Networking

My wife just got a new job after months of great interviews and unemployment.

How? What made this opening different from the others?

Someone she knows recommended her.

How else do you beat the competition in a highly-competitive world where everyone has the same goals and seemingly similar talent?

“It’s all about who you know.”

This line has been repeated so many times in reference to the film business (and business in general), that it has gone beyond cliché. It is one of the uber-clichés.

Everyday that goes by reaffirms my faith in its truth.

The Sixth Degrees of Separation Theory is true. Living in L.A. and knowing who’s who, I have come to one degree of separation from many of my heroes: Coppola and Scorsese and even the late, great Stanley Kubrick. I have gotten that close, but my contacts were a lot smaller. Yet they were able to push me onto someone who could help.

How did I get my first script read by someone on the other side of the fence? My aunt called me and said my cousin knew someone in Hollywood.

How I got my manager: someone I knew.
How I got my agent: someone my manager knew.
How my first feature is getting made: someone my writing partner’s father knows.
How I landed my first assignment: someone my first feature’s producer knows.

Even my job at Writers Store: someone I know…

That doesn’t mean talent isn’t important. Most of us aren’t beautiful or connected enough to get by on our looks and contacts alone. And talent does rise to the top. But you never know when someone you know may introduce you to someone.

If you don’t know anyone yet, don’t fret.

You could meet someone today.