Why is this a great entry point for a personal assistant or office assistant? Because your job will be the one coordinating schedules with all of the key decision-makers in the room. You will be getting copies of episodes from one party to another. You will be on the phone and constantly emailing with the staff writing assistants about coordinating hand-offs or fixing their grammatical errors before the boss sees them.
By being in this world, you are exposing your name (and work ethic) to the very people who have the ability to pull you into their world, eventually ask you for your thoughts, and possibly allow you polish jobs or do other rare clean ups on actual written material. This is not the time to say something like “Will I get paid extra for this?” or “Can I write an episode?,” it’s instead about being there for the team to ensure that every project is moving forward in the most efficient way possible.
How can this position be effective if you secure a job at a non-scripted production company? You will gain true insights into how the non-scripted world is actually written, and you will find major opportunities to dip your toe in for experience. You will meet the producers who are whittling away narration on their lunch breaks or the editors sifting through pages of transcription notes looking for good interview inputs. Once you’ve developed an open line of communication with these teams (and your supervisor is supportive of you helping out), offer assistance to these individuals… . Make their jobs easier. They will be happy to hand off the assignment to you, since they already have mountains of other work to do. And in time, if you navigate the company in the right way, you can become a semi-“go-to” writer in the organization (whereby a supervisor with well-connected friends might just inquire if you have any sample spec scripts for TV). This scenario is not as speculative as it sounds. This is a very true path that many successful writers have followed. Going back to Erik Bork once again, this is essentially how he was first hired by Tom Hanks to draft out From the Earth to the Moon for HBO… . He went from an administrative assistant to a top-tier writer overnight, but in reality he spent years laying down groundwork as a smart and trustworthy employee (while writing spec scripts on his own time).
After a minimum of one year (ideally two) as a dedicated and loyal personal assistant to a Hollywood decision-maker, you will see huge progress in terms of how large your personal network has grown (and realize that several key contacts in your phone’s contact list are direct links into the very staff writing teams you would hope to connect with professionally.
Again, in Hollywood, these assistant positions are very coveted and you will most likely need to cash in several favors to even garner a studio-level interview, so I would highly advise starting small, by going to mid-level production companies and breaking in there. Not only will you find the challenge of getting the initial job easier, your ability to navigate the job (and bring your own ideas to the table) will be much higher.
You can find assistant jobs on any of the job boards, but you can also check in with www.entertainmentcareers.net or even www.linkedin.com.
To really max this option out, you should never try to use an administrative-type production company job solely for the purpose of your own writing career advancement… . You should always keep your writing for a spare time goal. Over time, as you develop a strong reputation wherever you’re working, your talents at writing can be mentioned and eventually you (with your supervisor’s assistance) can merge these talents together to be more involved in TV projects when they get developed internally.
Keep Writing Gold-Mine Genre Type Features
One real (and consistent) entry point into television writing all stems back to your initial feature-length spec scripts. Those six gold-mine genre types we boasted about truly are the gateway into getting your foot wedged firmly into Hollywood’s door (whether for indie features or for television)—because those are the exact films that are required to keep the industry functioning.
Spending a great deal of time to truly polish out and write several live action, feature-length spec scripts that match the gold-mine genre types outlined in Chapter Two will get you taken seriously by readers and development executives. However, they won’t guarantee you any legit success, at least not right off the bat. Your scripts might receive a ranking of “pass” by Hollywood readers, but your writing could be a “consider.” And if you play your cards right, that production company might just give you a chance by offering you a limited gig (such as taking one of their script ideas and drafting out a treatment, or polishing out a script that’s being rushed into production). You could get your gold-mine genre type script optioned, or even purchased… . Or you might even be commissioned to write a new original script for that company.
When writing a gold-mine genre type spec feature, there are several variables in your favor propelling you into situations where you and your work are being taken seriously. The other great attribute of writing the gold-mine genre type scripts is that many of them don’t make it into theatres… . They become straight-to-TV movies instead. And when you’re writing TV movies, you’re gaining legit TV credits.
When you’re “in” with development executives or acquisitions executives, you can schedule annual pitch meetings with them; you’ll become a go-to person rather than an email or phone call professionals are trying to dodge. And the more wide your network grows, the more information you’ll become privy to. You’ll learn who’s doing what and which production companies are transitioning from one genre type or content format to another. You’ll also hear updates regarding Company A moving away from movies and focusing on TV series… . And it is for precisely these types of networking moments when you can then follow up on such a lead and contact Company A about their “new growth in TV” with the confidence of knowing that you can provide them a sample TV spec script if requested.
