How to Hit a Hollywood Homerun
Issue #2092
- WEALTHY: Is the job search harder for grads with saggy GPAs? (Suzanne Richardson)
- HEALTHY: How the sex change of a fish affects your health (Dr. Al Sears)
- WISE: Marilyn Monroe on making it in Hollywood
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- You don’t need sports skills to be a good pitcher (Paul Lawrence)
- The hidden weakness of OPM (Michael Masterson)
- It’s Fun to Know… about tribute acts
- Add "malodorous" to your vocabulary
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Are Mediocre Grades Keeping Your New Grad From a Dream Job?
Junior finally graduated! Now he’s out in the world, ready to find his first "real" job. But you fear that because his grades weren’t at the top of his class, it’s going to hold him back.
This probably is not as big of a problem as you think it is. According to the 2007 Job Outlook, published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a GPA (grade point average) of 3.0 or higher ranks as number 18 (out of 21) on a list of qualities that surveyed employers consider essential for the "ideal" candidate.
Poor or mediocre grades can completely rule a candidate out of some jobs (investment banking, for instance). But for many potential employers, things like good communication skills, honesty and integrity, interpersonal skills, motivation and initiative, and a strong work ethic are much more important.
"If I’m looking for a recent grad to fill an entry-level position," says MaryEllen Tribby, ETR’s publisher, "the most important thing I look for is their work ethic. That means someone who is honest and fundamentally believes that giving 120 percent is the right thing to do. Next, I look for intelligence. I don’t focus much on grades, but on books they have read, travel they’ve done, whether they are well spoken and can communicate a basic idea.
"I also look for industry knowledge," says MaryEllen. I love to see someone who knows what our company is about and can speak to the products we have. In other words, they did the research before the interview."
Doing that research is crucial. As Michael Masterson says in his best-seller Automatic Wealth for Grads, "Based on what you learn about the company you’re interested in and that company’s industry, figure out specific ways you can save the business time, money, hassle, and waste, and ultimately boost sales and improve profits."
The best thing you can do to help your son or daughter (or grandchild) get a good first job is give them a copy of Michael’s advice-packed book - and stop worrying about that GPA!
"I used to think as I looked at the Hollywood night, ‘there must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I’m not going to worry about them. I’m dreaming the hardest.’"
Marilyn Monroe
How to Hit a Hollywood Homerun
You watch a movie on television or in the theater and think to yourself, "I’ve got a better idea than this. If this one got produced, surely mine could too." But you figure that since you don’t have any industry contacts, there’s no way you can get someone in Hollywood to take you seriously.
What you don’t know is that the entertainment industry has created a powerful vehicle that gives novices a chance to pitch their television or movie ideas to real industry players who could possibly produce them.
Pitching is the way deals get made in the entertainment world.
A "pitch" in Hollywood is when the "pitcher" (the person with the idea for a TV show or movie) explains their idea to a "catcher" (a person who works with a company that could produce the idea).
For the most part, if you are an outsider to the gates of Hollywood, it’s difficult to get past the gatekeepers for a chance to pitch your idea to a qualified, legitimate producer. But while it’s the job of the gatekeepers to keep outsiders out, "the powers that be" still have an interest in the ideas of "unknowns" like you… because everyone in the business is scrambling to get their hands on the next big "homerun" project.
Thus, a concept called a "pitch event" or "pitchmart" was born.
What happens with a pitch event is that an organizer assembles a group of producers who are willing to hear pitches from people who don’t have an agent and/or credentials. The people who want to sell their ideas pay a fee to the organizer for a certain number of brief pitch meetings.
I have personally concluded several successful deals that began with a meeting at a pitch event. The way it works is always the same…
Each company that’s there to hear pitches is at a table with sign that has their name on it. You go over to a company you’re going to pitch to, and sit down. There is a quick exchange of names with the producer, but you don’t want to waste time on pleasantries. (As I said, each meeting is brief… usually about five minutes.)
