Producers Guild Announces 9th Annual ‘Power Of Diversity’ Workshop

COMMENTS (11)

• I suppose that by calling for “different perspectives” in the entertainment business they mean conservatives.

  Comment by Francis — Tuesday March 5, 2013 @ 7:34pm PST  Reply to this post

• Can’t wait for lecture about how to trip over a dollar and pick up a dime.

  Comment by pete — Tuesday March 5, 2013 @ 10:55pm PST  Reply to this post

• “we respect diverse perspectives, we just won’t hire any”.

  Comment by Peggy — Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 7:09am PST  Reply to this post

• As an African-American USC Alumni who worked part-time during my freshman through junior years and full-time through my senior year of college to support myself, I can tell you through experience that the “Hollywood game” gives far more lip service to “diversity” than it actually practices. I have been applying for entry level positions at studios (assistant, P.A., etc) for nearly a decade now and have yet to land even one interview despite my background in film studies. I was unable to intern simply because I had no time to do so — the rent and tuition had to be paid and the unpaid internship jobs simply did not meet those basic needs.

  For nearly ten years now I have met with fellow USC alumni, participated in USC Career fairs, applied both online and in person, connected with industry personnel through LinkedIn and other channels and have yet to receive even one phone call from anyone in the industry. I worked as a library supervisor and then in management for years as I continued to apply for ANY position that would get my proverbial foot in the door. On the side I worked unpaid on film sets and never once was offered a paying job.

  I understand the market is challenging now but the truth is that I have been doing this for nearly a decade so that seems a poor excuse. Moreover, nearly each and every movie I see now seems to view “diversity” as something to be avoided — unless the role in question involves a maid, a slave, a victim of violence or abuse, or a drug dealer. To say that I am both disgusted and ashamed of the lack of opportunities for people of color in Hollywood is an understatement.

  I was warned by family members who had lived in Los Angeles prior to my arrival that Hollywood was a shallow and superficial place where racism and close-mindedness was still alive and well, despite the masquerade of “inclusion” and progressive thought.

  Truthfully, nearly one-hundred thousand dollars in loans later, it is sad to see them being proven right after all these years.

  Comment by usclewis — Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 10:23am PST  Reply to this post

  • You are obviously smart, well-read, well-educated and articulate. And I don’t dispute the lack of opportunity for minorities in Hollywood. However, in my 13 years of living here in LA, I have met SO many ‘overeducated’ people (Harvard MBAs interning in small production companies comes to mind) who are not temperamentally suited to being gophers. And producers don’t want competition – they want support or money. Period. No in-between. Once in a blue moon you meet a good sort who wants to mentor…but it seems this is a near-extinct animal. The only advice I have to give to you is: spend your money doing your own thing (developing your own show/film/series) and don’t wait for ‘inclusion’ from the studios. It sounds like you’re too smart for the entry level jobs – and obviously at this point ten years later – too ‘old’ for it. So don’t do it. Do make something – anything – of your own. Webisode, short film, anything which catches a spark. Because a spark can become a flame. Good luck to you.

    Comment by ali 29 — Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 11:55am PST  Reply to this post

    • Thank you for this advice. I am actually doing exactly as you suggest but it is challenging to do it without money and/or connections. There’s nothing wrong with a good challenge, though, as it builds character and let’s you know both where you stand and what you stand for. The way I like to see it is that if Tyler Perry and Robert Rodriguez can do it, I can do it as well. The problem, however, is many of the people I’ve attempted to work with independently on this project in the past have been unprofessional and/or flakes who say they will assist but seldom keep their word.

      I have a screenplay and I’ve written a connecting series of webisodes about a diverse cast of individuals (mixed black/asian, mixed white/persian, latino, lesbian, and many more) who come together to produce the screenplay in question, all the while commenting on the challenge of working outside of the Hollywood system. “Write what you know” my USC screenwriting professor told me, so that’s what I did. Conversely, my script-reading teacher told me that “the audience wants vanilla” so I always take that into account as well, even if I didn’t agree with him and was almost kicked out of his class as a result.

      I love Los Angeles — and California in general — and it is central to most of my stories and screenplay ideas. It’d be a shame if I had to leave here for lack of opportunity but living away from your family for nearly fifteen years with little to show for your efforts (other than an expensive degree) is disenchanting to say the least.

      Honestly, it’s quite pathetic when one of the most diverse cities in the world doesn’t have the ability to reflect said diversity in its films, especially given how important the global market is these days. If you claim to want to capture a worldwide audience, then why not include members of said audience in the stories themselves? To me, it not only makes ethical sense, but financial sense as well.

