How to start fast in hollywood?

The ultimate truth about the film industry is that there are far more people who want in than are needed, so it will always be an uphill struggle to get employed and stay employed. It's not a career like a doctor, where there is more demand than there are actual qualified doctors, so you will always find a job somewhere. To be a doctor you go to school, pass your exams, get certified and you're a doctor. There is a a set path and a career ladder. There are a million ways into the film industry, some of them well trodden, and others yet to be discovered. When you ask a question like this you'll get a million different answers.
 
Take heart to what these guys are saying. I understand the worry you are facing coming out of school, needing to make money, and not give up on your dream. The best advice I could give you is focus on a trade within the industry, where there are a lot of jobs with a certain skill set. I chose editing, and that is how I pay my bills and keep a roof over my head for my wife and two crazy dogs. But know that I am up and writing at a coffee shop from 8-10 every morning before work. I've directed 20 shorts in the last 7 years, and still am fighting to get a feature made. Find a trade, be it editing, special FX, Make-up, Grip, Gaffer, AD. Use your experience to pay your rent, meet contacts, establish relationships, and make films on the side. Remember...Turtle Race.
 
easy. It's hard when the OP self-defined as capable of pitching mediocre scripts. That and the other things he's said sort of beg for a smack down. But this is a civil place, so I agree more discretion is needed. But the OP needs to learn that aiming towards the middle, or at least talking like you are is a recipe for failure in showbiz. I remember being struck at working in writer's rooms on very middling to poor TV shows and everyone there was an IVY league grad (except for me) and was trying to work at the top of their intelligence in difficult circumstances. It was humbling.
 
digitalfilmmaker said:
easy. It's hard when the OP self-defined as capable of pitching mediocre scripts. That and the other things he's said sort of beg for a smack down. But this is a civil place, so I agree more discretion is needed. But the OP needs to learn that aiming towards the middle, or at least talking like you are is a recipe for failure in showbiz. I remember being struck at working in writer's rooms on very middling to poor TV shows and everyone there was an IVY league grad (except for me) and was trying to work at the top of their intelligence in difficult circumstances. It was humbling.
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Look, I'm not aiming for the white house here, its showbiz.
 
dioxholster said:
Look, I'm not aiming for the white house here, its showbiz.
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true. but... the craft of storytelling is a humbling path. So many factors go into communicating a story well, it's hard to master all of them, not to mention getting paid for it. And even if you do get paid, it doesn't mean you're going to have mastery over your craft every single time.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to do what I love and get paid to do it, but there are thousands and thousands of people out there who want to be where I am. It's not the white house (which is why I think Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip failed where West Wing soared), but it does help to be serious about it. A certain brashness is required, but not entitlement. One isn't owed a career, one has to earn it. And one earns it by caring more about it than others who attempt it.
 
dioxholster said:
Look, I'm not aiming for the white house here, its showbiz.
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dioxholster, listen to any of us or not, your scripts will either sell or they won't. No one here and no book has a magic formula to give a road map to success. If there were, we'd all be successful screenwriters instead of doing other things. Sure, a lot of people will speak adamantly about what it takes to be successful in this industry, but no one really knows. It's more of a crap shoot than anyone here cares to admit. Your attitude may gel well in a meeting with one exec and ultimately turn off the next. They may just reject it because they had a bad day or don't like the look of your nose. There's no way of qualifying the process of being a successful writer. It isn't rocket science. The only real advice you can take home is to choose a project in which you have a passion to see through to the end and be true to the premise, regardless of whether anyone else thinks it to be commercially viable or not. You'll plop out a bunch of stinkers before you figure it out. Ready, set, go.
 
