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Hello, Brick Wall

Comments:

 Burbanked

Yikes. Ordinarily, I'd say that this was a no-brainer: move to LA as soon as school is out. But the immigration issue you're concerned with is a real one, and it's something not likely to disappear anytime soon, I'd guess.

I was an aspiring screenwriter in college too, and when I graduated and made plans to pack up for LA, I received terrified looks of dubious encouragement from nearly everyone I knew. That was many many years ago, and to this day I hear from friends and family who tell me that they thought it was brave or gutsy that I did that, having known virtually no one in LA who could help me, set me up with a job, let me crash on their couch or anything. I had just about nothing or no one.

But to me it wasn't a question. If my goal was to work in the movie industry, there is no other place to do it. There are other cities and industry pockets throughout the US and Canada, but there is nowhere - NOwhere - like Hollywood. It can be ugly and dirty and smelly and offensive, but it truly is the center of moviemaking, and I'm a firm believer that you will not experience the movie industry and all of its highs, lows, thrills, chills and excitement without being there in the thick of it.

But that's easy for me to say. I moved there from Upstate New York, not another country. The world is different now and you've got challenges that I never had to deal with.

So I sympathize. It's not going to be easy to find a job first unless you're there for an extended period of time to do so. That can be taxing on time and resources. When I first moved, I got temp work through an agency that specifically served the industry. True, my first job was doing catalog data entry for the Disney store - not exactly a 2nd Assistant Director gig on a Jim Cameron movie, but it was something.

My point is that it's certainly possible to get a job there, and do your damnedest to network, impress people with your attitude and work ethic, and grow something from nothing. The most ideal thing, it seems, would be to score something temporary and try to develop it while you work out the immigration issues somehow.

It's not easy and you may not find a lot of help, but as Malone in THE UNTOUCHABLES might ask, Just what are you prepared to do?

 Joshua James

If you win the Nicoll fellowship, then that's taken care of . . . since you have 3 years or so, that's three shots at it (and you can enter more than one script at a time).

There's also the ABC writing fellowship, which takes entrants every year (I think Jane Espesen has more info on that) and a few other TeeVee fellowships who would happily give you a visa if you wrote something that rocked their world.

I'd also write to Alex Epstein and John Rogers - both spend time in both Canada and the US - just drop them an email and ask.

I'm pretty sure Alex has written extensively on it, actually. And both are fairly accessible (though they are both prepping series at the moment).

It's good to be in LA, but more important for television than film - and let's face it, many movies are shot in Canada . . . it could be a boon for you, to be in canada.

Plus, you don't have to pay for health insurance.

BTW, it looks like Unk is back.

 Alex Epstein

Yep, you're hosed.

The Department of Homeland Security is making immigration to the US VERY difficult, even if your name is not Hussein ibn Jihad.

Moreover, right now is a very bad time to get a job in as a writer in LA.

On the other hand if Bill C-10 passes Parliament, forget about the Canadian motion picture industry.

And if the CRTC revises the rules on aboriginal drama, there goes the Canadian TV industry.

My recommendation (and I'm being a little grumpby 'cause my car was hit and run yesterday), is GET BARACK OBAMA ELECTED. Then GET STEPHEN HARPER CANNED.

There's always work in politics...

 Carlo Conda

Thanks for the speedy reply, Alex.
I, uh... I guess there's always the internet?

Like I said, "hello brick wall". This is quite the kick in the nuts, but I'll keep trying to find a way around it.

 Jane

Not to add to the negativity, but the ABC / Disney fellowship only accepts people who already have a legal right to work in the US. The other fellowships won't help you out either.

I'd say you should try to intern in Canada while you're still at uni, then at least you'll have some contacts and experience when you graduate.

 Carlo Conda

Thanks for all the comments so far, guys. Hopefully I'll find a way to work around this mess.

 Matt

I don't know anything about immigration laws, but I feel like there's some sort of loophole with study abroad laws. Would it be possible to go to school in LA (even if it's just a UCLA extension class or two), and get into the country that way--leaving you open to look for work while there.

