Fox Movie Channel

I came to Los Angeles in the fall of 2003 with my first draft screenplay and a list of industry contacts most established producers would die for. I had scavenged the Brown University alumni website and scheduled meetings with every exec, writer, producer, director, and agent I could find. I figured they could give me advice on which path to follow if I want to make it in the movie business. I hoped maybe they'd take an interest in my fantastic screenplay about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the greatest natural disaster in American history...but they didn't. I thought maybe they'd offer me a job, nothing fancy, sweeping floors or grabbing coffee...but they didn't. What they did do was make me feel like I knew somebody in the industry. They answered my questions and gave me advice. One exec even sent me an invitation to his birthday party on the Strip. How I must have looked amongst that crowd, with my printed out Writer cards, attempting to pitch my script over the din of dance music. Hopefully I didn't stand out as much as I think I did.

Unfortunately, the parties, the meetings, the coffees and brunches led to a whole lot of squat. But I was optimistic. I had set up these connections so down the line, when I knew what I was doing and what to ask for, I could call these folks and they'd remember me and they'd be impressed. Hopefully. So I dove in head first. I got my hands on the UTA joblist, made Craig and his list my new best friend and began my path to becoming a successful writer. I started out temping at New Line, where I filled in for Kent Alterman's assistant during the filming of Son of the Mask in Australia. Then a friend of mine at E! got me a production assistant job working on a show that never got picked up. Then, around March of 2004, I got an internship with Scott Rudin. I knew nothing about Rudin at the time, which was probably a good thing. All I knew was he was BIG and it was on the Paramount lot. I was so excited.

Around the same time I got an internship working at Laurence Mark Productions on the Sony lot. Larry Mark is one of the few exceptions as he was one of the execs who let me come in and pick his brain and he did give me the opportunity to work at his office. I believe he is one of the nicest guys in the business. So anyway, six months into my stint in Hollywood and I was working for two major producers on actual movie lots! Pretty good, huh?

One year later...

I went back to Texas for Christmas and one thing about a small town is that everyone knows your business. People began to point out with great frequency that I had been in LA a year and I hadn't sold a script, wasn't writing for a TV show and shouldn't I move home soon. A couple days after Christmas I had the Plan B discussion. If I didn't find something to support myself and find it pronto, I was gonna be cut off. I had until summer.

To be continued...

Young Storyteller's Foundation

During the 1-year period that I have been a part of Life After Film School, one of the experiences that stays with me was the very embarrassing moment that I almost cried on set. I don't even think our producers know this, but when we were interviewing Brad Falchuk, the co-creator and executive producer of the Fox series Glee, I got a bit emotional. He was definitely an awesome, intelligent, and laid back guy, but the moment the interview turned for me was when we started discussing the Young Storytellers Foundation.

Y.S.F. is an organization he founded with a friend which takes mentors in the entertainment business to 4th graders and teaches them about story - helping the students to write short stories of their own and then bringing in actors to perform those stories. First of all, what an AWESOME idea! It's so empowering for anyone, but especially for kids, to see their ideas come to life. Then, to bring in experienced mentors and actors makes it so exciting for them as well. I was, honestly, overwhelmed with the gravity of Brad's effort to build the confidence of these kids. I know how much that can impact students at that age and I was simply overwhelmed with emotion realizing how important his program is. I was literally, holding back my emotion on set. I fully intend to become a part of this awesome organization.

See the website for more information on the Young Storyteller's Foundation.

The most important thing someone should know before graduating from film school IS?

Lessons fly at us in abundance when we eager-beaver film students seat ourselves across from industry professionals and with as much eloquence as possible drool at the insights they are willing to share with us.

Making movies is hard work. Somehow these people have endured and sacrificed to get to where they are and are still pleasant human beings. Unlike the rep these industry professionals receive sometimes, everyone of our guests have been genuinely nice people. How do they do it? That is what we aim to dig up at Life After Film School. Come hell or high water at the end of the hour I will walk away with nuggets of information to apply to my aspirations.

Interestingly enough the biggest lesson I've learned in my career at LAFS is that the majority of successful film makers did not attend film school. Do you hear that? That is the sound of my student loans crying. Okay that is not the biggest lesson, but it was certainly a big impression which stuck with me and has been the cause of many sleepless nights. Should I quit school and start shlepping for the industry? Would that be a head start?

