ABOUT
AGENCIES:
Everything to do with filmmaking and television production
passes through an agency. Agencies broker deals between
actors and studios, directors and production companies,
production companies and studios—basically every
combination of creative entities you can imagine. An
agency is one-stop-shopping for someone who is looking
to get a feel for what’s available in the Hollywood
job pool. Most of the really interesting jobs ultimately
come from the agencies. Most creative people have agents,
and when they need an assistant, they often turn to
their agents to help them find the right person to fill
the job.
ABOUT STUDIOS:
Studios are, for the most part, self-sufficient movie-
and television-making entities. Their capabilities run
the gamut from developing and producing their stories
and/or programming, to marketing and publicizing their
final product. The studios hire the creative people—the
actors, the directors, and the producers—and then
oversee the work that is generated by bringing these
people together. In essence, the studio is the boss.
Now, not to complicate things, but most people in Hollywood
think they are the boss. The writer who had the original
idea thinks he’s the boss of his idea, and the
director who directs the idea thinks that she’s
the boss of her take on the Idea, and the actor
who actualized the idea thinks he is the boss of his
performance of the Idea, but the bottom line
is that the studio is fronting the money for the writing
and directing and performing, so the studio is essentially
the boss. Money talks, and even with its famously questionable
accounting, Hollywood still abides by that law of business.
The rest of Hollywood functions in a more entrepreneurial
manner, either with four- or five-person production
companies that are headed up by actors, directors and
producers, or larger special effects companies and post-production
houses. As is true for most self-starters, these companies
offer greater responsibility and access to material
for newcomers, coupled with less stability and heightened
competition. Because the workload bulks up and diminishes
according to Hollywood production schedules, which are
at the mercy of everything from guild strikes to audience
attendance, the revolving doors at these companies are
in constant motion and employees often trade job stability
for greater hands-on experience.
Both routes—the studio/agency route and the production
company/post-production house route—have pluses
and minuses, depending on what kind of person you are.
(Again, this is where your list of qualities will come
in handy. Do you need more structure? Do you prefer
stability to responsibility? Do you care about ill-defined
hours? Do you like to be around a lot of people or a
few?) The beauty of being new to the business is that
you don’t have to close any doors just yet. That
decision will come later.
GETTING
THE JOB
The vast majority of industry jobs require at least
two years of work experience in the industry. A double
bind? Absolutely. Your first assignment: Get to
know the players. If you are going after an assistant
job in film or television, take the time to browse the
Internet and get some background on the company and/or
person you are trying to impress. An invaluable reference
is the most recent copy of the Hollywood Creative Directory.
(Borrow it; do not buy it. It’s expensive and
rendered obsolete every couple of months by the constant
reshuffling of executives, production deals, partnerships,
etc.) The Creative Directory will give you a comprehensive
rundown of the production companies in town, the movies
and television shows they have made, the major studios,
and who heads them up, so that when you’re sitting
in that once-in-a-lifetime interview you will be well
versed in the accomplishments of the person you are
talking to. I’m not saying people like to be flattered,
but … people like to be flattered. Know what their
successes have been. Avoid the flops. Pay close attention
to what is in the hopper, and don’t be afraid
to speak up. You never know what insightful comment
you might make that will let your interviewer know you’re
right for the job. Your pre-interview legwork might
very well compensate for your lack of work experience.
My second piece of advice: Read the trades. “What
are the trades?” you ask politely. There are two
trade papers in Hollywood: Daily Variety and
The Hollywood Reporter. They are absolute must-reads
for anyone working in the business.
— Do read them to make sure you
don’t kick off your interview at Paramount Studios
by saying …
“The Star Trek
franchise? Don’t get me started. I don’t
know who keeps making those movies,
but whoever they are—GEEZ. They need to have their
head examined.”
… only to discover
that the banner headline in The Hollywood Reporter that
day reads:
“PARAMOUNT GREENLIGHTS
FIRST IN NEW TRILOGY—
STAR TREK: THE WAR WITH
THE KLING-ONS WAS A BIG OL’ MISUNDERSTANDING.”
— Don’t bother responding
to job listings there unless you are truly desperate
or just need the practice.
Any job worth having is not likely to be listed in a
widely read publication. In fact, most
of the jobs worth having will be found via word-of-mouth,
which leads me to my next
suggestion…
Make friends. It is a business of relationships,
and cultivating a few solid friends is more valuable
than knowing exactly what you want to do. While the
competition out here is fierce, invariably your friends
will have different goals than you. For example, let’s
say your new friend is an assistant at CAA (Creative
Artists Agency), and let’s say your new friend
works for the agent who represents Tom Hanks. When Mr.
Hanks calls in a panic because his assistant just sold
her first screenplay and will be leaving him imminently,
you will be in the forefront of your friend’s
mind when his boss asks him to suggest someone reliable,
presentable, and absolutely awesome to send over for
an interview. It’s that simple.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Once you land your first real job and you find yourself
swimming around in a pool of powerful people, you have
officially broken into the business. And, not unlike
a swimming pool, it can be chilly at first. Don’t
panic. You’ll adjust. Making it in this business
is trial by fire. There isn’t much knowledge that
will come your way without your ego taking a knock,
which is why nerves of steel are a good asset to bring
to the party. Short of metal nerves, I suggest you pull
your sense of humor and ability to self-deprecate to
the forefront. You can always work out the aftermath
in therapy. Before you know it, you’ll realize
the jaw-dropping reality of what you’ve accomplished.
You have your first real shot at making a career in
entertainment! Wherever you land, you will be involved
in the production of mass media, and whatever part you
contribute to the process will move that production
forward.
Finally, and this is probably the most important note
to remember if nothing from this article sticks with
you: Be prepared to fail. You will hop from
job to job. You will have personality conflicts. Entertainment
and media are nothing without drama, and the people
who choose to work in this business have a great propensity
for it. My boyfriend got fired every day from the same
job for two years. Don’t take things too seriously
and you’ll be fine. Your first few jobs in the
business will be like going through intensive schooling.
You will learn new vocabulary. You will redefine your
passion for what it is you want to accomplish, in or
out of this business. You will learn what kind of boss
you want to be someday. You will learn what it takes
to successfully produce or direct, market or publicize.
You will learn the tenuous nature of media and the fickle
nature of an audience. And most of all, you will learn
that you want your last name back, and that is reason
enough to keep going.
Although she is not currently getting paid to write,
Elizabeth McCarthy (F’96) humbly describes herself
as a "writer in italics and quotation marks."
Her first job in Hollywood, as an assistant at Hofflund/Polone
(management), gave her access to the most talked about
projects around town, as well as the independent projects
and unsolicited submissions that arrived daily from
hopeful directors in New York, L.A. and Delhi. Hooked
on the idea that she could write at least as well as
the guys in Bollywood, and totally addicted to wearing
jeans to work, Elizabeth moved on to various assistant
jobs in development and production to widen her view
of what it takes to make a movie. Since then, she has
had the good fortune to work in the immediate vicinity
of lots of cool and talented people, most recently at
Zucker Productions with Jerry Zucker.
Having passed up several promotions along the way in
favor of pursuing her writing career, Elizabeth often
wonders, "Am I going to be poor for the rest of
my life?" But these thoughts are
fleeting. With two screenplays in the works and her
first novel recently completed, she¹s much more
worried about the apple juice she just spilled on her
computer.
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