Risky Business: The “Backdoor Pilot”
Let’s go back to our favorite finance word, “hedge,” for just a moment. Businesses are very good at doing one thing: Making money. If dozens of major TV channels—which were once a prime target for movie slots—are now shifting gears and taking an active role into acquiring TV series, it only makes sense for Hollywood’s middle tier of distribution and production companies (the ones you’ll be able to readily access when starting out) to have a vested interest in seeing how they can move into television space in order to satisfy the needs of their clients, the channels, in way that makes financial sense.
Producing a full-on television series is a huge investment… . It’s equivalent to shooting three or four feature-length films back-to-back (but at least with three or four movies, you have better odds that at least one of them will be successful, whereas a series is all or nothing). The TV business therefore produces pilot episodes, or one-off episodes, to be used as a sample of what the fully produced series will be like. At the studio level, these are produced with the full knowledge that they can bankroll the series if they choose to move forward. On the indie side of the business, producing one episode isn’t an option (since it would be too short to be a feature and, without at least a minimum number of five or six episodes, could never realistically be placed anywhere).
The answer has come in the form of a hybrid product called a backdoor pilot. It’s literally a feature-length pilot that also works as a stand-alone feature-length TV movie. That way, if the backdoor pilot is fully produced but is never picked up as a series, there is still potential to sell the title into the marketplace as a one-off movie. This is not just a growing trend in the indie world of TV, it’s also a trend for studios. This is why you’re starting to now see many new programs either launch with a two-hour premiere or, if broadcast as only a one-hour, feel suspiciously like they had a rather abrupt ending.
The only writers I personally know who have been involved with backdoor pilots were heavily focused gold-mine genre type writers with writing careers built on feature-length scripts. However, each of them had a strong desire to segue into television. They did have sample
TV spec scripts (usually of dramas) that they were asked to showcase—so they could prove they had at least some TV understanding. None of their backdoor pilots were turned into TV series, but all of them transitioned into TV movies.
Where this reality benefits you is that you can take one of those great TV series ideas and flesh out a first episode as a two-hour backdoor pilot—while making sure to utilize the basics of the gold-mine genre types in your approach. This is the best win-win you can get, in which you are able to express your interest in TV while also having an immediately sellable movie on standby.
Final Note
There is no need to play the game of “showrunner hand-off,” where newbie writers track down (and seemingly stalk) high-ranking Hollywood showrunners in an attempt to give them their sample TV spec scripts—or in one embarrassing story, an entire series bible. Tactics like these are doomed from the start.
Take the pressure off your shoulders and realize that there are wide-open (and untapped) points of entry for you to break into Hollywood’s inner TV circle, many of them in easy-to-get positions on the vast non-scripted end of the spectrum. Focus on your sample TV spec scripts and series ideas. Keep working and developing new concepts (keeping your arsenal fresh and up-to-date) and you will be fully prepared for the moment when television opportunity knocks.
Note
1 Please note that there are agents open to working with newbie writers who will aid them in shaping and building their work—and guiding them on career—however, there are many successful writers who have built their own careers independent of agents… . We’ll discuss the pros and cons of agents, managers, and other writing representatives in more depth in Chapter 6.
Five
Close Encounters of the L.A. Kind
In this chapter, we’ll outline the most crucial aspect of selling your screenplay: selling yourself as a great writer. Not only will we discuss who you need to contact, but more importantly, how best to approach them. And if the idea of cold calls, small talk, or social gatherings makes your skin crawl, don’t worry; we’ll discuss ways you can fake confidence so you can best pitch your script—and yourself—in a way that builds your reputation and gets the right people in Hollywood paying attention.
The Hollywood Schmooze Game
In an idealized world, your script alone should be indicative of your screenwriting talent and potential. But in the real life day-to-day hustle of Hollywood, your script is only part of the screenwriter equation. Just as there’s an expected format and structure your script must follow to appear professional to those who’ll read it, there’s also a specific manner for how you, as the writer, are expected to present it.
Officially, it’s called “pitching” or “networking”; unofficially, it’s the “Hollywood schmooze game,” full of classic one-liners such as “don’t call us, we’ll call you.” If you want to gain traction with the decision-makers on the inside of Hollywood, you have to learn how to act, speak, and behave in the way they expect (otherwise they’ll rarely take notice). As far removed from screenwriting talent as brown-nosing, social niceties, or mindless chit-chat might seem, these subtle personal interactions serve as a very effective filter in Hollywood, allowing agents, producers, and development executives to quickly assess who they choose to work with (and who they don’t).
