Monday, May 17, 2010

What is Hollywood?

So what exactly is Hollywood anyway?

Is it a city?
Is it a sign up on a hill?

Is it a street?
Is it "the movies"?
Is it a guy dressed up like Michael Jackson in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater?

or...

Is it the stars on the walk of fame?
Is it a bubble?
Is it a dream?
Is it a broken dream?
Is it romance? A thriller? A comedy?
A horror?

Is it Jerrry, begging for a coffee outside of Starbucks, telling you how he once was a brilliant songwriter, how Capital Records stole his songs but one of them got on the radio anyway, but he never got credit, but John Lennon thought he was brilliant, but then he fell on hard times - very hard times - and now a coffee would be good - very good... and a shower if possible...

Is it young Gavin, who met the lead guy from Lost in Hawaii who told him - go to Hollywood. If you got real talent, you'll be discovered. And now here he is, with 50 bucks and a dream and a buddy's couch for another few days...

Hollywood, surely is a place where actors, dancers, models, writers and musicians go to "make it".
Is it a place where those who have "made it" try to make it better or bigger or faster. It is where those who are no longer working, or who have faded from the limelight, sit out the rest of their days remembering how wonderful it all was - or how unfair.

Hollywood is surely creative. It's a game, a gamble.
It's a place where the ego will run rampant. Or spirit will wake you up.
If you are lazy in Hollywood, you are dead. If you are crazy in Hollywood, you are tolerated.

Hollywood is meetings and appointments and auditions and lunches and managers and agents and happy hour and coke and clubs, Black and White, Hispanic and Jewish.

Everyone is welcome. Just be prepared to be propelled like a rocket into the stars - or to fall hard. Standing still is not an option.

4 months
Yup, 2 thirds of way through now. Have either of us come even close to "making it'? Of course not, but damn, the weather is good and the frozen yogurt is amazing! Not sure how long I can pull this off but I am going to try and stretch it out long as I can. Apparently my attorney is getting me a visa to be a legal working actor in the USA. If that actually transpires, I will have to find an agent. And after that a manger. Because I am a screenwriter and a sometimes filmmaker, I will also need an agent for that. Some say it is hard to get an agent/manager in LA. I say, it's hard to lose that last inch of fat on your belly. It's easy to get an agent but a good agent? That's another story. There are more shysters in Hollywood than taco huts in east LA.

So I have been spending a lot of time doing research - getting the lay of the land - how this place works, who controls it, how to "get in".  I have been attending industry seminars and talks. I scower the screenwriting websites every day, read the Hollywood Reporter news and Variety. I go to the Writer's store and buy books - like the essential "Swimming With The Sharks".  Knowledge is power folks.  Be prepared. Worst thing you can do is rush in too soon and find yourself in shark infested waters without a paddle.

A lot of people do what we set out to do - make it in 6 months or go home. I think it's something like five to ten thousand a year. The more I am here, the more I am told and learn - Hollywood is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Get ready for the long haul. For screenwriters, filmmakers and actors, it often takes five years to get established and to really understand and be able to navigate the lay of this confusing and expansive land. You have to be prepared for inevitable rejection - the staple of being a creative person in Hollywood. Most of all, you have to persist and you have to be good and smart.

Now yes, sometimes I do get anxious - are we doing enough? Meeting enough people? The right people? Connecting? Networking? Should we be loitering outside the Scientology Center or on the corner of Sunset and Vine? When I start having these ludicrous thoughts, I know it's time to hit the Red Rock.

Yes Happy Hour at the Red Rock  - corner of Sunset and Holloway. Damn good lime margaritas, friendly staff and always jovial patrons happy to chat about the madness of Hollywood.  Dreams come and go, but the Red Rock is always there, right in the heart of it -  after a long day of trying to make it.


But enough of reality already - I would rather dwell on the fantasy a while longer - at least until the end of our initial stint. Newbies earn this privilege by the enormous risk they take leaving the familiar behind. Looking out over Beverly Hills from our fantastic balcony, watching the sun set through the palm trees swaying in the balmy breeze, lounging by the pool with Sir Ben, one can dream of big things. 

Did I say Sir Ben?

Yes I did. The mystery is solved. Sir Ben really is our neighbour!  J ran into him in the elevator and they ended up chatting about his jetlag - as he had just flown in from London. Then, in the laundry room next to the parking garage, he helped her pick up some laundry quarters she dropped (probably from the shock) and then after going to his car, he came back and asked her if she could help him figure out his car insurance sticker -which he was afraid might be expired. Next day he was hanging at the pool and J talked to him again - lovely weather, better put on some "screener", etc. She called me to come. I rushed over from Starbucks. He was reading and looked peaceful so I hesitated with having her introduce me - but then he got a call and left. Oh well, no panic. Neighbours run into each other.

That is all from La la land for now.

Out. EhinLA