The Rules of the Game as learned from those who play

If you talked to a casting director, a screenwriter, an agent, a post-production producer, a freelance stage manager, and a line producer, what advice would all give you?

1. Get the ball down the field. The goal is to get to the goal, so make sure what you do helps it get there. Simple enough.

2. Be someone people want to hang out with for the next 5 years. If you get the job, the gig, the project, then you very well may, and the person hiring you knows that. Still pretty simple, huh.

3. The club owner may run the club, but the doorman is the one who is at the door. Take care of the assistants, the waiters, the bartenders, the PAs. This kind of ties in to number 2 - be nice to these people, genuinely nice, because they hold the key to the door you want to open, they know you're name at the restaurant when you need to get a seat and close a deal. Not hard yet - still basic, simple stuff.

4. Listen to people. Listen to what they're saying, not what you're wanting to hear. This may be a little more difficult than 1-3, a little more esoteric, but still basic, little league, simple stuff.

5. Master your pitch. You're always pitching something, including your self, so make sure you're pitchin' something with heat. This takes practice. In front of the mirror. At home. To friends.

And that's it. Simple, simple, simple.

Thanks to Phil Nemy for getting those people in the door. Their advice and enthusiasm were priceless.