I got the driving instructor job. What the hell does that have to do with filmmaking? A lot, actually. Instead of slaving for others, helping them get their film projects off the ground, I’ll be earning money and financing my own. I’ve been itching to shoot another short film since I completed STRING THEORY. With an actual paying job, that should be possible soon.

Speaking of slaving, I didn’t get the internship at the production company. I should’ve known it was a bad sign when, during the interview, the guy looked at my resume and said “You have a lot of experience. I’m worried you’ll get bored working here as an intern.”

Translation: “You’re overqualified and I’m not going to hire you.”

Further translation: “You’re too experienced. I won’t have the nerve to ask you to fetch me coffee, especially since I won’t be paying you jack shit. I think I’ll hire the inexperienced twenty-two year-old instead. He’ll be easier to push around.”

Do I sound bitter? Sure, but that doesn’t make my translation any less true.

Today was well spent. At 10 AM I had an interview for a "regular" day job as a driving instructor for teenagers. In the seven months I’ve been in L.A., I’ve tried to avoid looking for work outside of the film industry, to dedicate all my time to my film career. But I'm in debt now. My UCLA class tuition and the expenses of my last film STRING THEORY are chilling on my credit card, gathering interest. If I get hired at this driving school it should work out well with my filmmaking goals. They offer a flexible schedule, which is crucial since I don’t want to get trapped in a day job.

At 1:30 PM I had another interview, for an internship at a film production company. This year, this company has a film nominated for a Golden Globe and another film nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Their office is in Century City, in a fancy high-rise on the sixth floor, a block away from the Fox building used in DIE HARD and another building where I shot STRING THEORY. I met with the Director of Acquisitions, who told me he used to be an intern once himself.

To top off the day, my UCLA class in the evening had Sid Ganis as a guest speaker. Sid is a big producer. Among other things, he was president of Paramount Pictures and then president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that hands out the Oscars every year.

Sid mentioned at one point that he's looking for a good thriller script. Did I jump up and tell him I have two good thriller scripts sitting on my shelf at home? Of course not. That's not correct Hollywood etiquette, it would only make me look small and amateurish. Another guy in class was less socially aware and did ask Sid to read his script. He got an indirect “no” and... made himself look small and amateurish.

When one door closes, another one opens. This week I sent out my resume to over twenty different job openings; some of them paid positions, but most of them unpaid, ranging from editor to production assistant, director of photography to intern. I immediately got three interviews -- one on Wednesday, one on Thursday, and one today, Friday.

The Wednesday people, the tiniest and least established company, canceled our interview in the last minute.

The Thursday people, a bigger and more established company, liked me a lot and said they would get back to me next Monday.

The Friday people, the biggest and most successful company of them all, hired me on the spot.

Interesting, isn’t it? You would expect the tiny company to hire me on the spot and the big company to make me jump through hoops to get the job, but the exact opposite happened. There’s a reason big and successful companies are big and successful. They recognize intelligence, skill, and talent when they see it and don’t let it walk away. Especially if it’s free.

Yes, I’ll still be working for free. But I’m moving up in regards to the size and quality of the production companies I’m working for. These guys have a solid track record. They’ve produced big movies with big talent such as Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr., and they have consistently made a profit.

The interview was conducted by two friendly guys named Mike and Ryan:

“Mike looked at your resume and said we should talk to you,” Ryan said. “Why did you choose to apply for an internship here?”

“Your ad said that interns will be be involved on a creative level here; that they won’t simply be delegated to fetch coffee and answer the phones,” I replied. “I have no problem fetching coffee and answering phones, but as you can see I’m not a college student looking to pad out my resume. I’m seeking a position that will reward me with opportunities for career growth.”

“I can’t promise you a paid position here but we try to help each and every one of our interns to get ahead,” Ryan pointed out.

“You scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours,” added Mike.

“That’s exactly what I’m looking for,” I said.

They asked me about my background. I told them I’ve been in town for five months and that I just completed two production company internships, with one of them being on the Sony lot. I told them my latest feature script got me accepted into the UCLA Master Class for Film Writing. They were impressed and asked what my script was about, so I pitched it to them. They seemed intrigued.

“You seem like a very sharp guy,” Mike commented.

“What’s your schedule like?” Ryan asked.

“For the time being, my schedule is open one hundred percent,” I replied.

“Oh, you’re hired,” Ryan said.

I start next Tuesday. Having been exploited at my two previous internships, I’m going in with more experience and awareness so that I can take better advantage of this opportunity and make it work for me.

I quit my two production company internships -- the one on the Sony lot and the one in West Hollywood. After putting in three months of quality time and labor into both jobs without receiving any pay, it became apparent that the company owners weren’t going to reward me in any way.

When I asked Andy (in West Hollywood) to read one of my scripts, he said, “Sure, just email it to me.” I was surprised at his openness and sent him my script. Five weeks later he still hadn’t read it, and it became clear that he was never going to, despite my gentle reminders. I spent over 120 hours reading their scripts, writing in-depth coverage for them, and answering their phones. And yet he wasn’t willing to spend 90 minutes looking at my script. Maybe I was asking for too much.

When I asked Patrick (on the Sony lot) to finally take me on as a paid employee, being that he was clearly pleased with my performance, he said, “I can’t afford to pay you for a job that can be done in one hour.”

“If this job can be done in one hour, then why don’t I just come in for one hour?” I asked. “Why am I coming in eight hours a day, three days a week?” Of course, he didn’t have a response for that. I told him I had to leave and find a paying job and he had the nerve to ask me to stay a couple more weeks until he found somebody else! Of course, I refused. If he really wanted me for those two extra weeks he could have paid for it. Simple as that.

Once my modest requests for help or payment were denied, I had to leave. Staying any further would only decrease my value in their eyes. I would become their bitch. So I politely walked away from both jobs.

