Mind Your Business. Michele Wallerstein

Chapter 2 Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Engines

       Chapter 3 Kickin’ It Up a Notch

       Chapter 4 No One to Blame but Yourself

       Chapter 5 What's Hot and What's Not

       Chapter 6 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

       Chapter 7 To Rewrite or Not To Rewrite

       Chapter 8 Beware of the Pitfalls

       Chapter 9 Special Tips for Television Movie Writers and Television Series Writers

       Chapter 10 Winning the Networking Game

       Chapter 11 Socializing

       Chapter 12 Get Your Query Letter Read, or Bust

       Chapter 13 The Ins and Outs of Packaging

       PART II: GETTING IN

       Chapter 14 Is That an Agent Behind You?

       Chapter 15 What Does an Agent Do All Day?

       Chapter 16 The Whole Ball of Wax: Agents, Personal Managers, Business Managers, and Lawyers

       Chapter 17 How to Get, Keep, and When to Fire an Agent

       Chapter 18 The Ten Rules to a Great Agent-Client Relationship

       PART III: GETTING THE BUSINESS

       Chapter 19 Dealing with Hollywood

       Chapter 20 $The Money$

       Chapter 21 How Was My Meeting?

       Chapter 22 The Price of Being a Writer: Are You Worth It?

       Chapter 23 Don't Give It Away

       Chapter 24 Working with Script Consultants

       PART IV: GETTING GOING

       Chapter 25 Welcome to the Beginning of Your Career

       PART V: GENERAL INFORMATION

       FAQs

       Resources

       Suggested Reading

       Hollywood Terminology

       Index

       About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      First and foremost I want thank Natalie Moses, who has been my friend, supporter, and secret-keeper, and who has given me unconditional love since we were in the Brownies. Without her I would never have made it through the trials and tribulations of my life.

      A special appreciation is due to the people in the screenplay-consulting field who have welcomed me with open arms and shared their knowledge, insights, information, and friendship. To Donie Nelson, Rona Edwards, Maddie DiMaggio, Michael Hauge, Paul Chitlik, Monika Skerbelis, Linda Seger, and Kathie Fong-Yoneda, thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

      To the great Mollie Gregory, a terrific writer and former president of Women in Film, who taught me how to lead, how to write, and how to be patient, and who has always been so generous and kind.

      A special thank you to the Writers Guild of America and Chuck Slocum for their cooperation in helping with this book.

      Thank you to Dr. David Clark, whose wisdom and support brought me back into the light.

      And, lastly, to all my former writing clients from my many years as a literary agent, I love you all and forgive the ones who need forgiving.

FOREWORD

      When you are standing outside of the door and looking in, Hollywood appears to be a huge, forbidding arena surrounded by enormous KEEP OUT signs that seem to be aimed at you. The odd thing is that this is far from true. Everyone is allowed in if you follow the rules, meet the criteria, and stay the course.

      The hard part is that no one tells you the rules or the criteria or what the heck the course really is. Perhaps I can help. Everyone seems to think that the world of movies and television is pretty freewheeling and filled with creative types who listen to the beat of their own drummers. Not exactly true. This is a business that runs like any other business. Yes, of course it runs on the fuel of creative energy and talent, but it wouldn't run at all if it weren't for the business minds that keep everything in order.

      The scary part is that the “rules” are secret. Usually you have to learn them as you go. Unfortunately if you don't learn them quickly enough, you are out before you really get in. This book is designed to give you inside knowledge of how to get into the Hollywood world, and, equally as important, how to stay in.

      When I began my career as a literary agent in Hollywood I saw that there wasn't a handbook to teach me the ropes. I learned as I went along. I learned from whomever was willing to teach me and just took it on faith that they were right. There is no college course on navigating this industry. I wrote this book to make your climb easier. It will help you make decisions, choices, take the right actions, and understand what's happening while you are in the middle of the whirlwind – all of which will make show business much more fun.

I GETTING STARTED

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! 1

      I love writers. That's a fact. I always have. I've admired their tenacity, devotion to their craft, their willingness to go that extra mile for little or no reward, their single-mindedness and their wonderfully imaginative minds. I've even loved their sweetness and insecurities as well as – sometimes – their narcissism and their outrageous demands.

      As an agent I spent over twenty-five years protecting them, listening to them, reading their work, and strategizing their careers. I negotiated their deals, fought with studio lawyers about their contracts, handled their money, and cared about their lives. Agents do so much more then simply submit scripts to producers.

      When I left the agency business and began a new career as a writer's consultant, it hit me like a ton of bricks that new writers as well as pros knew little or nothing of how to maneuver the business of their writing careers. For many years I have been asked questions by professional writers, novices, college students, and even family and friends about the business of writing for the screen. As a writer, you need to understand the behind-the-scenes goings on of your career. You need to understand what is being said as well as what is not being said and what is simply implied in a meeting or on a phone call. You need to know who to talk to and what to say and when to stop talking. You need to know how to read the contract of your script or option deal and how the different points in it will affect you now and even years from now.

      Throughout my years in the business I've learned all the “ins and outs” of a writer's