Wednesday, May 18, 2005

[I'm looking for a job as a script coordinator.] Is there a book or a trade publication that I can consult to find out where I can fax my resume?

Both Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter list productions and their production offices. In Canada, it's Playback magazine. I'm not sure which days which magazines list the productions, but I'm pretty sure it's weekly.

The problem is that almost no one is going to hire you from a resume you faxed in, unless that's the day that their regular script coordinator comes in drunk and insults the director, and the other script coordinators they know are all on other shows at the moment.

They hire you because they know you. I'm not sure how you do it, but as I keep suggesting, if you intern on one show, the production manager is likely to hire you on the next. The more people you know the better.

If you know directors and production managers, and they like you, and you know what you're doing, you'll get all sorts of jobs. It's the getting to know directors and production managers that's hard. Usually you have to work as an intern or production assistant first.

TALK TO EVERYONE. Ask their advice. This is better than asking them for a job because almost no one is mean enough to refuse to give you advice, and if they know of a job they'll tell you anyway. Constantly take people to coffee and/or drinks.

As far as getting work as a writer's assistant, it's the same answer, but I've blogged about it extensively here and here.

I don't really know of any other way. Breaking in as a writer is theoretically easy: just write some kickass spec scripts. Breaking in as a script coordinator, or writer's assistant, huh, I have no idea.

7:36 PM

1 Comments:

This reminds me of a message board discussion I had very recently with someone who wants to break into showbiz but was a little discouraged by the revelation that it was 'who' you know and not 'what' you know that gets you noticed, get's you work. Below is an excerpt from my response:

Yes, it is true to a certain extent. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for 'who' I know. Right out of the gate, my very first PR client was a multi-award winning, Emmy nominated Hollywood writer-producer who remains one of the most respected and sought-after professionals in the industry -- and that only happened because we had known each other for about a year by that point. Many of the high-powered showbiz denizens I associate with have graciously given me some dynamite business/creative advice to help me advance my career, and have even given me leads on potential new job prospects. So, yeah, it is the 'who' you know that gets you in. But it's the 'what' you know that keeps you there.

By  Anonymous, at 12:59 PM  

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