Everyone will tell you, the hardest job to get in Hollywood is your
first. After that, it's all who you know, and who people-you-know know.
For your first job, this is the best advice I can give: GET AN
INTERNSHIP. I know, working for free is not the most appealing option
imaginable, but if you are relatively sane and normal (I know most of
you probably aren't - but that's ok), an internship will most
definitely lead to a great job. Even crazy interns that I have had
and/or fired have gone on to be assistant trainees at ICM, Writers & Artists, UTA and AMG (please refer to the "how to hire an intern" section on how to avoid hiring one of these crazies yourself). Most companies accept aspiring interns' cover letters & resumes via fax. Always call to follow up, as the biggest companies get hoards of these letters, and many lazy internship co-ordinators regularly toss intern resumes in the trash just to clear off their desk tops. However, just remember, you ARE offering to work for free, so just give a polite call and offer to come in for an interview. Don't be pushy, don't be funny, just be NORMAL.
Things that qualify your resume for direct deposit into the trash can:
- Misspellings or errors in grammar (especially in the company name or addressing the letter to the wrong company)
- An inflated ego (i.e. someone who thinks they are really funny or creative in their cover letter when they are really not)
- Mentioning sex or sexual preference in the cover letter (you'd be surprised)
- Shock tactics (i.e. beginning the cover letter with a personal insult just to "get your attention")
Once you are an intern, you are in the fortunate position of winning the love and support of the assistants at your new company. BE NICE TO THESE PEOPLE AND DO ANYTHING THEY SAY (within reason - please recall Rule #13 if you feel your assistant-bosses might be getting carried away). This means copying, faxing, counting pages, going on runs, cleaning the office -- all the things that people with college degrees thought they would never have to do again (Did I mention it helps you get a job if you have a college degree? Especially from NYU or USC, but if any of you people have degrees from these places and are still unemployed and reading this, I don't think I can help you after all). DO THESE THINGS HAPPILY AS IF THEY GAVE YOUR SHALLOW LITTLE LIFE MEANING. If you can do this, you will make a wonderful assistant some day. Whether you want to do this or not is another question entirely.
Once you have completed your internship, it is time to look for a job. First you must decide in what area you are interested in working. There are four main categories for office-assistant positions: Agent's Assistant, Development Assistant, Studio Exec or Producer's Assistant, Director's/Writer's/Movie Star's Assistant. As with everything in life, there are ups and downs to each of these options. Each are described briefly in the next section, The Types of Assistants.
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Agent's Assistant
This is the job in which you will make the most contacts. Everyone wants to know you when you work for a (good) agency. There are two ways to start your way up in these companies 1) the agent trainee program (minded towards those hoping to one day be agents, hence the name) and 2) as an assistant (no room to grow, but higher pay and less "grunt work" involved at the get-go), which is good for those who would eventually like to go the D-route. Obviously, if you want to be an agent someday, this is the perfect place for you to start. Long hours and extremely low pay abound at the agencies. The worthwhile jobs are exhausting and all-consuming. But like I said, everyone will want to meet you, which is a good thing. You just have to find the time to do it. Car Most likely to own: Honda Civic or Toyota Corrola, probably with no insurance
Weeknight activities: staying late in the office, drinking
Dating situation: single, no time to care
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Development Assistant
Reading, reading, reading. Did I mention reading? You will read a lot as a development assistant. And you won't get credit for any of it. Your boss will pass on scripts only you have read, using your comments to do it. Besides reading, this job is about meeting people and socializing. This is the job you will have for which you truly ought to have an expense account but you don't. (A bit of advice: Try to go out with people higher up the pyramid than you so that they can pay on their boss's dime.) You will have access to a lot of information and - probably - time in which to absorb it. This is the assistant job from which it is easiest to move up. Numerous development assistants have gone on directly to become DODs, story editors and CEs, sometimes at his/her very own company (however, see the "moving up the pyramid" section for warnings regarding this). You will schedule, roll calls and send out submissions. This is the most "creative" assistant position available, sometimes involving the creation of writers and directors lists, & writing coverage and story notes on your company's projects. Usually, your opinion matters here, not so much because your company respects you, but because there simply isn't time for your boss to read and/or fix everything. This can be one of the hardest assistant jobs to get, and the pay, while not as bad as agents' assistants' pay, tends to be medium to low. Something to consider when looking for a development assistant job, is the sub-categories of production companies you can work for: star driven, high volume and studio (working for a CE at a studio can be somewhat of a combination of a studio assistant job and a development assistant job, very cool). Obviously, in any type of assistant job, the experience you have will depend on your particular company. It would be a very different experience working in development for Scott Rudin or Jerry Bruckheimer than it would for, say, Wildwood (Robert Redford) or Larger Than Life (Gary Ross). The more movies per year that your company puts out, the more work there is to be done.
Car most likely to own: whatever car you had in college or a leased Saturn
Weeknight activities: reading, drinking, occasional premiere
Dating situation: single and looking and looking and looking
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Studio Exec or Producer's Office Assistant
Can you say 401-K? Studio Assistants are the highest paid of the bunch. High profile producers' assistants can also fall into this category. Much like the agent's assistant job, there is a lot of busy work and virtually no creativity involved here. You will be in very early and leave late. You will roll calls, schedule, handle mass amounts of paperwork, and quite often deal with an excess of office and/or studio politics. In this job, you often have the opportunity to meet a lot of people as a lot of people will need favors from you. You will have access to a lot of information and this makes you important.
Car most likely to own: leased SUV or older model Mercedes
Weeknight activities: sleeping, watching TV
Dating situation: good chance of a serious relationship, perhaps living with someone
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Director/Writer/Movie Star's Assistant
This is a very cool and coveted position, especially if people have heard of your boss. The pay can be good here, especially if your boss is overly concerned with you being discreet. You will be paid for your silence. The egos in this area can be too much to handle, and often, when working for one of these people you are viewed as a lackey or "yes man." You can be cut off from the rest of the assistant world, which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your POV. There are A LOT of personal errands involved in these kinds of jobs (walking the dog, house sitting, washing the car, picking up dry cleaning, everything you can think of…). You will, however, have the opportunity to develop relationships with many other very high profile people - your boss's friends & co-workers. This is also a good opportunity to learn the craft in which your boss specializes. There have also been many cases where the boss in question has become so dependant upon his/her assistant that they give him/her a fantastic title and/or promotion to keep them around. Good examples of this are Amy Heckerling's former assistant Twink Caplan, Sean Connery's producing partner Rhonda Tollefson and Cutris Hanson's former assistant Lisa Grundy (who is now an Associate Producer on his films). Car most likely to own: '76 Dodge Dart, Pinto or Corvette (a.k.a. "its in the shop"); may be seen in a Land Rover when the boss is out of town
Weeknight activities: drinking, hanging out with the boss and his/her friends, occasional premiere
Dating situation: dating, probably a few people |
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