If you think you know the kind of projects the producer is interested in, you confirm that with him. If you’re not sure, you say something like, "I’d like to pitch you the projects I have that are most likely what you’re looking for. Is your company looking for something specific?"
Once you know what they’re looking for, you give them a quick description of one or two of your ideas that might work for them, and then stay quiet. If they’re interested, they will ask questions. If your ideas don’t match up with their needs, they’ll explain why.
Before you know it, the meeting is over, and you vacate the seat to make room for the next hopeful pitcher.
If you have an idea for a TV show or a movie and would like to try it out at a pitch event, these are the basic steps:
1. Select a legitimate pitch event.
There are a number of well-known organizers of these events that you can find by doing an Internet search with a phrase like "pitch TV and film." A few examples of such organizers are Fade In Magazine, Hollywood Film Festival, Hollywood by the Bay, and VIP Pitch Player Tours.
2. Prepare your pitch.
You will only have a few minutes to convince the producer that your idea is a blockbuster in the making, so you need to be concise. You will want to put together a sheet of paper that includes your contact information as well as the basic information about your project that you will be presenting.
The information about your project should start with what’s called a "logline." This is a one-sentence explanation (in 30 words or less) of the gist of your idea. For example, if you were creating a logline for ABC’s reality hit "Dancing With the Stars," it might be something like this:
"Celebrities are paired with ballroom dance professionals and compete each week in an elimination contest to see who can become this year’s champion."
If you’re going to pitch a reality TV show, you should have a breakdown of what will happen during a typical show and a sample of what a season’s worth of shows will include.
If you are trying to sell a true-life story, you should quickly describe the protagonist, the antagonist, and the "big problem" of the story, and outline its beginning, middle, and end.
3. Do the pitching.
At these events, the "catchers" are bombarded with hundreds of ideas from a huge onslaught of people. To differentiate yourself from the crowd, present yourself as relaxed, intelligent, and well prepared. Smile, introduce yourself, and hand them the sheet of paper about your project. Then tell them about your idea.
If they like it, they will let you know how to proceed. Some producers may want to e-mail you later; others may give you a card and tell you to contact them. If they don’t think the project is for them, most will tell you why.
Attending a pitchmart is a fairly intense, high-pressure experience. But if you’re an outsider who wants to get a shot at Hollywood, it’s certainly worth considering.
[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is a screenwriter/producer with several feature-length film credits, including the movie Cruel World. He has signed a development deal for a reality show with one of LA’s largest producers, and is currently producing a sketch-comedy reality show with the world-famous Laugh Factory. For more information on Paul’s "How to Break Into Hollywood" audio course, click here.]
Cross Training for Billionaires
What do Donald Bren, Steven Ross, Sam Zell, and George Akyros have in common? For starters they’re examples of the 33 billionaires on the most recent Forbes Richest 400 list who made their fortunes from real estate. For another, they’ve all made fortunes in more than one type of property investing. Find out how cross training in real estate-from commercial to apartments to flipping homes, tax liens and more-can help you achieve your wealth goals faster…
A "Great" Way to Finance Business Growth… That Could Backfire
If you can sell stock in your company to finance its growth, some financial advisors would urge you to do so. If you are creditworthy, bankers will tell you to borrow what you need. Using other people’s money (OPM) - whether it comes from financial institutions or investors - is a great way to pay for growth, because what you give up for the money is usually modest in comparison to what you get.
That’s the conventional wisdom - and for some of the businesspeople I know, debt- and/or equity-based growth has been a godsend. But for everyone I know who has used OPM to finance growth, I know two or three who have done so and regretted it.
The most obvious reason: If your great idea bombs (yes, it might), you are now the same-sized company as you were before - but with a load of debt or a gang of angry investors you didn’t have before.
But that’s not the real problem with OPM. There is a hidden weakness to it that can break up your whole business.
OPM feels less real than your own. When you are planning a project with OPM, you allocate money to this and that, spending what you think is "reasonable," while knowing in your heart of hearts that you wouldn’t ever spend that kind of money on that kind of thing if the money were your own.
