Thursday, July 7, 2011

Can I build my career without moving to LA?

Warren asks:

Just curious to know if you think a screenwriter can only break in from LA (or the US at least)? I'm on the other side of the world even though I have been polishing my skills for years.

I get this question a lot, and usually I refer people to the archives, but I recognize that it's been a while since I covered this, so it makes sense to promote this FAQ again.

I think it gets significantly harder to break in the further you get from L.A. Is it impossible? No... but you're at a disadvantage if you're not in the same town as the industry you want to work in. Writers who argue that writing is a job that can be done anywhere and that meetings can be done over the phone are missing that there's an entire social aspect to the industry - as with any industry.

I'd never say "I want to work on Wall Street... but it should be no big deal to telecommute from Burbank. I can chat with my boss via Skype and handle my work over the internet, right?" And frankly, that presupposes that I've already got the job.

If you're in L.A., you'll meet other people in the business pretty quickly. These friends can be of help in guiding you. Maybe your neighbor is a writer on a TV show and offers to look at your samples. Heck, maybe you're lucky enough to impress him and he passes you on to his manager. Perhaps that girl you meet in the dog park is a Creative Exec for a production company that makes precisely the kinds of movies that you write.

But let's get back to talking about getting work - these days, it still seems that people like to actually meet the people they're hiring. Let's not forget it's easier to build a relationship with someone in person. If you meet someone and actually break bread with them, you're bound to be more "real" to them than someone on the other side of an email or a phone call. Face-to-face meetings are still very much the norm, particularly for the sorts of meet-and-greets that managers send their clients on in the hopes of getting work. If you're in the room, you're "real."

Case in point: during the instances where I have met someone through this blog, it's always been a bit surreal to have a conversation with that person and realize, "This is someone who's read my words." Even when it's someone who I've exchanged emails with, they're not particularly "real" to me until we've met face-to-face.

Related to this, check out these must-read posts from John August on the subject:
Like banging a chainsaw against a tree
The Duluth Dilemma

In the latter, John offers a variation of what he calls "The Nashville Argument."

The country music industry is based in Nashville, Tennessee. If you’re a country music singer/songwriter, you could stubbornly refuse to move there. You could record your demos in Denver and put them on your MySpace page and play all the local clubs.

But while you’re doing that, a hundred other singer-songwriters are in Nashville, surrounded by an industry that is looking for the next great song, or the next great star. If you lived in Nashville, every third person you met would have a connection to the industry. You could learn from the best performers and technicians in the world.

Moving to Nashville is a smart, proactive move. But you could stay in Denver and just hope for the best. And if your career never takes off, at least you’ll have some heartbreak to write a song about.

If you want to write for Hollywood, it really helps to be in Hollywood. But for contrast, you might also want to check out this post: Starting a career from Puerto Rico.

UPDATE: I almost never do this, but Joshua Caldwell left a great comment that deserves to be seen and I know there are plenty of readers who might not click on comments, so consider this my first-ever comments spotlight.

Is it possible? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. Ultimately, talent wins out. A great script is a great script, no matter where you live. But the bigger struggle is getting people to read it. Hollywood is a town built on relationships and the only way to start building those relationships is to be here, meeting people face to face.

The problem is that people in this town are always looking for a reason to say no and it is far easier to toss a query letter into the garbage than it is to tell a friend of yours that you threw away his buddy's script.

Whether it's writing, directing or even just getting a job as an assistant, referrals and personal recommendations are the name of the game. It is very, very difficult to find a job if you don't know anyone and I should know, because I spent three years sending out blind resumes and I was the recipient of an MTV Movie Award.

The way I finally broke in was a swallowed my pride and got an internship. I decided that if I was going to be spending 8 hours a day doing something for money, I wanted to to be something in the business. It was through my first internship that I met a guy who would eventually get one of my scripts to a big producer who signed on and took it out wide (didn't sell, but...). Because he read it, loved it, recommended it to a friend who a friend who worked at the producer's prod co, who read it and loved it, who then recommended it to the producer. Sure, it was a great script and a bad script wouldn't have gotten as far, but really, it was about me being here, meeting people, talking to them and saying, "Hey, take a look at this."

And it was this internship, that eventually led to me working for Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the CSI franchise, as his Director of Digital Media. It was this job that provided me with the money and resources to direct my current short film "Dig." And it was shooting "Dig" that allowed me to meet a guy who gave me a great idea for a feature, one I am now developing with Participant.

When you don't live in LA you have to be THAT much better of a writer, THAT much better of a filmmaker, because you're asking for execs to adjust their way of doing things to accommodate you. Whether it's a block of meetings the week that you're here (meetings are cancelled and rescheduled ALL the time) or being only available on certain dates, it's just not worth their time unless it's just a blow your mind amazing script. And few scripts are.

Can you build a career without moving to LA? Sure. But know that there are a ton of people who ARE here, waiting in line, willing to take your place for the chance to succeed.