Check your school's study abroad programs, see if there's any option for a semester in LA, or an internship program of some kind. Or you could even see if a transfer to UCLA or USC is possible from your school.

I have no idea if any of that would work. But if it does, you might be able to move out here even sooner than you were thinking.

 Carlo Conda

Thanks Matt, but I have absolutely no plans of moving out so soon.
Also, there isn't a loophole. Getting a student visa is just like any other visa - it has restrictions.
I'm starting to think I'm going to have to stay in Canada for much longer than I suspected.

 Nicklaus Louis

Someone once told me that the best way to make it to LA is to write a kick ass spec. If you write a kick ass spec that gets Hollywood's attention, you won't have any problems with getting a visa.

I know it sounds simplistic, and it is -- not exactly a sure bet, for sure. But it is not impossible, and if you work hard it might be a better bet than you think.

 Carlo Conda

I hope that's true, Nick. Of course, the only way you'll get that spec script into somebody's hands is via a query.
I could go down to L.A for a bit and network, but there's no wuestion that the writers who are living there definately have a heads up over me, even if I have a better spec than them. They can network, I hardly can.

 Trevor Finn

I've been dealing with the same issues. The Visa thing is boggling my mind as well. Living in Toronto, it seems there just aren't as many entry-level jobs for scripted TV. Lots for reality TV, but I seriously doubt that helps our careers in drama or comedy writing. I worked for a few reality tv companies last year and they actually held it against a writer if they wrote scripted. I wouldn't be surprised if it works vice-versa.

I'm not against the idea of writing for a Canadian show, as there has been some kickass Canuck shows recently, but I would like to eventually work in LA.

However, what I've been told from friends that were able to move down to LA (and have returned, pens between their legs) is that you shouldn't do it until you have something under your belt - and for a writer, that means specs. If you've actually had something produced, like a short, that's even better.

I have read that if you're not in LA it's easier to get into film than TV. So I might go the route of writing a feature spec and trying to shop myself in LA using that. If that gets picked up, I'd move to LA and try to break into TV that way. Alex mentioned once that agents might be more willing to take on a feature writer who isn't in LA.

And the easiest, though most costly route, might be to just get an unpaid internship in LA, and have enough money to survive for 3 months. If you work hard, it can turn into something else. If your parents can help out with that, then that might be the easiest way.

 Carlo Conda

Hey Trevor, good to know someone else is in my position. We have a hard road ahead of us, harder than those who already live in the states. Let's just hope our talent shines through enough to get noticed and land a life in L.A.

Keep in touch.

 Michael Taylor

Thanks for your comments on my blog. If you find my posts depressing, then you'd better take a hard look at the Industry here in LA. Believe me, I'm not exagerating in the least.

"Burbanked" is a great blog, and I have a world of respect for Alan -- but my advice to you (and Trevor, and all the other Canadian writers) is to stop wasting your time and energy obsessing about Los Angeles and put that energy into writing.

"Networking" is worthless unless you've got a pile of scripts -- good, solid scripts -- to show around. Nobody gets hired to write anything in LA based on their personality or "networking" skills.

LA is a stinking pit, a teeming urban dystopia living on borrowed time under a tectonic Sword of Damocles. If the San Andreas doesn't level this city, then some fundamentalist likely will -- and at that point, maybe Vancouver or Toronto becomes the New Hollywood. In if that day comes, you guys will be in the catbird seat.

I realize how difficult it must be to live next to a country as patholgically overbearing as the U.S. -- but don't forget that you live in a great country with a thriving film industry. I'm not happy about your government subsidies that lured so much work from LA to Canada, but I can't deny that it worked -- Vancouver and Toronto are now major Industry players. Besides, your women are gorgeous without soaking their heads in buckets of Botox every night, or flaunting their newly-purchased surgically enhanced tits for all the world to see.

Much to your credit, there is no Canadian Britney Spears, Lindsy Lohan, or Paris Hilton -- and count your blessings for that...

Unlike the U.S., your country has managed to retain its sense of dignity in these chaotic times -- and as another comment noted, your health care is free. God help you if you get sick or hurt in a car wreck here in LA without paid-up insurance.

