Breaking Into Hollywood - Do You Know Anyone Who's Hiring?

by Donna Michelle Anderson

This is a tough article to publish, but it's just so important! The message of this missive is simple - stop asking people to hire you. STOP IT. It is not only not an effective way to break into the industry, it is a sure way to drive away the very people who are able to help you.

This is a tough article to publish, but it's just so important! The message of this missive is simple: stop asking people to hire you. STOP IT. It is not only not an effective way to break into the industry, it is a sure way to drive away the very people who are able to help you.

Does this sound counterintuitive? Completely against the whole concept of "taking initiative"? Let me explain.

If you have few or no credits (and little or no income), you know the frustration/panic of not knowing how you're ever going to break through the gates of the entertainment industry and get both recognition for your passion AND a paycheck for your bills. That's a given, and that's entirely valid and understandable.

But take a moment before you ask the next person you've just met to hire you to visualize the same scenario OUTSIDE of the entertainment industry. If you'd just met the senior partner of a law firm, and had neither work experience in a legal firm nor a law degree, would you open and/or close the conversation with a request to be hired? I hope not! Because if you did, the head of that firm would not be impressed by your passion for law. They would be baffled by your lack of understanding of how one gets hired to work in a law firm. They also might be a bit miffed by your lack of respect for what they do since you think that someone with no experience merits some of their hard-earned income. And finally, they might really like you and appreciate your enthusiasm for their field, but they already have a long line of entry-level applicants they've already got a relationship with and will offer the next opening to.

Notice the "entry level" qualification in that sentence. That's because if you are approaching the head of a law firm with no experience or degree and asking to be hired as an attorney, well, you are insane and deserve the outraged expression you are about to see on his or her face. But you know that already. In fact, you would never dream of asking a senior partner at a law firm to hire you as a lawyer if you had no background qualifying you to do so!

Now, if you understand that boundary in the legal arena, but you approach employment differently in the entertainment industry, you are setting yourself up to fail. It is imperative that you enter this field recognizing and respecting it as a real business. Your passion for medicine will not earn you a spot in the operating room if you have no degree, and your passion for Hollywood will not earn you a gig in this industry if you have nothing to bring but your passion. And why should it? Why would you demand to be paid top dollar as a surgeon if you have no idea how to perform surgery...and why would you demand to be paid any dollars as a filmmaker if you have no idea how to make films?

Now I know you might be saying: "I know how to make films!" "I know how to write a script!" "I know how to produce a TV show!" "I know how to act!" Can I ask you, for one moment, to consider the possibility that if you have not already done one of these things, professionally, and regularly paid your bills doing so...that there is something, in fact, much...that you do not in fact yet know?

Still with me? Okay, now what if your approach to the industry became "What do I need to learn to succeed here?" rather than "How much can I get out of this as quickly as possible so my dreams can immediately come true?" What if you slowed down a little and decided to learn before you leap?

As soon as your energy becomes "What do I need to learn?" instead of "What do I want to earn?," your experience in this game is going to change. FAST!

Here is my suggestion to you the next time you meet someone you're dying to work for. Don't tip the balance of the exchange by becoming a "supplicant," someone with their hand out for a job. And don't end the possibilities of the meeting by pretending you know or have done more than you have done. Instead, talk to that person with passion about what they do! People in the industry work the most ridiculous hours you can imagine, as will you. And they do it because they are obsessed with what they do. Let them talk. Learn from what they know. Buy them a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. THANK THEM FOR THEIR TIME. And walk away from that exchange without asking for something additional in return.

I do mean something "additional." Information is money in this industry and every other one. Someone's precious time and pearls of wisdom are worth a lot to you if you listen and learn. Don't add to that generous gift by also asking them for money!

If you find a connection between a talented person and yourself, this is a person to follow up with later and ask if you can give THEM something back in RETURN! This is the person you want to VOLUNTEER for. Now that you know what they do, figure out what skills and contacts and assistance you can offer them. And this is key: don't offer to do something for them that will help make your dreams come true; offer to help them achieve one of their own goals. Because once you do that, you've evened the exchange, and the ball is in their court now to want to help you! And if you go in and do an incredible volunteer job, believe me, they will want to help you.

I cannot count the number of times I've had this conversation with new people in the industry. I CAN count, however, the number of times they've sent me a thank you note and asked me for a job, despite all I'd just told them. Do you think I hired them? Of course not! They couldn't follow the simple, free advice I'd just given them; I knew they might once again think they knew better than I do when I gave them instructions to do something at work at my company! Why would I take that risk when I already have a long list of people I'm already hoping to help move ahead?

On the other hand, the one...and I do mean ONE...person who followed up with me and offered to work for free for a week (on a massive show) in order to cross out of music videos into TV production....well, we hired her at the end of the first day. She was that good.