How can I become the next JJ Abrams

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jeree

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lol the title probably threw some of you off buuut seriously (:
Trust me, I KNOW it will take hard work, good networking etc etc,
if he can do it, why not me?
But the problem is... the contacts, the networking aspect of it..
How can i do it, who do i contact. I'm really interested in directing so it would help me get my feet off the ground so i can do other projects such as opening a production company to increase profits and maybe even a clothing line.

How can i get noticed.
I'm thinking I get noticed on youtube with mannny subscribers with good quality independent videos and shorts, and then open a website for my channel and open a little clothing line and a forum.
Also thinking that when i do somehow get into the industry, I could build other businesses upfor passive income..

Please no negative sh*t saying "oh oh oh you cant do it, its like... impossible! keep dreaming kid you'll never make it" lmao
im sure many of you think that because of the mindset of an employee.
I'm not insulting you in any way, i just dont want any of that bullsh*t.

anyways, sorry for the little rant there
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My main concern is, since i dont live near hollywood and my main means of contact is through the internet, how can i get noticed/get contact with some high rollers in the industry? I somehow need a plan, and i KINDA have one above, but im not sure that would be the way to go. so yeah, what are your thoughts for me?

also, i see that most people create their feature film FIRST, and then hope a distributor will promote it...
That isnt the way to go because i feel you need to find a producer/distributor that will promote your movie after you're finished with it, so its garuanteed it will get noticed... but HOW DO YOU DO THAT is one of the questions im asking in this thread loll, how did paranormal activity get noticed? through paramount studios promoting the movie.

btw im 16 right now and i know i have potential [better start now or else have less life to enjoy the benefits of business loll], its just the means of having the right contacts that will help me go up. Hopefuilly I didnt sound arrogant or anything like that because I'm just tired of hearing the bullcrap about "its impossible, thats reality, you cant be a someone" mindset of some people. it IS possible and its not based on chance, its based on how hard you work, if you KEEP GOING, theres no failure in there, just success (:
 
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RX782 said:
Oh man, this thread's not lasting long...
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What's that supposed to mean?

To the OP: Nobody really knows the best way. I don't have much advice because I haven't "broken in" yet either. However, I don't think a clothing line is going to advance your career as a director.
 
It would help if you had some killer screenplays under your belt.

JJ Abrams had written several major feature films, before he created Felicity and Alias.

He got where he is today on the basis of his writing and story-creation abilities.
 
Well, let's see here. He is extremely talented. He is the son of successful television producers, he went to Sarah Lawrence College, the most expensive college in the United States, and at the age of 16 he broke into movies by writing the music for Don Dohler's "Nightbeast". He followed that up by writing a treatment that was purchased by Touchstone and became "Taking Care of Business", a Jim Belushi vehicle. He then wrote the screenplays for "Regarding Henry", starring Harrison Ford, and "Forever Young", starring Mel Gibson. He then co-wrote the screen play for a little film called "Armageddon" for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay.

You get the picture?

So if you want to be the next JJ Abrams, first start by being born to parents that are successful television executives, then, at age 16, make contact with an independent movie icon and write the music for one of his movies, then go to the most expensive college in the United States. In your senior year write a screenplay that is bought by Touchstone (a division of Disney), then write a screenplay that is made into a movie staring Harrison Ford, then write a screenplay that is made into a movie starring Mel Gibson. When you have done with that, next collaborate with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay on a movie that makes $500 Million in world wide box office. After that, go into television and write several VERY successful shows. Then you might be given the opportunity to direct a successful franchise movie (like Abrams did with Mission: Impossible III, staring Tom Cruise, world wide gross $400million). After that, you will have the world by the balls, and can do what you want.

Any questions?
 
You think he just suddenly blew up, but like agcohn said, he's been around for years doing work. This thing doesn't happen overnight for sure, you gotta keep at it. It's based on how hard you work, on who you know, and on how much talent you have. Not necessarily in that order. You can't stop trying to get better. It's mostly about talent, if the talent is there people will notice and bring you up.
 
It sounds like you want to be rich and famous... stop it. Don't be the next JJ Abrams... be your own person. As others have mentioned, he has a unique history (which I didn't know about until this thread). You can't replicate it, so don't try to.

Don't measure your success against some one elses. You both have different stories, so it's apples and oranges and it's pointless. Figure out what you want to do and do it. But don't try to be someone else. This is not the first thread of this kind, and for every thread, I sure there are a thousand asking the same question that don't post here.

And, can I say from my own personal experience... ask yourself what you really want to do. If you want to be rich and famous, you're setting yourself up for disaster. I work in TV news, and I've met more than a few interns or folks straight from college that were in a similar boat. The folks who asked "how can I be the next Couric", or "I just want to be on TV" were always the biggest pains in the @$$ to work with. Frankly, I know folks in their 30's and 40's like that. I'm not saying that to be critical or derogatory of you... but people who came into a media career asking how can I be the next big thing tend to be hard to deal with because they become more concerned about their own image than actually turning out a quality product.

You want success, turn out a quality product. You may not become rich and famous, but you'll have satisfaction. The folks more concerned with being famous and rich tend to be the most unhappy people I've met (or the biggest pains to work with). The folks concerned with doing their job well tend to be the most fun and satisfying to work with, and tend to be happiest in there own personal lives.

Some of them do tend to end up rich and famous, but that isn't the focus of their careers. The people who make it the focus of their careers end up train wrecks personally.
 