Just keep writing. Sitting at home in Moosejaw or Yellowknife pecking away at the keyboard might not sound as glamorous as cruising Rodeo Drive in a Mercedes convertible -- but that fantasy isn't going to happen anyway unless you're a trust fund baby. If you can sell a script or two in Canada -- and get the films produced and/or broadcast -- you'll have the professional street-cred to join the legions of desperate writers fighting for the few remaining scraps of the scripted Industry work here in LA. Then you can come south and network to your heart's content.

I wish you the best of luck, and that you can write and sell a few scripts to make your dreams come true. But until then, understand that the LA you're dreaming of is just that -- a fantasy. The reality is very different.

LA is a Devil's Bargain -- and the Devil always wins those bets.

 Carlo Conda

Thanks for the comment, Mike.
I think you may have your own fantasy about the Canadian film industry. It's not simply a 'cleaner' version of L.A. Heh
Why don't you come work up here? :P
Problems regarding producers&execs, funding, and creative power are amplified in this otherwise lovely (and cold) country.

 Michael Taylor

As I understand it, any production company heading north across the border to film in Canada has to use Canadian crew. Legally, they could bring a crew from the US, but they'd still have to hire (and pay) a full Canadian crew -- which would negate the monetary advantage of filming in Canada. Effectively, we American below-the-line workers are barred from working in Canada.

That's okay -- I respect the right of any country to impose regulations protecting their own workers and industry. Truth be told, I wish my country would do the same for its film workers -- but that's our cross to bear.


At any rate, I've done my time working in the cold -- wrestling with cable and lights in 8 degree (F) weather was cold enough for me, and it gets a lot colder in Canada. At this stage of my so-called career (crawling towards the finish line), I'll stick to sound stages and California location jobs.

I don't mean to trash LA -- which has always been a very dynamic blend of the good, the bad, and the ugly -- but simply to point out that doing the work and improving your writing skills is the important thing. Being in LA won't do you any good unless you have something real to offer the industry. The great advantage to writing (as opposed to making films) is that it's a very cheap endeavor -- all you need is paper and pencil, and some imagination. You can build and hone your skills anywhere -- and a quiet place is often better for that. LA is anything but quiet, but rather a teeming pit of great distractions that have ruined many fine writers.

Maybe you want to come here to experience those distractions -- that's a question only you can answer. But you don't need to come here to be a writer. To do that, you just have to keep writing.

 Carlo Conda

I understand what you're talking about, Mike, but you're in the mindset that all scripts are sold via queries.
The truth is that selling your scripts by sending out queries hardly leads anywhere. It's more of a lottery.
Screenwriters need to network, know people who know people, and get their scripts in the hands of these people.

I'd be fine with staying in Canada if I was aiming to be a novelist. That, however, is not the case.

 Michael Taylor

Carlo;

You're wrong about one thing, but right about the other. Having lived and worked here in LA for 30+ years, I know very well that screenplays are not/cannot be sold via query -- when it comes to selling a screenplay, there's no substitute for pressing the flesh and meeting Industry players. But there's a time for that sort of thing, and my sense is you might be putting the cart before the horse in worrying about getting to LA. Once you've got a few good, filmable scripts that demonstrate your writing skills and commitment, then you can worry about selling yourself and your work -- networking.

Until then, LA doesn't matter. Networking without the goods is worse than a waste of time, because those you network may well conclude that you have nothing to offer -- and you really can't afford to let that happen.

If you're already there -- if you have that solid body of work to shop around -- then I fully understand your frustration at not being able to move to LA and get on with your career. So work on selling them in Canada, or try to get one of your scripts produced as an indy project. Direct it yourself, if you have to -- do what you can to make your dream happen. Don't spin your wheels wishing for that visa. Those who "make it" in Hollywood are those who refuse to take no for an answer, who find a way to get it done no matter what it takes. They make their dreams come true.

If you're still working on that pile of scripts, don't spin your wheels fretting about getting to LA. Hollywood isn't going anywhere -- it'll still be here when you're good and ready to make your play. By then, the visa situation may have eased up, one way or another.