Thank goodness for technological intervention! In today’s world, you no longer have to call all those intimidating Hollywood executives and play small-talk games. Instead, you can blindly email your script to hundreds of people in one swift click… . Too bad those same technological advances we thought were here to help us have only created additional screening filters to keep you (and your work) out. In fact, I would argue that there’s never been a more difficult time to contact or communicate with real human beings in Hollywood, let alone with those capable of making actual decisions. And as filtering software and cybersecurity continue getting smarter, it’s only going to get tougher for you to get your foot in the door (or inbox).
So what’s an unknown, first-time writer supposed to do? The old standard of “find an agent who likes your script” certainly doesn’t offer much guidance—especially when your blind submission seems doomed for the spam folder.
So, if you want to play the Hollywood schmooze game as a writer, you just have to learn the rules, right? Therein lies the problem—and this is the key point that continues to hold countless writers back from enjoying true success as Hollywood professionals. The Hollywood schmooze game has no rules; it has principles. What’s the difference? Rules change constantly, because rules are always struggling to keep up with rapidly changing situations. Principles, on the other hand, stay the same regardless of whatever curveball you throw at them… . Example? Nearly a century ago when a frightening new invention called “sound” threatened the movie business in the 1920s, the situational rules of Hollywood (like what new filmmaking equipment would now be required) all flip-flopped and everyone panicked… . But the principles of the entertainment business (such as making a quality film that could be produced on time, under budget, and earn a profit) didn’t change at all. And those same principles, which carried Hollywood through its sound crisis, also carried Hollywood through many other turbulent transitions including the rise of television and the advent of the VCR—and they will continue carrying us forward as Hollywood adapts to the evolving digital realm.
Rather than see another talented writer waste precious time through potentially years of trial and error trying to figure out Hollywood’s ever changing rules, I’d much rather cut to the chase and not only spell out the principles behind the Hollywood schmooze game, but also give you plenty of great examples of where and when (and—most importantly—how) to apply them in the real working world of Hollywood.
And the Principles Are …
Principle #3: You Must Always Be Fresh
Being “fresh” means always having something new to offer—and for a writer it means you must always be writing! Isn’t this a given? At the outset, of course… . But the way in which this principle applies to Hollywood schmoozing is that when you are asked that inevitable question, “What are you working on?,” you’ll always have a selection of intelligent—and situation-appropriate—answers to pull from.
Principle #2: You Must Grow and Maintain Your Network
Principle #2 is not about pitching yourself or your talents to complete strangers, or the big-wigs running the studios, it’s instead about making a conscious step towards consistently building (and maintaining) your own personalized social network of individuals that directly link you to professional decision-makers. This means picking up the phone and actively communicating with people you know (and reaching out to those you don’t)—not because you’re a nice person, but because you (and your talents) deserve to be on the forefront of other people’s minds when they suddenly find themselves in need of a person with writing skills.
Principle #1: You Must Expand Your Understanding of Hollywood
Sound clichéd? I get that… . But where most books will tell you to “read the trades” and “study the studios”—and other advice that will yield minimal results—my advice is to simply focus on learning everything you can about Hollywood that has nothing to do with screenwriting (even if only at a grassroots level). The reason, the more you know about how other people’s jobs fit into the overall system, the easier it will be to find a way for you to pitch your work and/or talents to them in order to gain a foothold.
Come Prepared, or Don’t Come At All
It’d be nice to believe that real Hollywood “foot-in-the-door” opportunities come in the form of prescheduled meetings or other situations that we have a fair amount of control over … but they don’t. Hollywood opportunities come from random interactions, leads, and connections that sync up spontaneously—not just for writers, but for everyone including distributors, editors, actors, and so on. For me, if I hear of an interesting new spec movie in the works or nearing completion, it’s usually by w
ord of mouth—from friends who know what content I’m looking for, or who just casually mention it off the cuff. I’ll then go out of my way to chase down that film and find out whoever is responsible for producing it (so I can secure it). The same goes with my development team and their interest in writers… . If they hear of a writer creating content that meets what they’re in need of, they’ll go out of their way to contact them. How these interactions develop can happen at parties, networking events, film and TV markets, or just casually as two friends catch up and mix business and personal talk over the same lunch.
The problem for most newbie writers is that they are taught the overly formalized forms of pitching without learning how to subtly pitch their work (and themselves) in these everyday casual events. I call these “soft pitches,” and the vast majority of the potential work a writer might secure for themselves—especially in the early parts of their career—result from how well they’ve established a base of professional contacts with whom they can communicate with and share these soft pitch announcements of their writings.
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