thetalentslate

Pilot season is typically a time for the seasoned and aspiring talent alike to hope for new beginnings, a time to realize one's potential, or simply a time to pay the bills. Thanks in no small part to the writer's strike (which I personally expect to extend into the summer), the coming pilot season, or absence thereof, may dash these hopes for many. Hollywood, however, has never been a place for the thin-skinned. You can shake a stick at the number of people in entertainment with nominal talent but who have, nonetheless, enjoyed terrific success, due in no small part to consistent professional behavior and the toughness to resist moving back in with mom and dad when things get tough. The current strike is no exception and you can expect it to get worse before it gets any better.

So, what to do? You can wait by the phone hoping someone will call and beg you for your services, or you can pick up the phone and create some opportunities for yourself. Over the years, I have been represented by a number of agents and agencies, six to be exact, from the large usual suspects to the small mom-and-pop shop. In nearly thirteen years as a music supervisor these agents have collectively set up only a handful of meetings and acquired one new project for me - six agents, thirteen years, one picture. Fortunately, the vast majority of my work comes from repeat business and ‘word-of-mouth’. This past summer, however, I realized that if I continued to rely on someone else to find me work to survive the strike, I might as well throw in the towel. So, in August, I began making some calls.

Make no mistake, cold calls can be tedious and time consuming. Moreover, the ratio for the amount of new work you might expect to obtain versus the number of people and projects you will have to solicit, is daunting. Since August, I have been tracking and soliciting more than 130 motion pictures. I start by targeting who I think may be the best contact, mail them my credits with a very brief cover letter, then follow up with courteous phone calls over the following weeks basically until someone tells me (i) they've hired someone, (ii) they're not going to hire anyone, or (iii) "Why don't you read the script and come in for a meeting." Careful to properly navigate the fine line between being persistent and a nuisance, I'll continue to pursue a picture, moving on to another person working on the picture if necessary, until I get one of these answers. I try to spend some time every day doing this.

My success rate, on paper any way, is a very modest 1.5%. To put this in proper perspective, however, that is two new pictures for two new clients in just four months. In a business where easily 98% of our work arises subsequent to repeat business or word-of-mouth, adding a new client and the potential for subsequent work is something to get excited about.

I’m not sure if I believe there is an art to making cold calls but there are definitely some skills that can be useful. A few things you might consider:

Timing is everything. No one wants an unsolicited call first thing Monday morning or last thing Friday afternoon. While you can't expect to read someone's mind, apply some common sense to the time of day, and which days of the week, when your call may most likely be accepted.

Keep a moderately detailed list handy of which projects you have solicited, who you have solicited and when, and brief notes about your progress, if any. Once you start tracking a number of projects you will need quick access to this list when your calls are returned. You don't want to be tongue-tied when someone calls back and you can't remember which picture you were calling about.

Be prepared for the person you are trying to reach to actually answer the phone. Your short but sweet pitch will get honed over time, but you would be better served to not learn at the expense of someone else's time and bad first impressions. Practice. Be polite. Get to the point. Say 'thank you'. I recently made a cold call to Jerry Bruckheimer Productions about a picture they are producing. Jerry answered the phone. It happens. Fortunately, I was ready for him. Unfortunately, they had already hired someone. He was a gentleman, incidentally, and very polite.

Do not feign familiarity. By this I mean do not pretend to know or be acquainted with the person you are trying to contact, or someone else working on the project, unless it is absolutely true. If there is some acquaintance, don't exaggerate it. You will be resented if you do. Likewise, be careful with private or personal telephone numbers you might glean from an ill advised production assistant, as well as email addresses. Use these to reach the right person only if you are absolutely assured the call or email will not be considered invasive. It won’t serve you otherwise.

Set your sites on working in stages. Get someone to look at your credits and/or resume first. Next, get a meeting. Finally, get the job. A cold call will not get you the job but it will get you on your way. You will be too miserable with the rejection to continue if you expect to seal the deal on one phone call.

Choose your targets wisely. Occasionally, reaching out to the biggest cheese at a company, the biggest producer, etc., may be a good idea. More often, however, it's the person in the trenches who can be most helpful. The guy at the door may not own the club but he controls the guest list. Be kind to assistants. Take note of their names. Be respectful; if not for their ability to put your credits at the top of their boss' pile, then for the potential of assistants to one day be in a position to hire you themselves. They may not remember you if you are kind, but they will definitely remember you if you’re an asshole.

It's a global marketplace. In the face of a strike, be flexible to the possibility of working out of California, or your hometown, and going out of state if not out of country.

Make cold calls a part of your regular schedule. It is easy to forget about looking for your next project when you are busy and making money. Waiting until you are unemployed and broke to look for new work, however, is a recipe for trouble. Set aside time every week, if not every day.

You would be surprised to know how many people continue to make cold calls even after achieving success and notoriety. I suspect that most successful people will tell you that their achievements haven’t come with hope alone, however key it may be. To be certain, without hope, nothing begins or ends. Ideas, dreams, and needs go unrequited. Without hope there is no remedy for its absence. And when taking the last breath or leaving it are the same, hope is the tiebreaker. But hope, to be fulfilled, requires you to do something about it.

During the strike, you'll have to do a little bit more.

Happy hunting.