I have been fortunate enough to work as a camera assistant/camera utility for the last year or so. All the great people I've met on many sets (many people who did attend film school) have also attested to the sentiment that I should quit film school. Couple months ago I found myself on the set of Martin Scorsese's new film for several days doing camera utility. This was not first unit so Mr.Scorsese was not there, but he was instead hooked up to a live feed from New York on a monitor. I stood there and watched him eat lunch as he waited for us to set up the shot. He ate pizza on his couch. This is a man. Merely a man. Flesh and blood like you and I. Yet somehow when this man eats pizza he is able to create a gratifying life moment for a young little film student like myself. Everything he has accomplished during and after film school has made him into an entity, an icon. How does he do it? Raw unbridled talent, yes. But he also went to film school. Martin's life after film school seems to be going pretty well and I'd like him to finish the sentence the most important thing someone should know before graduating from film school IS?

Greenlight Yourself

Working on Life After Film School has been a phenomenal experience and I have learned a great deal, but one of the most invaluable things I have taken from the show so far is this: You have to sell yourself--as a person, a filmmaker, and a colleague. What a lot of film students, especially screenwriters, tend to overlook is the fact that although we wish we could live like Thoreau and escape to the woods and write in a bubble of our own creative intentions, we have to face the big, bad world of Hollywood. No one comes knocking on our doors if we do not proactively represent our work and ourselves.

What that means: we have to interact with producers and studio execs, other writers, and sometimes directors and actors as well. And most importantly, we have to know how to pitch. For those unfamiliar with the word pitch, it is a term which signifies that a writer convince another party on the merit, marketability, and badass-ness of a particular project such as an original screenplay. We not only have to be writers, we have to be actors and businessmen. Each pitch meeting is like an audition, except you're the only one who knows the lines.

Life After Film School has aided in preparing me for such auditions. The numerous call-back auditions for a spot on the show forced me to become comfortable with a camera and, in a sense, market myself as a worthy participant. The episodes themselves helped me forge a professional persona and made me feel at ease with professionals in this industry, even those who I totally admire (and may still get a little star struck for - like Mr. Rainn Wilson).

Participating on the show has provided me with the courage to let my inner confidence emerge and has shed some light on the fact that big name actors, writers, directors, and producers are people too, like me. And what's more - they have been through the very trials and tribulations that I, as a recent film school grad, find myself in: pitching to producers, trying to find that next job, and essentially dealing with the reality of this business. They are me. And that is a huge relief. It makes me think that we are all in this together. Hollywood may be a scary, cruel, mercurial place, but we have all had or will have a round in Dante's Inferno. And hopefully, in the course of our careers, we will all have a round in Shangri-La.

During my time on LAFS, I have learned that Hollywood is a business of cogency. It is in our best interest to convince others that our projects need to get made, that the industry will benefit, that viewers will benefit. This cogency all starts with attitude.

I may have a great team of agents and a fabulous manager behind me, cheering for me in the stands, but they won't be in the room with me when it comes time to pitch. Moreover, they would not be as zealous about helping me land work if I didn't believe in myself first and foremost.

Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant with students

What I Learned After Film School

My life after film school has taken some what of a less traditional route: after film school I actually opted for more school rather than venturing out in to Hollywood. I didn't get a masters in production or a PhD critical studies or even an MFA screenwriting. Nope, I went straight to law school. Yes, law school: a three-year out-of-body experience for a self-proclaimed creative-type; a move that some, even most, would probably say makes no sense what-so-ever. And at some points during those three years I would have certainly agreed with them.

The idea of getting a graduate degree in something other than film came to me while I was working on LAFS. By talking to women in the industry such as Wendy Finerman, who has a business degree from Wharton, I began to see real value in learning the business and legal elements of the film world--a side of the industry that students learn very little of in film school itself but effects nearly every aspect of a filmmaker's project.

My goal to combine film and law has actually started paying off--and making sense. I have begun working in entertainment law specifically in the area of new media. My life during film school helped give me the vocabulary and the understanding to work with filmmakers because I have been one myself, while my law school background has helped me learn to help filmmakers from a representation standpoint. It has been a very rewarding experience thus far, and I'm excited to see where it takes me!

