A SMALL MARKET OR A SMALL FISH IN A LARGE MARKET

Away from the major production hubs, there are areas all over the country where local TV, commercials, documentaries and corporate films are produced regularly and where local filmmakers produce their own projects as well as work on projects originating from elsewhere but shooting in their area. It may take a while to get established in a smaller market; but once entrenched in a local production community, the competition is less ferocious and your chances of staying employed are sometimes greater than they would be if you were to live in a larger market. The cost of living is generally less in smaller communities, and there are many benefits to not living in a big city. The type of projects produced in smaller markets may be less prestigious and smaller budgeted, and the salaries may be less, but there’s something to be said for being a big fish. You can find out how production-active each state is by contacting their film commission. State film commission officials will also let you know which of their cities have their own film offices.

The ability to live and raise your family in a smaller city or town has become more feasible than ever before, especially for those who can transmit their work (writing, visual effects, graphic design, etc.) over the Internet. Many others, besides being part of the local production community, make themselves available to travel and work on shows shooting in other locations. It’s generally easier to do this once you’re established and don’t have to be based out of a large production hub and available for frequent interviews. So many feature films are being shot on locations around the globe anyway, it rarely matters anymore where someone lives, as long as they’re willing to travel.

SKILLS TO FALL BACK ON

It’s important to have a way to earn a living while you’re waiting for your big break or in between jobs. It’s something that those new to the industry don’t think enough about, because everyone wants to believe that once you land your first job—that’s it—you’re on your way. It works that way for some people, but not for all. It’s also easy to ignore the necessity of a back-up plan when you’re young, don’t have too many expenses, can live with roommates and share costs and you’re anticipating the career you’ve imagined for yourself. But as you’ll see and as you’ve been told, it’s an insecure and unstable industry, so as you get older, want to buy a house, get married, start a family (you get the picture), financial security becomes more of an issue. I don’t mean to come off as the voice of doom and gloom here, but I’ve seen this happen to so many people who counted on working more steadily, on being more successful or on being able to sustain their success. It’s not always enough to save money while you’re working to get you through the lean times. Sometimes you need a back-up plan to see you through. And the best time to figure that out is when you’re young and just getting started.

What other skills do you have? When I was just starting out, I typed scripts between projects and signed up for temp work. When my husband Ron wasn’t on a show, he was building furniture. I know people who design websites, cater parties and write articles for magazines. One friend in the business works as a computer consultant when not on a show, one uses her still photography skills to take headshots for actors and still another friend makes and sells jewelry in between gigs. If you don’t have other skills, you can always take a class or two and learn one. I know someone who has his contractor’s license to fall back on, another obtained a commercial license to drive big rig trucks and still another went to bartender school. Keep in mind, however, that you want something that’s going to give you some amount of flexibility. You’re still going to need time to pursue your career and be available for meetings and interviews. You’ll also need to be able to replace yourself should a new show or job come along.

Having skills you can fall back on will keep you busy, keep your mind active and some money coming in. It’ll save you from the agony of waiting for the phone to ring and from going nuts during dry spells. You’ll also feel more secure. I don’t know about you, but when things don’t go as planned or finances get tight, I always ask myself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” If you have a Plan B, the worst never seems so bad. Check out more about Plan B jobs in Chapter 21, Show Biz Survival Techniques.

THE MERITS OF WORKING FOR FREE

If you’re not having much luck landing a job, consider working as an intern. It may not sound terribly appealing, but if you can afford to do it even for a short period of time (like a day or two a week), it’s one of the very best ways to get your foot into any show biz door.

I once took a job as a second unit UPM and worked for a very astute line producer named Jonathan, who at the time, specialized in non-union features. My first day on the job, he took me on the set and pointed to an individual. “See that camera loader?” he asked. “He worked for free two shows ago. And the second AD over there, she worked for free three shows ago.” His routine was to hire interns and give them a chance to ask questions, learn and figure out what they were most interested in doing while working in PA positions. After working for free and proving themselves capable on an entire show, he’d hire them again on his next show, give them more responsibility and pay them a small salary. They’d learn more each time and get paid more on each show, until eventually, they’d be ready to assume an actual crew position. Voicing my astonishment, he said that’s how he had started. He knew no one when he first moved to L.A., had no connections and couldn’t get a job. But he did have a little money to hold him over. After doing some research, he approached the production executive at the company he most wanted to work for and volunteered to work for free. The exec politely turned down his offer, but he was persistent, and they eventually relented. He quickly proved his worth and was soon moving up and getting paid. When he left that company sometime later and started freelancing, he made it a point to help other newcomers in much the same way. When I mentioned to Jonathan that I’d feel uncomfortable hiring people to work for free, he explained that it was part of their education—just like going to school. And just like school, if you do well enough, there’s a paying job for you at the end of your term.