It’s like play money. You get it, you allocate it, and you see what happens. If it works, great. If it doesn’t… well, it’s OPM.
I’m not saying this exactly right. I don’t mean to imply, for example, that everyone who uses OPM doesn’t care about the investor or doesn’t work very hard to make the project work.
What I’m saying is that there is something in the process of using OPM - the initial budgeting, decision-making process - that makes a difference in how you spend the money. It makes you a bit too optimistic, a shard less scared, a tad too visionary. It allows you to spend money on things like focus groups, marketing studies, and consultants that you’d never bother with if the dollars were coming from your own pocket.
Mutant Male Fish Are Turning Female
By Al Sears, MD
Recently, a team from the U.S. Geological Survey reported finding large numbers of male fish with female traits. This is nothing new - but the numbers are far higher than what has been seen before.
In some Potomac tributaries, nearly all the male smallmouth bass caught by the team were abnormal. In the Potomac itself, seven out of 13 largemouth bass had female characteristics. Some of them were even producing eggs!
This may not sound like a big deal, but it affects you more than you might think. The reason these fish are turning female is that they’re being exposed to certain environmental chemicals - toxins that resemble estrogen.
Our government has been slow to admit that these estrogen look-alikes are having an effect on humans. But my clinical experience tells me that excess estrogens in our environment are causing disastrous changes in both men and women. Estrogen levels in my older male patients have roughly doubled in the last 15 years.
In men, excess estrogen causes the onset of feminine features. Once-muscular "pecs" (chest muscles) turn into soft breasts. A "spare tire" forms around their middle and their risk of prostate cancer gradually increases. It affects energy too, making them feel slow and tired.
In women, excess estrogen wreaks havoc with their emotions, making them feel burned out, irritable, and upset. I believe it also dramatically boosts the chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
But you can lower excess estrogen levels safely and naturally with DIM, a plant-based supplement. It’s available at many nutrition stores. Start with 100 mg a day.
You can also:
- Eat more cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. They help you excrete excess estrogen.
- Eat hormone-free food and free-range animals whenever possible.
- Incorporate more estrogen-inhibiting foods - including squash, onions, green beans, cabbage, berries, citrus, pineapples, pears, grapes, figs, melons, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds - into your diet.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears is a practicing physician and an expert on heart health. Learn how to apply his winning heart-healthy strategies in The Doctor’s Heart Cure.]
It’s Fun to Know: About Tribute Acts
Ever gone to a concert by your favorite classic rock band or doo-wop group only to find that there were no original members on stage? Nevada has outlawed this practice, forcing musicians who can’t prove they are historically linked to the original group to call themselves a "tribute act." Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Illinois have similar laws on the books.
According to BBC News, the original members of Sha Na Na, the Supremes, and the Drifters "welcomed the move." Other bands whose names have been used by tribute acts include the Platters and the Coasters.
Revealed: Probably The Biggest Red Herring in History!
While the World’s Been Stock Watching (and losing!), The Elite Quietly Play a Different Game with Different Rules…
Feeling cheated and disillusioned by the stock market? Sure, you may have made a good trade here… but then lost on another. The people dutifully pour their hard-earned cash into investment banks to put into the stock market for them… and those investment banks gladly oblige, for a fat fee… which they invest somewhere else! I’m no conspiracy theorist, but in my opinion the stock market is really a diversion for the masses… a distraction from where the BIG and consistent money is made… in the world’s money mountain. And when I say "Money Mountain," I speak quite literally… the BIGGEST mountain of money on the planet. Click here to read more…
Word to the Wise: Malodorous
"Malodorous" (mal-OH-dur-us) - from the Latin - is another way of saying "bad-smelling."
Example, as used by Susan Strasser in Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash): "But people were accustomed to the odors of chamber pots and outdoor privies and to the stench of manure on city streets as well as in the country. Even the most refined could scarcely have been squeamish about malodorous garbage."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007