My Life Has a Purpose

I was 16 when I saw the very-adult movie The Best Man, written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee, but it is one of my favorite movies to this day and I know all of the dialogue. I never forgot that movie for presenting such positive and professional images of African Americans and with laughter and scandal and honest friendships. I truly miss that fabulous genre. I have found that I am in love with love stories like Romeo+Juliet but movies like X-Men with its message about tolerance and girlfriend stories like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants also move me and I want to give that feeling to others.

I am 25 years old and, in my life, I have been an actress and writer, a journalist, a student, and a businesswoman. I have a Masters degree from one of the most prestigious film programs in the world and I am an intern at a film studio.

But what I really am is a producer. What does that mean? A few years ago, I had no idea what a producer was, but I knew that every time I saw a movie trailer, I was awestruck and mesmerized. I wasn't interested in writing a script or working a camera, but I was full of ideas that I believed should be on screen. That's where producing begins: a producer is (or should be) the person who maintains the vision of the project throughout the process.

I have always loved entertainment and wanted to play a role in it somehow, but until I figured out a) what producing was and b) that there was a masters program at USC completely dedicated to it (The Peter Stark Producing Program), I was lost. I moved to LA in 2007 and entered grad school and 2 years later, I am in my-life-has-a-purpose type bliss. Each day is not easy or glamorous - remember that I am an intern - but my graduation from USC gave me more than a certificate of higher education: it was the day my life began. The years of what do I really want to do? that followed undergrad, are officially over.

I am now developing 3 feature film projects. I have a great internship where my boss is someone I once plotted just to shake hands with, one helluva network of talented friends I can work with, and a plethora of professional connections with people I used to only read about in Variety. My days are spent at work and when I'm not there, I'm meeting with writers, other producers, and possible financiers or brainstorming new ideas and fleshing them out. To top it all off, I have the outstanding opportunity to be a part of Life After Film School and have interviewed some of the most amazing people about their new projects. Every day has a purpose for me, but having a long lasting career is still an uphill battle.

Here is a great reference for defining producing credits.

* Stay tuned for my next post about my favorite LAFS interviews.
* Follow me on twitter if you like! I'm still learning a bit about it, but I'd love the support! Find me @CodieElaine

Say What You Want

In the interest of using this blog to educate and inspire something in others, I will use upcoming posts to share some of the lessons I have learned in my two short years in Hollywood that have become my career-defining rules. Life After Film School has certainly helped to stress the importance of this idea.

CAREER RULE #1:
SAY WHAT YOU WANT. There is certainly a fine line, but when you want something from someone, say it. I would like you to read my screenplay. I would like for you to be my mentor. Are you available for lunch or coffee so I that I can pick your brain? Of course, begin with I admire you and your opinion, so... but you need to be upfront because people have very little time.

I am a huge fan of building relationships. I sometimes think If I make this big-time agent like me by sending a quick email every now and then, maybe in a few months, I can ask him for X favor. Just ask. I did, indeed, meet a major agent who I had admired ever since I heard his story for the first time - a Howard University educated lawyer, now SVP at an agency. We met, exchanged information, and 2 days later, I put it out there: Can we have an informational meeting and would you be willing to speak on a panel I am putting together? I was nervous, but I hit the send button. Granted, he is a phenomenal and gracious human being, but he immediately obliged me on both requests. Lesson learned. Just ask.

On Life After Film School, we interviewed Barry Josephson, the producer of Like Mike, Hide & Seek, Enchanted, and the upcoming Aliens in the Attic. This man just plain blew my mind! He had done so much in his lifetime. He has been in music and in movies, a studio exec and now a producer, but what captivated me about him was very simple: After all of his success, more than 20 years producing television and film, the many lucrative and popular movies and shows, when he talked about his film Aliens in the Attic (all of the kids in one family have to defend their household and the entire planet from alien invasion), his eyes lit up! I was awestruck by this seasoned producer and man who became so excited at the mere prospect of this story that he completely perked up! To me, that was phenomenal to see and it reminded me just how important it is to be passionate about what I am doing and the stories I choose to tell.

Barry also mentioned that he was found. He was persistent when getting in touch with a producer he met on the street in Los Angeles. The producer met Barry when he was young and visiting LA and the two of them shared an interest in music. He told Barry to call his office, but when Barry was unable to reach the guy on the phone after several months, he went to the producer's office and got hired. It was a testament to being knowledgeable about what you want and prepared at the same time. It won't always happen this way, know that your competition is fighting for the job they want, so it is important and necessary to be able to state what you want when asked.