Then there was Billy. I had been working on a TV series, and this very energetic young man came to see me at the beginning of the season. He said he wanted to be my assistant, to which I promptly told him how sorry I was, but that there was no money in the budget for me to have an assistant. He then offered to work for me three mornings a week, for free, if I’d agree to train him. We worked out the details, and oh my, was he amazing—bright, fun to be around and quickly indispensable. It was the perfect arrangement until one day a few months later he told me he wasn’t making enough at his part-time job and would have to find something full-time and leave the show. I couldn’t lose Billy, so after practically begging my supervisors to somehow, some way find the money in the budget, we were able to find enough to pay him to stay with the show on a full-time basis.

Stephen lived in the Midwest, and one day, a film came to shoot in his town. As soon as he could, he made a beeline for the production coordinator’s office and offered to work for free. She politely said they didn’t need any more help. But he came back every single day until she finally gave in.

Another colleague of mine suggests that if you want to start out as a script reader to look in the Hollywood Screenwriting Directory and target production companies that don’t have studio deals, because those are generally the ones that could use the most help. You can find script coverage templates and scripts to read on the Internet (if you don’t have scripts from other sources). Do some samples to get the hang of it—see if you even enjoy doing script coverage. Then pick one or two of the companies you’d like to be associated with and offer to cover three scripts for them, for free. Certain agencies and management firms will also accept help with script coverage. No matter which company it is, however, they will most likely ask for cover age samples from you beforehand, just to make sure you know what you’re doing. If it’s something you enjoy, you have a good sense of story and are good at it, they’ll take notice and you’ll have a much better chance of landing some on-going (paid) reading assignments or perhaps even a full-time job.

As a side note: Xander Bennett is a former script reader who turned pro screenwriter. Inspired by the mediocre scripts he covered as a reader, he started the blog “Sreenwriting Tips, You Hack,” and the blog turned into a book of the same title. If you want to learn more about the craft, I highly recommend the book. It’s not only informative, but also amusing and fun to read.

These stories and examples of people who got their start by working for free are not unique. They happen all the time, and it’s a great way to start a career—a time-honored path that is no longer as clear-cut as it used to be. During the past several years, it’s become impossible to intern for a major studio, network production company or agency in California unless your internship is a direct placement from a college or university’s official internship program. In some states, such as California, it’s against the law to have employees working for free unless they come through a sanctioned school program and are able to earn school credit in exchange for their work and/or unless they’re earning minimum wage (constituting a “paid” intern ship). To make it even more difficult to break in as an intern these days, the industry as a whole has become quite guarded on the issue, in part because of the high profile lawsuits that have been filed by former interns who had worked for free and claimed to have been unfairly exploited. It also becomes a worker’s compensation issue should someone who’s not on your payroll get injured on the job. Some of the smaller, independent companies are still amenable to accepting interns to work on shows, do script coverage, etc. under certain circumstances, but there aren’t as many of them as there used to be (even though there’s always a need for extra help).

Since most shows shooting on distant location will hire local PAs, you might consider offering to travel to location at your own expense, assume the costs of your room and food and work as a local, preferably for a salary, but if not, then as an intern (if it’s allowed). If they agree but can’t afford to pay you, you will not only not make any money, but it will cost you to be there. If you can afford it though, and it’s a show you want to work on, it might be worth it. You can sometimes bunk in with someone else on the crew and can almost always take advantage of catered lunches on the set and craft service snacks.

When you’re a student and accept an internship through your school, you must adhere to very specific guidelines. In some schools, students are required to attend an internship course that helps prepare them for their upcoming assignment, sets strict guidelines as to the terms of their assignment and gives them access to an advisor who acts as both mentor and liaison between the student and the company. Because they are earning school credit for their work experience, students are generally required to prepare written and/or oral reports based on their internship experience. A company that wishes to recruit an intern must also agree to explicit guidelines that govern the intern’s days and hours of work and specific duties. In an effort to afford students the best possible learning experience and to prevent their job responsibilities from being nothing more than a steady stream of menial tasks, the company is typically required to guarantee that an educational component will be added to the arrangement—that an intern will be exposed to a limited amount of company information, have some access to executives, be allowed to sit in on an occasional meeting, attend dailies, etc. The intern’s supervisor is also required to complete written evaluations on the intern’s performance. Each school varies, but two to four units of credit are typically afforded to a student participating in an internship program.

