A Guide to Getting Started in Hollywood
If you're interested in making the move to Tinseltown, this is my all-encompassing guide.
This lil’ (it’s not little it’s quite large actually lol) guide is basically an amalgamation of all the Tiktoks I’ve ever made about what you can do before you move to LA, once you’re here from: survival jobs to getting your first internship, the best job boards, making friends, networking, enjoying LA and much more.
And as always this is just built from my own experiences, my friends, and advice from a few mentors who I think are much smarter than me.
Before you move to LA
If you’re reading this before you’ve moved to LA, I want to congratulate on having such a fun adventure ahead and being on top of your life because I definitely was not! Below are a few things you can do right now to start making your move that much more seamless.
Save up more money than you think!
This town will eat you up and spit you back out before you’ve even got your footing and with the lack of seasons, time truly does speed by. Being prepared and coming with a bit more money in your savings is my suggestion, always but I have a few friends that came out here with $100 in their pocket and are making it work, so to each their own! This is just my suggestion, especially if you’re like me and you’re an anxiety-ridden mess when it comes to money lol.
I would try to save up at least $6 - $10K. I know this SOUNDS insane but this is how I see it:
Your first month’s rent: - $1.25k (if you’re lucky or have found roommates to live with)
Your deposit: -$1.25K
Some places ask for last: -$1.25K
You’re already down -$3.75K. Which is $6.25K. You might struggle to find a job in the first 2-3 months. So there goes another… -$3.75K.
Now you’re at $2.5K and this doesn’t include any of your day-to-day spending, car payments and… life: urgent care visits, car issues, a nice dinner, a fricken latte, or a bigger Uber charge than you expected. It all adds up fast and I think being stressed about money is one of the biggest distractions to being focused on finding a job or having time to be creative!
Read ALL the scripts
This is the time to get ahead, you could easily chug through 2-3 scripts a week and the great thing is, they are all FREE. You just need to google a TV show or film name with ‘PDF script’ at the end of the google search.
My favorites are as follows… and not for any big accolades, I just think the stories are fun or done really well. There’s countless more. Of course a much bigger post is coming soon.
FILM
Good Will Hunting
Erin Brockovich
No Country For Old Men
Scream
The Devil Wears Prada
Ladybird
The Social Network
Moonlight
American Fiction
Get Out
Michael Clayton
Alien
Disturbia
TV:
True Detective
Grey’s Anatomy
Alias
The Americans
Insecure
Breaking Bad
Girls
Stranger Things
Abbott Elementary
Dead to Me
Maid
Broad City
I keep them all in a dropbox so I can easily go back and reference them.
Learn what the jobs you want… want from you.
Like ‘writing coverage’ and ‘rolling calls’. Get your resume ready now because by the time you’ve moved, you’re gonna be swamped with newness overload. Ensure your resume shows off some of the most sought after skills and matches very closely to the skill set the job/internship is asking of applicants.
I have a resume do's and do nots post right here.
Find your community of writers, filmmakers, actors, artists
This has been the biggest game changer for me. Whether you live here already or are moving, there is nothing that can compare to having a group of friends who are going after the same crazy goal you are. Especially if you can practice your art together and hold each other accountable. I thank the heavens for my writing group on the daily.
How do you find these folks?
Check out screenwriting reddit, twitter, there are some fun discords.
Of course, I always suggest my slack channel where every quarter I put writer groups together for newcomers who are looking for fellow filmmaker friends and accountability ← This is a paid subscriber offer.