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dioxholster...let's get down to business. You stated that your ultimate goal is to be a director. Since that is your passion and your goal it is what you need to be going after. I'm not sure if the screenwriting part was about making money or what? To be honest with you I think you write some pretty funny stuff...comedy might be your best skill. If you write mediocre scripts then it's almost impossible to get a great film out of a mediocre script. So let's get to the point. To be a director you need to direct. You need a script and that script better be a good script or no way on the planet can your film be good or great. If you can't write it then you have to find someone who can. Then you need to raise the money and cast the film and produce it, etc. YOU are going to have to make it happen. Whether that involves you finding investors or raising the money in some other manner...that is what has to be done. Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg have trouble raising money so guess what? Getting into the White House might be easier than showbiz. But let's not stop you from going after your passion. You have to put the deal together. You have to find the money. You have to do it all. That is the new showbiz. Great films can be made for little money. It's all an Easter egg hunt for the golden egg. We are all after it. Most of us will never quit. We will trample over our own mother to get that golden egg so you better get busy. How do you do it? Nobody knows, but you better find a way. People are out there finding ways to make films...and good ones. Find a way. There are no rules other than find a way to get it done.
 
persistence

persistence

fast now easy free I lost 100 pounds overnight no money down just follow my secret formula...

The turtle and the hare.jpg
 
Fast track to Hollywood: Hype.

Al the advice on working hard and improving is great, but if you are looking to get in fast and hard, it's all about marketing hype.

Write something mediocre, but controversial. Or something mediocre with a ridiculously good marekting hook (Blair Witch Project, Colin). Publicise the sweet **** out of it, tell everyone that you're a genius.

Regardless of what anyone says Hollywood is interested in mediocrity. It's marekting hooks that get their juices flowing.
 
fast isn't always easy

fast isn't always easy

The fastest track to Hollywood now seems to be, as someone stated, to make a very slick, special-effects based short, as evidenced by "Mama", and "Panic!" both of which got their makers whisked off.

so there's your answer.

I simply take issue with the idea that -any- of this is easy.
 
Since horror has been run through the mill and 100,000 special-effects based shorts are currently being made...it's too late to jump on that bandwagon. You have to be ahead of the crowd. Once you see it it's too late, because by the time you see it the people in the know are already producing plenty more of it. If marketing were the reason it would be easy to hype any and every movie made. It has to be unique. Where is the market going? That is the question....and a question that no one knows the answer to. Roll the dice and make something that is not out there in the market and hasn't been seen in a long, long time. How unique is your film? How big is the WOW factor?
 
Kess said:
Since horror has been run through the mill and 100,000 special-effects based shorts are currently being made...it's too late to jump on that bandwagon. You have to be ahead of the crowd. Once you see it it's too late, because by the time you see it the people in the know are already producing plenty more of it. If marketing were the reason it would be easy to hype any and every movie made. It has to be unique. Where is the market going? That is the question....and a question that no one knows the answer to. Roll the dice and make something that is not out there in the market and hasn't been seen in a long, long time. How unique is your film? How big is the WOW factor?
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My point is not that you can hype any old piece of turd, but that you pick story ideas that have a natural marketing element and then hype it. I also don't think people are looking for unique...otherwise arthouse films would be the biggest sellers and not genre flicks. What people want is genre films with a fresh twist.

Examples: Colin. It's a zombie film made when Zombie films are hot. (Genre + Timing) It is played in a small room at Cannes. No-one has ever heard of it. A Producer from Granada TV in the UK sees it, recognises the potential. She uses her contacts to get articles in the paper and on the news about this guys first film that cost just £45 to make and is taking Cannes by storm.

When I got back from Cannes all my friends were asking me whether I saw this film called Colin. These are average joes, not filmmakers...they'd just seen the story about this film splashed all over the news. Bear in mind this is the year that Inglorious Basterds was released, plus a whole host of films from truly great directors. The film the ordinary person on the street was asking me about was this poorly shot, badly acted, zero budget zombie flick...purely because of marketing. No-one in Cannes was talking about it, it wasn't his first film, it had hundreds of cast and crew, including dozens of make-up artists, so its "real" budget was a lot higher than £45, it wasn't original as they claimed...so what? They made up an interesting story about it and it even managed a limited theatrical release. Technically, I can't remember the last film I saw on DVXuser that was so bad. Doesn't matter...all about the story they created about the film.


The Human Centipede. What a premise. As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to see it. That's what I'm talking about with a marketing hook. You want to see it regardless of how good or not it is supposed to be, based purely on (morbid) curiousity.

Medicore film with a strong genre and a unique twist has a good shot if marketed well.

Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch...you could compile a whole list of less than stellar films that have done really well because of the quality of the marketing.

The irony is that a lot of "great" films...ones that win the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes etc make almost no money, get no exposure whatsoever because they aren't very marketable.

