Hello everyone! This may or may not be the right place to post this, however I’m just looking for tips or advice at the moment. I want to take a leap in getting more experience as a screenwriter and I want to start as an assistant. I have a Master’s in Creative Writing with a focus on Dramatic Writing, and I’ve been writing for over ten years. Thanks in advance!
Screenwriting : Assistant Opportunities? by Olivia Drake
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Olivia Drake Hi Olivia, you could check out the jobs part of the site and see if there are jobs there. What would help people in this community to know more about you, would be to complete your bio. It always helps to personalise your profile.
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Geoff Hall gave some great advice, Olivia Drake. You could also ask around the Lounges (https://www.stage32.com/lounge).
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Here's an article I found, Olivia Drake: https://nofilmschool.com/Ultimate-Hollywood-Assistant-Survival-Guide
4 people like this
Move to a major city with a huge tv/film community, hustle a job as a script coordinator/tv assistant (pays crappy and long hours), and master Final draft software (know revision modes, color collate, print side pages, etc).
This lifestyle/occupation is best for single ppl with low personal debt.
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Hi Olivia Drake, I worked in the industry for years as an assistant and understand it can be a little tricky to find your way in. I would definitely recommend moving to either LA or NYC, but there are entertainment assistant jobs all over the country. You can find job postings here on Stage 32, or on sites like entertaincmentcareers.net, or LA/NYC jobs on the "UTA Jobs List" (if you know where to find it). One thing that worked really well for me when I was struggling to get interviews was to sign up with a temp agency in LA that specializes in the entertainment industry. If you're not looking to move and still want to learn screenwriting, I would focus more on the craft and development (both of which you can find here in Education and Script Services). Hope this helps, happy to talk about it more if you have questions :)
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Emily J good advice, Emily!
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Spot on, Emily!
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Hi Olivia you can also try staffmeup.com
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As long as you're not a diehard introvert, who doesn't feel terrified by the possibility of living in a place with strangers, it may be much easier to move out to one of those entertainment cities to get a step up in the industry.
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Olivia, I second Emily's recommendation to sign up with a temp agency in LA. It's a great way to get your foot in the door. There is also a terrific job posting site called Hollylist https://www.hollylist.com/ which posts many asst. jobs. And if I can help point you in the direction of any of our educational programs to move your career forward just send me a message :)
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Hi Olivia, there's some really great feedback so far in these comments. Have you tried your hand at screenwriting yet? Do you have scripts you've written/work samples?
We have some webinars focused specifically on starting in screenwriting that may be helpful for you: https://www.stage32.com/webinars/Introduction-to-a-Career-in-Screenwriting
https://www.stage32.com/webinars/Packaging-your-Script
Olivia, do you want to be a Hollywood screenwriter or just a great screenwriter? if you're hoping for studio pics only, then move to L.A. if you want to see your work made, become your own producer. FInd a location that you can use, write a script around it, (no one knows what you wanted to make, anyway,) cast it, direct, etc.
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Have you entered into any screenplay competitions?