There are several ways to find internships, and one is through your school. There are websites such as: internships.com, internqueen.com and entertainmentcareers.net/jcat.asp?jcat=114 (just to name a few), and many studios, networks, agencies, production companies and industry-based organizations have formal internship programs you can apply for.

Here’s one particular internship program I suggest you check out. It’s a program called The Creative Mind Group (thecreativemindgroup.com), and they provide internship opportunities at the world’s most prestigious film festivals and markets.

Whether or not you come through a school program, the goal of any internship is to make yourself useful, work hard, make connections, learn as much as you can while you’re there and show everyone how terrific you are. If you’re going to work for free, try to volunteer your time with a person or company you want to work for or on a specific show you want to work on. You may be able to exchange your time for free lunches, mileage money and a screen credit on the film. If nothing else, you’ll have the opportunity to make new contacts, gain some much-needed experience and add the show to your resume.

I’d like to suggest that if you do work as an intern, and it’s not through a school program, you get a deal memo (just like the rest of the crew) spelling out the details of your arrangement. In a fast-paced and frenzied environment, people can forget and misunderstandings do occasionally occur. But if you’ve been promised screen credit, mileage reimbursement or free lunches, and it’s in writing, chances are you’ll receive what’s been agreed to.

THE MAILROOM

These days, when you hear about some Hollywood bigwig who got his start in a mailroom, it was most likely an agency mailroom where he began his ascent to notoriety. Studios still hire people to work in their mailrooms, but they lean toward their coveted page and internship programs as the ideal pool for entry-level positions.

Mailrooms were once legendary as ground zero for successful show biz careers—whether at an agency or a studio. Agency mailrooms have been especially well known as starting points for agents, managers, producers and studio executives. Many extremely successful, well-known industry icons, such as Michael Ovitz, Barry Diller and David Geffen, started their careers in a mailroom. Today, figuring out which mailroom jobs are worth pursuing takes a bit more research, as the model has changed at some agencies (see below for information on UTA’s specific model/training program), and studios are offering more appealing entry points.

For anyone who does want to go the agency mailroom route, understand that the work can be grueling. The hours are long and the pay is rock-bottom. As in any other entry-level position, it’s a world in which the word “no” does not exist. It’s nonstop sorting and delivering of mail, photocopying, doing research, making deliveries and pick-ups, doing personal errands for agents, reading and covering scripts, filling in for assistants when they’re out, helping out at agency events and parties and so on, and so on, and so on. Your hope is to stand out, get noticed and get promoted to a “desk” (a job as an assistant to an agent) as soon as possible. Most agencies require their trainees to have college degrees, and of the thousands of applications they receive each year, only a small percentage are chosen. They look for someone with a passion for and knowledge of the business and a certain level of professionalism. Knowing something about the industry and the terminology is helpful, and they’re always on the lookout for someone who’s going to hustle. Those who work in the mailroom together are generally friendly and supportive, but as can be expected, a certain competitiveness, overt or not, is endemic to this type of work environment. Stints in the mailroom can last from several months to a couple of years, and everyone’s jockeying for position.

Unlike some other agencies where one applies to get a job in the mailroom and then works his or her way to an agent’s desk and may or may not rise within the ranks to become an agent or one is hired straight to a desk and can later apply for agent training—United Talent Agency (UTA) offers an agent training program that encompasses work in the mailroom, and from the start, is meant to groom trainees to become agents. I spoke to Michael Conway who created and runs UTA’s Agent Training Program, and he filled me in on his highly coveted program. He receives upwards of 6,000 applications a year, approximately 1,000 applicants are interviewed and 120 are hired (30 in their New York offices). He also receives 3–4,000 applications each year for 18 yearly summer internship slots. At their Los Angeles headquarters, approximately 20 trainees are placed in one of six classes offered throughout the year (five trainees go through the same program in New York). For about three weeks, the trainees work in the morning and attend classes in the afternoon. At the end of the three weeks, a two-hour exam is given and trainees have a final review with the UTA Agent Training Committee. If they don’t score 90 percent or better, they can take the test again. If they don’t make it on the second try, they’re out. Once they’ve passed, they’re eligible to apply and interview for a desk. If one isn’t available, or they don’t like their choices, they become a “floater” until a desk opens up. Floaters work in the mailroom, do research, fill in when an assistant is away, shadow agents and help with whatever needs to be done. Michael says when a trainee has his or her heart set on working in a particular department, and there are no openings, he urges them to apply to another department. He tells them to take the time to learn how to be a great assistant, add value to the agent’s daily routine and get to know who everyone is, adding that it will only make them more valuable when finally getting to interview for the department they want.

