The Gibbons Update

One of the cool things about being in the business for a while (OK, a long time), is that you get to meet a wide variety of people. Part of what I’m presenting here is not just my advice (and I use that term pretty loosely for my postings), but that of many others I’ve met along the way. From crew to creatives, from executives to agents and managers, from development to production, I know of a lot of people with a lot of experience. I’ve been reaching out to an array of these professionals and asking them to include their advice here.

I’m asking all of these experts three basic questions:

How did you get started in the business?

This information can be fascinating, since no two people seem to have ever done it the same way. You’ll see resourcefulness, luck, timing, hard work, missed and gained opportunities, serendipity — and much more, in how people get into the business.

(Part of my pitch to the professionals I’ve asked to contribute to this site: “This could include: your first job; the lousy pay you got; the great/horrible/unforgettable/awful/wonderful person who got you started in the business or made that first job what it was; the long hours; what you learned not to do; the amazing learning experience it was or wasn’t; what your big break was or what lesson you learned that changed things for you; or maybe you had no big break and it was all dues paying for a long time…”.)

What advice would you offer to someone just starting out in (or attempting to break into) the business?

Many viewpoints, many ideas, many ways to think about how to get your foot in the door and then get that door open for you.

How does one get ahead in this business?

Here is where it gets wildly divergent. Everyone’s got a different set of ideas on how to get ahead, move up, over or into that dream job you want to do. So I asked everyone to share things like this: How do you move from one job area to another (writer to director, line producer to executive producer, DP to actor, TV person to feature person, old media to new, whatever…)? How do you maintain a career through the years? How do you maintain a relationship (when you’re on location for four months)? 

So that’s the plan. I’ll start posting the answers from the experts and hopefully these will help some of you. Now, excuse me, but I have to get back to reading those emails!

• 18:59 Whoa! That dude that McCain picked for VP? He’s a hunter, anti-abortionist and lifetime NRA member! The female voters are gonna hate him!! #
• 19:02 @McGrory interviewed me today for his online video project ‘cineclectic’. Great questions from him. My answers? Well, he’ll be the judge… #
• 19:37 At Daichan, enjoying Japanese “soul food”, with the family. #
• 20:13 You all can follow me at FriendFeed, too, you know… friendfeed.com/timgibbons #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

• 23:33 Spent all day writing ideas for new pitches. Have a big one coming up… #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

I will occasionally post questions sent to me about the business, along with my answers. This one came from a new, unproven (and unpaid) writer. Keep in mind that there are no rules in Hollywood, so for every answer given here there will be glaring and inconsistent exceptions.

Q: I was wondering how inexperienced writers get signed with agents? The treatments that I have sent out all get me the same answer of “not interested.” Part of me says stay consistent but I’m left at a loss because I don’t know if its just a numbers game and I have to sell myself or if one truly needs to know someone to get a chance.

A: An agent will only be interested if A) you have a job or sale prospect, or; B) you have a personal connection with someone they know. Unfortunately, cold-calling (or blindly sending manuscripts, scripts, treatments or outlines) probably won’t get you anywhere. Most writers start on staff at shows as writer’s assistants. Eventually they get liked by someone they’ve worked with and maybe then get a staff writing job. All the while they are writing spec scripts and continually working the relationships. It all comes down to relationships. Once they get a credit for a script they’ve written — with 12 other people in the writer’s room — then, maybe, they can sell original stuff. And of course, there is the one-in-a-million guy who writes one script which is immediately sold for $3 million in a bidding war, who skips all the previous steps. But that’s not very likely to happen.

Don’t get discouraged. But you’ll probably have to: quit your job, move to L.A., get a low-level job on some show you love… and start working your way up.

Hope that helps and is not too bleak!

• 10:06 Meeting with an Australian starlet and one of my producing partners. #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

• 09:24 Webseries pitch today. I can see it now: "We love your show. Here’s $8, now come back with 290 webisodes!". #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

• 16:57 Big meeting, Big Company! Notes on a pilot script coming down today! #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

• 10:02 @LindaSherman Hey - Been "off Twitter" for a while - got very busy - but I’m back… But missed your earlier tweets… #
• 10:02 Alright, look out Twitterverse, Gibbons is back! #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

• 12:32 On the kiddie train in Griffith Park! #
• 12:39 And now kidlet’s going on the ponies! #
• 17:41 Samba music at LACMA… #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter

• 22:03 @Funkyjenn Don’t be retah-ded!! #

Automatically shipped from Twitter by LoudTwitter