13 comments:

  1. Jeanne VB had a great article on this topic in Script Magazine a few days ago with a slightly more optimistic take. What Bitter's article says is true-you are really facing an uphill battle outside of L.A. As for me, I have valid reasons why I really can't move there. Im not being stubborn or lazy, and it's not that I don't take my career seriously. I'm just not willing to inflict the hardship of the move on my children and family. That being said, I'm not giving up. Ever. I usually just skim articles like this because they depress me. My solution to hearing that you can't succeed at Screenwriting outside L.A. is to put my fingers in my ears, close my eyes and sing Camptown Races at the top of my lungs. Then I go back to working, writing, networking, blogging etc. Dwelling on it wont change reality. I'll have to work 10 times as hard to make it outside of L.A. So that's what I'll do. Camptown ladies sing this song, do-dah, do-ah...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is it possible? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. Ultimately, talent wins out. A great script is a great script, no matter where you live. But the bigger struggle is getting people to read it. Hollywood is a town built on relationships and the only way to start building those relationships is to be here, meeting people face to face.

    The problem is that people in this town are always looking for a reason to say no and it is far easier to toss a query letter into the garbage than it is to tell a friend of yours that you threw away his buddy's script.

    Whether it's writing, directing or even just getting a job as an assistant, referrals and personal recommendations are the name of the game. It is very, very difficult to find a job if you don't know anyone and I should know, because I spent three years sending out blind resumes and I was the recipient of an MTV Movie Award.

    The way I finally broke in was a swallowed my pride and got an internship. I decided that if I was going to be spending 8 hours a day doing something for money, I wanted to to be something in the business. It was through my first internship that I met a guy who would eventually get one of my scripts to a big producer who signed on and took it out wide (didn't sell, but...). Because he read it, loved it, recommended it to a friend who a friend who worked at the producer's prod co, who read it and loved it, who then recommended it to the producer. Sure, it was a great script and a bad script wouldn't have gotten as far, but really, it was about me being here, meeting people, talking to them and saying, "Hey, take a look at this."

    And it was this internship, that eventually led to me working for Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the CSI franchise, as his Director of Digital Media. It was this job that provided me with the money and resources to direct my current short film "Dig." And it was shooting "Dig" that allowed me to meet a guy who gave me a great idea for a feature, one I am now developing with Participant.

    When you don't live in LA you have to be THAT much better of a writer, THAT much better of a filmmaker, because you're asking for execs to adjust their way of doing things to accomodate you. Whether it's a block of meetings the week that you're here (meetings are cancelled and rescheduled ALL the time) or being only available on certain dates, it's just not worth their time unless it's just a blow your mind amazing script. And few scripts are.

    Can you build a career without moving to LA? Sure. But know that there are a ton of people who ARE here, waiting in line, willing to take your place for the chance to succeed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joshua - Wow! An MTV Award? Cool! (Yes, out of all you wrote, THAT was what struck me the most.)

    And I assume that I then have you to thank for the fact that Mr. Zuiker started following me on Twitter?

    Thanks for the great comment! I promoted it to the main post so that it wouldn't get missed.

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  4. Bitter - I'm honored! Been following you for a while now.

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  5. Of course, now I'm seeing all the spelling mistakes. Ha ha.

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  6. Writing can absolutely be accomplished from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, once you've "broken in" the reality is that writing great scripts is only about half of the work. There's a business side to this business that is just as important, if not more so, than the actual writing. Especially when you're trying to start a career.

    It's one of the hardest careers in the world to become a professional in. There are five times as many people picked for the MLB draft every year than make it into the WGA. If the business side of the industry is in LA, why wouldn't you want to be here? Why would you want to put another hurdle in front of yourself after all the other ones that already exist?

    Yes, you can absolutely write from anywhere in the world. And it's a lot cheaper to live in Boise while you're still learning to become a great screenwriter. But once you have that great script(s), get your ass to LA. The worst possible thing that could happen is you'll fail. But the best thing that happens is you'll succeed.

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  7. My blog readers always get mad when I tell them the hard truth that they should move to LA...but I still stand by that advice (and so does John August). Here's my old post about what you should be doing if you're not ready to come to LA:

    http://aspiringtvwriter.blogspot.com/2008/08/move-to-la-maybe-have-plan-fo-sho.html

    The one thing tougher for Warren is the foreign visa situation. He may want to try and make it as some kind of writer (be it playwright, author, etc) in his home country before coming to the US, since very few entry level jobs would sponsor his visa. I would also be on the lookout for writing programs that accept foreign applicants (Nicholls?).

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  8. In my case, the worst possible case scenario is not failing, but causing financial ruin and disaster to my husband and my children on the remote chance that Mommy might make it as a screenwriter. I would take the chance at my own failure but I'm not going to ruin other lives in the process.

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  9. Hey Linda,

    That's absolutely fair. But if you ever end up with a script that's awesome, that's placing in contests and is getting some heat, think long and hard about moving out here. Living in Los Angeles can often be the difference between making a career and not.

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  10. Thanks F. Scott! So far I've had two options on scripts and one placed in a small contest. Right now I'm building relationships from here as best I can and I've also starting writing novel versions of my scripts. Just gotta keep reading, learning, writing and doing the best I can!

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  11. It's certainly possible to have a screenwriting career elsewhere (New York, Toronto, Montreal, Austin, etc.). And you can make an award-winning short film or a low-budget Sundance indie just about anywhere.

    But it's not a HOLLYWOOD career.

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  13. Trying to be a screenwriter outside of LA is like trying to be a fisherman in Nebraska.

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