"If I can make it there I'll make it anywhere"

- Frank Sinatra

"Breaking in" to the entertainment industry is even harder than you think - and even fewer people than you realize have begun a career by "breaking in". Hollywood is perceived by outsiders as a closed system, but really it's not much of a system at all. It's so hard to break in because there's nothing to break into.

Hollywood is thought of as a single entity, an imposing juggernaut consuming what it will and destroying the peons it doesn't need. But Hollywood is much more disparate that this image. Hollywood isn't a single company, or even town - Hollywood is a concept fostered by the organizations and individuals perceived to be on the inside.

Hollywood is based on relationships - it really is all about who you know and who knows you. In order to make Hollywood pictures you need to know people who make Hollywood pictures. If you want to make Hollywood television, you have to know people who make Hollywood television. It's really not that much different from other industries, except each individual project is its own company and its own job. You don't apply at the production company to be on of their cinematographers - that's old school vertically integrated Studio System Hollywood. Today you apply for work with an individual project. And guess what - the people you meet and work with are more likely to hire you (if you were good at your job) than they are to hire a stranger.

Hollywood type people work with their friends and colleagues. You see the same names and faces on the same crews hired by the same producers over and over again - there is trust built in. A lot is riding on the success or failure of each individual project, a lot to rest on the shoulders of someone you've never met, or who hasn't done anything you've heard of. That's just how it is. And when you get inside, you'll behave in exactly the same way.

Don't get angry, don't be frustrated. This is the real world and we're all adults here. What you do is meet people, get your network on, find others in the same position as you that can make good product and go make a good product. Nobody is going to hire you into a career - nobody can. You have to stake your claim, elbow your way in, define your space and make yourself essential. The only way to break into Hollwood is to be in Hollywood - so go be Hollywood.

"If I can make it there I'll make it anywhere"

- Frank Sinatra

"Breaking in" to the entertainment industry is even harder than you think - and even fewer people than you realize have begun a career by "breaking in". Hollywood is perceived by outsiders as a closed system, but really it's not much of a system at all. It's so hard to break in because there's nothing to break into.

Hollywood is thought of as a single entity, an imposing juggernaut consuming what it will and destroying the peons it doesn't need. But Hollywood is much more disparate that this image. Hollywood isn't a single company, or even town - Hollywood is a concept fostered by the organizations and individuals perceived to be on the inside.

Hollywood is based on relationships - it really is all about who you know and who knows you. In order to make Hollywood pictures you need to know people who make Hollywood pictures. If you want to make Hollywood television, you have to know people who make Hollywood television. It's really not that much different from other industries, except each individual project is its own company and its own job. You don't apply at the production company to be on of their cinematographers - that's old school vertically integrated Studio System Hollywood. Today you apply for work with an individual project. And guess what - the people you meet and work with are more likely to hire you (if you were good at your job) than they are to hire a stranger.

Hollywood type people work with their friends and colleagues. You see the same names and faces on the same crews hired by the same producers over and over again - there is trust built in. A lot is riding on the success or failure of each individual project, a lot to rest on the shoulders of someone you've never met, or who hasn't done anything you've heard of. That's just how it is. And when you get inside, you'll behave in exactly the same way.

Don't get angry, don't be frustrated. This is the real world and we're all adults here. What you do is meet people, get your network on, find others in the same position as you that can make good product and go make a good product. Nobody is going to hire you into a career - nobody can. You have to stake your claim, elbow your way in, define your space and make yourself essential. The only way to break into Hollwood is to be in Hollywood - so go be Hollywood.