      Regardless, your advice is well-administered and taken to heart. I am entering the PGA Diversity contest in question and I am attending (yet another) USC Entertainment Alumni meeting on the March 12th out in Hollywood. In the meantime I will continue to try to produce my projects on my own. I’m also writing letters to individuals like George Lucas (fellow alum), Stephen Speilberg, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and more who have always seemed to stress the importance of diversity in their interviews and/or actions.

      Hopefully these efforts will come to fruition and I won’t have to leave Los Angeles feeling like we haven’t progressed as far as we like to think we have with regards to living in a “post-racial” society. It is painful as a “minority” to do everything they say you should do to make it in America (go to college, work hard, take the initiative) and to discover the “American Dream” is more myth than truth.

      Comment by usclewis — Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 12:47pm PST  Reply to this post

      • Hi usclewis.

        Here are my suggestions to breaking into the industry:

        1. Stop writing to Lucas, Spielberg, Oprah and Perry. Much as they probably have the values you are looking for, they don’t do the hiring, you are too old (no disrespect intended) to get the “this kid is cute/on-fire/a future talent” to get a magical call from one of these people. These letters work up to college age and then you are expected to know who to write to and what to say.

        2. Pick your best skill set (these are just examples – camera, writing/development, general production) and then find the appropriate job title (2nd ac camera; camera rental/sales associate; script reader/development assistant; or production assistant/assistant production coordinator) figure out which part of the business, film, tv (comedy or drama), documentary, commercials or webmedia that you want/have a purpose to direct yourself (i.e you wrote drama scripts, or have a flair for comedy). Then you should know the title of the person that hires these positions (is it the Cinematographer? the line producer? the UPM? Maybe the VP of development who hires the script readers/dev assists) and apply specifically to them.
        3. If you are not getting interviews and eventually land a job with this kind of approach, ask them to meet with you for thirty minutes, so you can learn more about their roles in the industry. You need contacts, even if you already know the answers to these questions. Do your research, read their bios, ask them how they got started and what your resume needs to move on.
        4. My experience has been that cold calling at the entry level is essential to opening doors, once you are inside the doors, your work will find its way to the right people, or you find the right people and get your work to them through other contacts. The Film School I went to was great, but their job placement assistance was run by a bunch of morons… I had to learn to do it myself. And, so can you.

        Comment by Maren Sullivan — Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 5:11pm PST  Reply to this post

        • Great advice, Maren. I agree 100% that he is wasting his time trying to get celebrities/alumni/’career fairs’ to do something for him. No. You have to do it for yourself. I can’t go into particulars but I reached out to someone, offering to do research on a (free) volunteer basis, including my proven great research skills. Celebrities are constantly being asked for things/favors. I knew I would have to be valuable to this person. Guess what? Four months and lots of fun brainstorming and work later (I kept my day job, and still do!)…he let me develop and run something, and I got paid for it and did it for three years and it has changed my life/industry opportunities.
          Black, white, Asian, female, gay, whatever…”human” (I fit two of these categories) – no one owes you anything. Totally agree: find out what makes YOU unique. Everyone works hard in this business. Lots of people are smart. Lots of people are likeable. So what? What makes you different and valuable? BE HONEST, be creative, be bold. But always remember: no one owes you anything.

          Comment by ali 29 — Thursday March 7, 2013 @ 10:08am PST  

• USCLEWIS

  Totally agree with the “have to do it yourself” mentality. I likewise dealt with the “morons” at my graduate film school, who had no reality in setting up some kind of route to go from schooling into the biz. It’s one thing for the film schools to take your money for your training, but then not wanting you to approach visitors to the same film schools from the biz to do your networking? WTF is that about? Well…mostly, that’s about the film school teachers and admins not wanting you to take control of your own career and success at the same time you’re giving them your hard earned money for the same education and knowledge you can pick up on the internet now and obviously through your own hard work ethic and hustling. What I really don’t get about this PG suddenly new stance on “diversity” is that many of the same Producing hotshots and studio suits have no problem ignoring their own bigotry, sexism and all around fear of healthy competition…especially from outsiders, whose success in the HWD system would denounce the insiders’ hold on the system. If HWD really wants to increase overall diversity and bring new talents into a corrupt and breaking dynasty to straighten it out? They would have. Many decades ago. But I guess, a whitewash is a whitewash. Good luck on being serious on that diversity.