I'm neither a screenwriter nor an aspiring screenwriter, but I know a lot of very smart and talented people who have been beating their heads against that particular brick wall for a long time. Some are very good, and at least a couple are close to breaking through -- I really think their time is coming, and soon -- but what I've learned from their hard-earned experience is that screenwriting in LA is very much an insider's game. It's an extremely exclusive club that allows entry only under one of two conditions: either you come at Hollywood with a screenplay so good that they HAVE to let you in, or else you come with solid gold connections on the inside willing to open the door for you.

Coming from way outside to develop such connections is very difficult. You don't just move to LA, get a job in the mail room, and start meeting people who will open those doors. It takes time -- lots of time, and there's no guarantee it'll ever happen.

But if you come with some credentials -- a screenplay that's been accepted and developed at a Sundance workshop, for instance -- everything can change. Doors can open and people who otherwise wouldn't give you the time of day will suddenly be grinning and shaking your hand.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but simply give you a realistic idea of what kind of dragon you're up against. The best sword with which to vanquish that beast is a good screenplay. Or two, or three... All the networking in the world won't help you if you don't have that.

Think long and hard about what it will take -- what you can do -- to make your dreams a reality, then get started.

Good luck.

 Carlo Conda

Thanks again Mike.
Don't get me mistaken for someone who thinks L.A is all marshmallows and lolipops. I know one must have something to show others in order to network. I'm not worried about right now, I'm simply frusterated that, once I'm at the point where I have great scripts under my belt, heading to L.A is going to be a hurdle on it's own. The future has just gotten a lot messier for me, as if it wasn't messy enough.

But I'll pull through. There are some paths I can take, such as work in the Canadian biz for a while and work my way up here, but there are writers who are taking that path now and don't encourage others to do so (such as Denis @ http://heywriterboy.blogspot.com/2007/02/rain-rain-move-away.html).
I can also simply write specs and then hightail it to L.A with material to show others.
Of course, the problem with this is how I'll be limited to hardly any time in L.A. Like you said, networking takes time, and I can either spend a tonne of time in the Canadian industry and then start over nearly fresh in L.A with Canadian credits behind me. Or I can write while working and shop myself in L.A for the short term.

Yeah, it's stuff to worry about in the future, but it's a pretty big deal for me right now. I still haven't been able to decide which general path I'm going to take. While L.A has it's problems, at least it's a functional film industry with rewards. Denis speaks about this in the post I liked to above, if you want to give it a looksee.

I write as much as you, Mike. :P

ps. You said "I don't mean to discourage you".
Your comment wasn't discouraging at all.

 Michael Taylor

Carlo;

I read the post you recommended (Dead things on a Stick), which gave me a better idea what you're up against.

No question, LA dominates the Industry in economic and psychological terms. Before moving here, I checked out my local SF Bay Area film scene and found very little of interest -- it was too small, too cliquish, too self-absorbed, and a long, long way from where Things Were Happening. From what I've gleaned from your site and others, many Canadian writers feel the same way about their film industry.

In a way, you can't win. If you stay in Canada -- even if you manage to build a successful screenwriting career -- you'll always wonder what might have happened had you gone to LA while the fires of youth burned hot in your belly. But if you do come to LA, you run the risk of joining the vast legions of lost souls -- the Living Dead -- who came here from elsewhere only to find that in time, they don't really fit in anywhere anymore. You really can't go "home" again...

I'm not even sure you have a choice here: once the hook is set, LA has a way of reeling you in, for better or worse -- and it seems the hook is in you.

In my case, I saw no reason to put up with Aren't We Special attitude prevalent in an industry backwater like San Francisco -- lovely place though it is -- so I moved to Hell-Lay.

The good thing about Hollywood is the churn -- there's always something going on, and that means lots of turnover, which translates into opportunity. I'm talking about below-the-line work here, but the same thing applies (albeit to a lesser degree) above-the-line as well.

I suppose the bottom line is this: if you really want to make it happen, you will -- and if your dream runs to (and hopefully through) LA, then more power to you.

Again, best of luck.


PS: I hope you write more than me, Carlo -- you're a writer. I'm a juicer.