Whether it’s the UTA Agent Training Program or another agency’s mailroom program, politics often seep into these programs by way of nepotism. It’s not uncommon for the children of those closely connected to agents, managers, high-ranking agency clients and executives to be preferentially hired before all other applicants, especially during the summer. But it’s no different when you’re on a production and the director’s son or the producer’s wife’s sister’s next door neighbor is suddenly given a job as a PA. Once in the job, however, they’re all expected to carry their own weight, the same as everyone else. A job in a mailroom doesn’t guarantee anyone a meteoric rise to Hollywood bigwigdom. Like any other entry-level position, it’s just a way in and a start. The rest is up to you.

I’d like to recommend a terrific book called The Mailroom— Hollywood’s History From The Bottom Up by David Rensin (Ballantine Books), which will give you more insight into the workings and politics of an agency mailroom than you’ll ever need to know. Rensin travels behind the scenes and through sixty-five years of show business history to tell the real stories of the marvelous careers that began—and in some cases ended—in the mailroom.

ONE STUDIO’S PAGE PROGRAM

I got to speak to a senior Human Resources executive at Paramount Studios, and she explained the two most common entry points to the studio.

College students (incoming juniors or seniors) can apply for the internship program via the Internet (paramount.com/inside-studio/studio/internships). This summer program is a highly structured 10-week paid program that provides interns with broad exposure to the studio. It allows college students to gain work experience and establish networks for future opportunities once they graduate college.

The second entry point is the highly sought after Page Program that one can also apply to via the Internet (paramount.com/inside-studio/page-program). College degrees are preferred but not mandatory. Each year there are two to three classes, and approximately 20 to 30 applicants are accepted into each of the classes. The Page Program lasts from 18 to 24 months. Initially, the pages are trained to give VIP and regular studio tours and are eventually pulled from their tour duties and given utility assignments in various departments throughout the studio—Distribution, Marketing, Finance, IT, HR, Legal, Business Affairs, etc. In many instances, pages are hired into full-time positions once they complete the utility assignment. In other instances, pages acquire new skills and experiences that allow them to acquire other positions in the entertainment industry.

TEMP AGENCIES

If you have the necessary qualifications, a great way to explore various industry jobs is to sign up with one or more of the temporary employment agencies that specialize in entertainment-related jobs. Each agency varies slightly, but in general, most place individuals in jobs as receptionists, assistants, executive assistants and in technical, creative, accounting and legal positions. Some handle production-related jobs (from PAs to production coordinators), and one agency owner said she handles the full gamut, placing PAs and receptionists, all the way up to CFOs.

Most of these agencies are located and/or headquartered in Los Angeles. Their ratio of resumes received each month compared to the number of placements made is pretty lopsided, but if your skills are sharp, you have a personality to match and you’re patient, you have a shot at it. An agency will also look at where you’ve interned prior to taking the plunge into the workforce. Having interned for a major studio or well-known industry company will set you apart from other entry-level applicants.

Once an agency sends you out on a temporary assignment and the client is pleased with your work, you’ll be called again; and many temp jobs lead to permanent positions. This gives you the opportunity to see where you’d like to work, and gives employers who like you the opportunity to request you on a full-time basis as soon as there’s an opening in their company or department. This was one of the ways I earned a living early on in my career. Whenever I wasn’t on a show, I’d call the temp agency I was signed with, and they’d put me on their availability list. It was never too long until I had a job, some of them lasting quite a while. At one point, they sent me to a well-known production company to work for a producer while his assistant was on a leave-of-absence. When that assignment was over, someone else’s assistant was going on vacation, so they asked if I’d work for him. Two weeks later, they found another position for me in their production department, and there I stayed until the company was sold two years later. You never know where you’re going to end up. Someone I know who had only worked in production (and only wanted to work in production) signed up with a temp agency when work slowed down for her, and she found herself working in the home video department at one of the studios. It wasn’t anything she had ever even thought of as a career possibility before, but here was a job she found creative and challenging—and it was steady. They liked her enough to offer her a permanent job, and she took it.

My friend Aubbie Beal had moved to Los Angeles with the objective of temping until she found exactly what she was looking for. She held out, turning down several offers of good, permanent positions along the way, and then finally, landed the job she wanted. Here’s some great advice on temp agencies and temp assignments from Aubbie (although it’s excellent advice for anyone who will be working as an assistant):

The following are some industry-related employment and temporary agencies:

Agencies affiliated with specific studios/networks/companies:

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES WORTH CHECKING OUT