  USCLEWIS…do your own thing like I am with the right people outside the system…and go right to the global audience…and basically tell the HWD insiders to simply fuck off.

  Comment by mark11 — Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 8:32pm PST  Reply to this post

• Should add a couple more hints. Keep in mind its show-business. Its a business, not an educational hierarchy. To win at this game, its about producing a product (whether as writer, producer, director, or crew or executive) TV, movie, commercial, etc with financial value. Invest more in the projects than in the education. Sorry to tell you that now, but for 100k, you could have made 10 shorts or two ultra low budget films. Or, have spent a year in some foreign country writing a great screenplay which(might) sell or get you an agent.

  The difference between networking and schmoozing is this. Know the person you are speaking to and have something to offer them (i.e your skills) when looking for work. Schmoozing is not knowing more than “hey, I know you work for so-and-so, could you get me in there?” Leverage your skills in pursuit of work and find a meaningful way to help them as well. Thats networking. Offer to read their script or attend their short film screening. And, you have to network your friends too. Have lunch with a filmaker looking for an actress or a location? Keep a list of all the people you meet and what makes them meaningful. Refer them (if appropriate) as well, so you can be a connector – this does pay off. People do help people who are smart enough to help themselves and others when possible.

  The only real, true friends you make in this business lie at the end of the journey, who’ve gone the distance, at the end of a completed film, when youve been though the trenches and conquered the obstacles, or just spent long hard days on set or built a film company or finished collaborating on a script. Until you get there, expect most people, including some you truly like, who work with you on projects to fail. Dont get discouraged with that, its just a past of life, just keep moving forward.

  Comment by Maren Sullivan — Thursday March 7, 2013 @ 10:49am PST  Reply to this post

• To the person (specifically ali29) who felt the need to lecture me on asking for help from others: I’m not asking ANYONE — “celebrity” or otherwise — to GIVE me ANYTHING. What I am doing is drawing up a business plan and seeking investment. I am seeking a BUSINESS LOAN to finance my own projects — not a HANDOUT. For you to assume that I’m looking for the anyone to GIVE me anything when I’ve already pointed out that have worked on sets for free just like everyone else out there is insulting. Maybe you didn’t mean it that way, but the reality is that I’ve been dealing with those kinds of assumptions all my life.

  People ASSUME you got into college based on the color of your skin, even though you graduated at the top of your class. They ASSUME you got a free ride through school based solely on your race, even though you worked full time just to make ends meet (while others coast through on their parents dime in their graduation BMWs). They ASSUME you want everything handed to you, even though you’ve been working since you were 15 years old to make your dreams come true. Granted, you may not be a person who makes such assumptions, but you do come off like one. Don’t ASSUME that just because I am reaching out to “celebrities” like Lucas or Perry I think they “owe me something”. It’s patronizing, and quite frankly, very insulting. Much of the reason I am driven to make such films is for exactly the reasons stated above — to counteract these stereotypes about people of ALL races and backgrounds because what we see portrayed in the media is all too often negative and damaging to our society as a whole.

  Remember: what I first asked for was a JOB, not a HANDOUT, and when that didn’t work, I decided to focus instead on finding investment to do it on my own. I have been told repeatedly that the amount that I have saved would not finance a decent film and that I need to find additional funding. I have been advised to do so by many people who are already in the business, so that is exactly what I am now doing.

  Now — to those of you who offered ADVICE rather than a patronizing LECTURE, I appreciate all of your help. As someone above pointed out, for the money I spent going to USC — and buying the lie that a degree from said school would inevitably lead to a respectably paid job in the entertainment industry — I could have made my film(s) on my own. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say but here I am and it is what it is.

  I will now focus building on the connections I have made, as many of you have advised, continue to reach out and network with those who share the same passion I have for making developing entertainment that is both inclusive and profitable. Thank you for your positivity and your words of encouragement. I know this is a rough business filled with hard days and lots of disappointment, and in the end maybe this isn’t the place I need to be anyway. Ultimately, I’ve met enough cynical “success” stories in this industry already to know that all that glitters isn’t gold.

  There is a reason Robert Rodriguez lives in Austin, Tyler Perry lives in Atlanta, and Johnny Depp stays in France — and its not (just) the high cost of living. It is a challenge to find people here who are real and true and believe in more than just money, power, and sex. I am glad to find a few of you here on these boards, and I appreciate your advice and good will, so thanks and best of luck to you.

  Comment by usclewis — Thursday March 7, 2013 @ 8:51pm PST  Reply to this post