I do understand where you're coming from, and I think you are right...make something amazing and it will get attention. However, the crux of this conversation is how to get a career whilst being mediocre. :)

Marketability...or controversay (remember the guy who was going to burn the Koran? He had about 12 followers, but made international headlines and had World Leaders talking about him because he did something controversial...papers, radio stations, TV Channels (all owned by the same people) have to fill 24 hours...controversay is like a gift to them, they can witter on about it for days in faux anger, call in experts, get the audience in a lather phoning up/emailing etc).
 
I like the attitude about getting a career whilst being mediocre. Write that book and it will sell billions of copies. I'm a buyer once you write it. You will be a hero to most the world.
 
DecadenceFilms said:
My point is not that you can hype any old piece of turd, but that you pick story ideas that have a natural marketing element and then hype it. I also don't think people are looking for unique...otherwise arthouse films would be the biggest sellers and not genre flicks. What people want is genre films with a fresh twist.

Examples: Colin. It's a zombie film made when Zombie films are hot. (Genre + Timing) It is played in a small room at Cannes. No-one has ever heard of it. A Producer from Granada TV in the UK sees it, recognises the potential. She uses her contacts to get articles in the paper and on the news about this guys first film that cost just £45 to make and is taking Cannes by storm.

When I got back from Cannes all my friends were asking me whether I saw this film called Colin. These are average joes, not filmmakers...they'd just seen the story about this film splashed all over the news. Bear in mind this is the year that Inglorious Basterds was released, plus a whole host of films from truly great directors. The film the ordinary person on the street was asking me about was this poorly shot, badly acted, zero budget zombie flick...purely because of marketing. No-one in Cannes was talking about it, it wasn't his first film, it had hundreds of cast and crew, including dozens of make-up artists, so its "real" budget was a lot higher than £45, it wasn't original as they claimed...so what? They made up an interesting story about it and it even managed a limited theatrical release. Technically, I can't remember the last film I saw on DVXuser that was so bad. Doesn't matter...all about the story they created about the film.


The Human Centipede. What a premise. As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to see it. That's what I'm talking about with a marketing hook. You want to see it regardless of how good or not it is supposed to be, based purely on (morbid) curiousity.

Medicore film with a strong genre and a unique twist has a good shot if marketed well.

Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch...you could compile a whole list of less than stellar films that have done really well because of the quality of the marketing.

The irony is that a lot of "great" films...ones that win the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes etc make almost no money, get no exposure whatsoever because they aren't very marketable.

I do understand where you're coming from, and I think you are right...make something amazing and it will get attention. However, the crux of this conversation is how to get a career whilst being mediocre. :)

Marketability...or controversay (remember the guy who was going to burn the Koran? He had about 12 followers, but made international headlines and had World Leaders talking about him because he did something controversial...papers, radio stations, TV Channels (all owned by the same people) have to fill 24 hours...controversay is like a gift to them, they can witter on about it for days in faux anger, call in experts, get the audience in a lather phoning up/emailing etc).
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It's a "niche" The ones that do win the cannes and make no money have it's selective crowd. Highly intellectual people (sometimes smugged), who aren't swayed by fancy special effects and generic storys.
 
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Kess said:
I like the attitude about getting a career whilst being mediocre. Write that book and it will sell billions of copies. I'm a buyer once you write it. You will be a hero to most the world.
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They already exist, mate. Pick up any book on marketing or business and chances are they will point out that the people who get to the top are rarely the best, they are just the ones that wanted it the most.

Mediocrity is what sells. This is a fact.

Do people rush out in their millions to buy snail porridge from the world's greatest chef? Or do they rush out to McDonalds at lunch time?

Are our airwaves filled with the dulcet notes of the finest classical musicians history has to offer, or the latest mediocre poptastic firework sensation?

Did George Bush become the President of the United States by being the greatest political thinker, philosopher and humanitarian of his age? Did Obama?

Hollywood is a very conservative industry. It's not particularly interested in novel ideas, it likes the comfortable, it likes things it's familiar with. High concept mediocrity is the oil that moves the machine.

Being mediocre isn't that easy anyway to be honest. The law that says 90% of everything is downright s**t is probably a true one.
 
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