I have to get back to basics and land an agent. The advantage I have is that I can get referred to a number of people from the contacts I have here, and that's what I'm doing now. When I started to publish and edit the UCLA Writer's Block newsletter, I thought I had a comprehensive understanding of the politics. Well, after only a couple interviews I realized that I was truly ignorant when it came to Hollywood. Each interview opened new doors and illuminated different aspects of the nature of the business-'The Reality.
Series television is built on apprenticeships.
You start out as a staff writer and learn as you go. One final example of how people miss opportunities to make inroads to Hollywood. When I took over the newsletter, it had been dormant for about seven years. Not one other student saw it as a vehicle to go out and meet with the very people who they want to get to know and to pick their brains. I was shocked that there wasn't some ambitious student jumping to take up a pen and tape recorder.