Justin Kuhn said:
..... if the talent is there people will notice and bring you up.
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I am sorry Justin, I just don' buy that. Now, on DVXUSER, there is no one here that will tell you that you can't make a movie, and there is a wealth of resources here to help anyone do that. However, there is no way that anyone here can advise anyone else on how to reach a level of success that J.J. Abrams has reached. Having talent is the first prerequisite, but, unless you are lucky enough to have been born to parents that were successful television producers, like J.J. Abrams was, it is going take more than just talent to get noticed.

And nobody is going to "Bring you up", no matter how talented you are. J.J. Abrams is responsible for well over $1Billon in motion picture and television revenues. Unless the powers that be see that kind of potential in an individual, then that individual is not going to be given the opportunities that a J.J. Abrams has.

Welcome to DVXUSER.com, what we can advise you to do it go out an make a movie. Make the best movie you can, and if you need help doing that, just ask. There are folks here that can answer almost any question you have about independent filmmaking. When your movie is done, it is up to you to go out there and hustle that f***er as hard as you can. If you need help about that, ask, there are folks here that have done that also.

Now, there is no one here, on DVXUSER, that can advise anyone on how to be the next J.J. Abrams, or the next anybody. What DVXUSER can do is make anyone the next great filmmaker that is inside themselves.

F**k J.J. Abrams, I want to see the next great film made by jeree! You can do that! And if you need help making it, you got DVXUSER !
 
Dude, it's 2010! Just twitter a lot and have a ton of facebook friends! You'll be the next JJ Abrams in no time!
 
dont be the next anything...just be the first "jeree" and try try try. be creative, and try to work as much as you can on telling meaningful stories...the rest is not up to you.
 
1) Cultivate better writing habits. Yeah, I know, this is just an internet board and sloppy spelling, inane sentence structure and weird-ass grammar are par for the course. Guess what? Lousy habits will creep into whatever else you write, too. The people who will be reviewing whatever resumes, letters-of-inquiry, etc you send are basically gatekeepers whose job is to eliminate you from consideration as quickly as possible, as early as possible. Mis-spellings, custom grammar and language that makes you look silly and careless - in other words, a lightweight not worth the trouble of interviewing, because no one needs silly and careless on their staff - will knock you out of the running before you're in it. Would *you* offer a job to the guy who can't string a sentence together when there are a bunch of other competitors for the job, who can?

Maybe - since you disdain the role of 'employee' - you think that you can go straight to the top, JJ Abrams' floor, even, presenting yourself in that way. Well, I have read enough of Abrams' memos to promise you that even when writing casually he writes like someone who knows how to put a simple sentence together.

2) I wouldn't sweat the education part, or the parents-with-contacts part. Yes, those things played a role in Abrams' ascent. There are a great many powerful, influential and creative people in Hollywood who did not graduate college, and whose families were not big names in the business before they got started. How far you will go is in large part dependent upon what you have to offer. Well, what do you have to offer? More important, what vital skills and gifts can you develop to make yourself someone with something important and valuable, to offer?

3) For the Gods' sakes don't proceed according to some cartoon model contained in your head, of how the business functions. Most people working in the entertainment business don't have a particularly solid handle on how it functions because it's a highly idiosyncratic trade where individual paths to success are one-offs that can't be replicated. You want to reach JJ Abrams' level of play? You'll have to make your own path. The only constants are the skills and drive that you will need, in order to stay on the field.

4) At sixteen you have a potentially huge advantage, if you're sufficiently driven and disciplined to make use of it. You have a great deal of time. If you seriously apply yourself, you have several years' head start in which to learn production techniques and develop your voice. In a few years either academic obligations or the time demands of earning a living will suck up the hours that you can be - and hopefully are - using to develop yourself into the best writer and director that you can be, right now. And you can do that with pencil, paper, friends and the cheapest-ass camcorder available. Look at Robert Rodriguez...

5) Don't discount what you can learn from and about the 'employee' types. An effective director and producer understands what his crew does, why, and how. And your route of ingress may well appear in the form of one of those crew disciplines; you should be ready to take it if and when it presents.
 
You're 16...I suggest you make as many short films as you can before you have any adult responsibilities. Cameras are cheap these days. A computer that can edit video is cheap. Your first few endeavors will suck. Don't get discouraged. Filmmaking is like sex, first you just want to do it, then you want to do it BETTER. If you bust your ass you can have a killer reel before you graduate from college in 6 years. There are no reliable shortcuts to success. Sometimes you can stumble upon one by accident, but it will be an accident. Hard work is still the most reliable path.
 
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I think your first problem is having distain for "employees". If you want to make it in the studio system (or any system) you have to be an employee at some juncture. You don't just start. All my co-workers at Warner Bros. were employees, and still are. That doesn't make them any less a part of the studio system. And for what it's worth, everyone that I met all wound up at Warner Bros. through some random connection. A few of the higher-ups didn't even start in film - they didn't even consider film until they wound up in it.
 
Mattykins said:
I think your first problem is having distain for "employees". If you want to make it in the studio system (or any system) you have to be an employee at some juncture. You don't just start. All my co-workers at Warner Bros. were employees, and still are. That doesn't make them any less a part of the studio system. And for what it's worth, everyone that I met all wound up at Warner Bros. through some random connection. A few of the higher-ups didn't even start in film - they didn't even consider film until they wound up in it.
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I might add, without those employees, your big film will never get made. Ever.

And being an employee doesn't make them somehow unworthy or inferior. Not everyone wants to be JJ Abrams, or Lucas, or Spielberg. Some folks would just as soon not be them, as they simply wouldn't enjoy it.
 
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