Life and Death in L.A.: Big Bear Lake International Film Festival
Showing posts with label Big Bear Lake International Film Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Bear Lake International Film Festival. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

What, you're employed!? How DARE you!

A screenwriter with real credits advertised that he is looking for an intern, and it looked like a good way to make some connections so I shot him a resume and short note. He e-mailed back asking me to call him to arrange an appointment. He was all set to give me some time when he asked the fatal question: Are you working full-time? The answer to that, of course, is yes, because unless you're living off a generous trust fund or your last name is Clampett, it's pretty hard to get by in the City of Angels without a full-time gig. Whatsmore, let's be clear that this internship was unpaid, and only came with the vague promise of paid expenses and perhaps some money sometime down the line -- how's that for a solid deal?
So I admitted that, yes, I am a common wage slave.
My would-be mentor quickly piped up, "Don't bother, Bro', a full-time job ain't gonna cut it." Stunned, I muttered something like, "OK, thanks anyway." I had scarcely gotten the words out before I heard a click on the other end of the line.
OK, so let's review: I was willing to donate my time for free to an internship that would likely never reward me with any real cash, and I was OK with that. I was even willing to commute to Hollywood to do it. But in this town it's hard to get even an unpaid gig if you are unable to offer full-time devotion to the job.
Yup, sounds fair to me.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Diversify or die ...

Everyone's figuring out ways thrive in this bad economy and filmmaker as no different. Among the panelists speaking at this year's Redstone West Film Festival, the bi-coastal yearly Boston University student event, were actor, director and producer Jerry Levine ("Everybody Hates Chris," "Monk," It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"). "Diversify within a field that you know something about," he said. "Crossing the line dilutes the skill of that creative (endeavor)" He recalled that when directing an episode of "Monk," series star Tony Shalhoub suggested that Levine play one of the small roles in that episode. He declined because he believes you should not cross the line into another creative discipline.
Makes sense, but then again that would have been bad advice for Orson Welles, who starred in, co-wrote, directed and produced "Citizen Kane." Of course, the world has few like Orson Welles.