I was naive to think that people will help me if I help them first. I keep forgetting that human decency is not a universal trait. Although my three month investment at both companies didn’t lead to any lasting industry connections or a career boost, I gained experience and learned a precious lesson: There are people out there who will try to get as much as possible from you without giving anything in return. They’re called “parasites”.

Following my principle of being bold and audacious, I decided to approach John Graham at Sony and pitch him one of my scripts. John Graham is the Creative Executive of Screen Gems, a Sony company responsible for producing movies such as Resident Evil, Underworld, Quarantine, and The Stepfather. Pretty big stuff.  His office is in the Screen Gems building, adjacent to the Robert Young building, where I work. I had met him there twice briefly when I hand delivered stuff to him.  

I took a few deep breaths, picked up my script and went to the sixth floor of the Screen Gems building.  He wasn't in, so I introduced myself to his pretty assistant and told her I would return.  I went back three hours later and he was in a meeting inside another office, so I waited on the couch outside his door.  I didn't want to come back a third time because that would make me look weak. Next thing I knew, the assistant pulled John out of his meeting for me.  "Matt's here to see you," she told him. I definitely wasn't expecting that.

"Hi John, sorry to interrupt your meeting there.  Could I please have five minutes of your time?" I asked.

"No problem.  Come right in."  He ushered me into his office.  Simple as that.

I formally introduced myself and told him I wanted some advice on how I could go about getting one of my scripts read by someone such as himself at Screen Gems.  John seemed like a nice guy. Young too -- somewhere around my age.  He gave me the classic "we don't accept unsolicited submissions" line, but elaborated further and encouraged me to keep knocking on doors. We talked a bit more, then I thanked him for being gracious and sharing his time and advice with me.

It's frustrating when you have the attention of a top Hollywood executive, with your script ready to go right under your arm, and yet they refuse to even look at the first page. No problem, there's always tomorrow. At least now John knows my name and face.  I'm sure we'll run into each other again.

STRING THEORY will be a considerably “bigger” production than my previous short films, which had no crew and cost me around a few hundred dollars each. I’ve budgeted the film just under $1000. Since I work for free Monday through Friday, it’s going on my credit card. Patrick, the president of the production company I work for at Sony, is letting me use the office for auditions and meetings. There aren’t many other filmmakers in town who can claim to have an office at Sony Pictures.

I placed an ad on LA Casting and received about 400 submissions for the female lead. I sent my script to about forty of them; I'm sending it out in advance because I know the script is not for everyone. I don't want to schedule auditions only to have the actress show up and refuse to read the script due to its explicit content. Out of the forty I contacted, more than half didn't respond. A few emailed me, saying they that they would pass. I expected this. My ad clearly states “this project is not for inhibited or shy actors”, and that there is “no nudity”. Clearly, most actors don't read the whole ad, they just look at the $200 pay I'm offering and promptly submit their headshot and resume. They're wasting my time and theirs.

I went in for a second interview at a production company in West Hollywood, for an internship. This company is owned and run by the co-producers of the SCOOBY-DOO movie and THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT. I was surprised to hear from them, because they first interviewed me five weeks ago, and shortly thereafter informed me that the position had been filled by somebody else. I guess that certain somebody didn’t work out for them.

I went in and sat down with Andy, co-founder of the company. I noticed he had an old version of my resume, the one I had submitted to them five weeks ago.

“That’s an old version. A lot has happened in the last five weeks,” I pointed out.

“What, did you win the lottery?” Andy said. I laughed. I told him I got hired at a production company at Sony Pictures, worked at LA Shorts Fest, and got accepted into UCLA’s Master Class in Film Writing program. He was impressed.

“What’s your schedule like? Can you give me one day a week?” He asked.

“I can give you two,” I shot back. He became even more impressed, and hired me on the spot.

I’ll be reading and covering (reviewing) scripts for them. In due time I’ll have them look at my own scripts.

Today in the office at Sony my boss and I had a meeting with a director. A guy fresh out of college. Once the director arrived, my boss sent me to get food for everyone. The director requested turkey on wheat, lettuce and swiss cheese, no mayo or mustard. No problem.

I came back with the food. Mr. Director leafs through his sandwich and puts it down. Uh-oh, did the cafeteria guy fuck up? My boss asks Mr. Director if anything is wrong. There is. There's mustard in his sandwich. My boss gives me a look.

"I specifically told the guy to make a dry sandwich," I tell him.

Mr. Director takes a few bites and leaves the rest on the table. He talks about a couple of projects and the meeting concludes.

I'm thinking to myself, if this guy can't handle a little bit of mustard on his sandwich, how is he going to handle the hardships of directing a feature film?

If we all had to go back into the wild and fend for ourselves, or if there were ever a shortage of food, fussy eaters would die first, because it seems they’d rather go hungry than eat what's at hand.

I got a call from the production company at Sony Pictures. They want me to start Thursday. I’ll be going in three days a week. There’s no money involved but this opportunity is priceless -- Sony Pictures is full of heavy hitting industry people. People I plan on getting to know.

So I got my foot in the door. Now I need to figure out how to pay rent.

I squeezed in a couple of internship interviews in the middle of the festival. One was for a production company located at Sony Pictures Studios. I wore a dress shirt and tie for the occasion, and the first thing the president of the company asked me as I walked into the door was “This is how you dress up for an internship interview?” I wasn’t sure if he was implying that I was overdressed or underdressed. He went on to say that Hollywood is a casual industry. And he practiced what he preached -- he wore a Hawaiian shirt and had his feet up on the coffee table. The interview went well but I’m not holding my breath for a call back. However, I firmly believe that whoever doesn’t hire me is taking a huge loss.