Less Than 24 Hours Later, A Massive Door Opened For Me

Good morning, fellow artists! Welcome to another exciting edition of my weekly Hollywood blog. In last week’s blog entry, Conducting Important Meetings While On The Toilet!, I wrote that if something is important to you, you’ll take a meeting anywhere and make it go right in order to move your goals forward. Less than 24 hours after publishing that blog entry, a massive door opened for me.

On Sunday, December 8th, my pillar job hosted a holiday dance event, and I decided to bring my residents. Wanting to celebrate the productive week they had, I thought this event would be a perfect conclusion. The show was both wonderful and entertaining. We enjoyed watching the young dancers, and I loved seeing their parents beam with pride. Afterward, a parent thanked us, and I was struck by how familiar they looked. I wondered whether they might be an actor, writer, or reality TV contestant. I checked with my co-worker, but they didn’t recognize the parent either. My curiosity grew, but just as I was about to give up, I finally remembered. Keep reading below 🙂

I realized that this person was one of the top literary agents in the industry. I knew this because I attended a few of this person’s online forums and panels during the COVID years (when everything was held and conducted online). This person immediately became my hero because they reminded me so much of Richard Lawson’s approach to having a career. Richard is one of my mentors, a master teacher and actor, who teaches us to focus on the 360 degrees of our careers and to run them like CEOs. This agent’s approach was very similar to Richard’s. Hooray! I finally figured out who this person was! Keep reading below 🙂

I approached this person and introduced myself. I explained how I knew them and what their lessons meant to me. They asked me if I was a screenwriter, and I confidently answered yes. They gave me their email address and encouraged me to stay in touch. I emailed them the next day, and they responded that same day with a note of appreciation and an invitation to keep them in the loop on my writing journey, as well as any assistance or advice they can provide. Keep reading below 🙂

This is a huge win for me. I introduced myself and created an informal, respectful meeting right after a dance event. This moment did not go unnoticed by me, as I just posted a blog entry about meetings happening in unexpected places. Some takeaways I’d like to share from that fateful day. 1) You never know who is in the room with you. I could have easily checked out during the dance concert and scrolled on my phone. However, I would never do that. These are artists, people, in front of me, and I will give them the time and respect they deserve. I was interested and engaged the entire time. I presented myself professionally and with a good attitude in front of all these dancers and their proud parents (By the way, this agent stood behind me the whole time, and it’s possible that my engagement and support during the dance event made them more receptive to talking with me after it was over.) 2) Answer questions with confidence. When they asked if I was a screenwriter, I didn’t flinch or hesitate. I said, “Yes, I am.” 3) All of the writing I’ve been doing this year could have led me to this agent. Outflow equals inflow. For example, I started writing my rugby feature film script, and I now have a third draft that I’m workshopping in my career admin group meetings. My writing partner (Kelly Tighe) and I are working on the second draft of “The Third Act” feature film script. Recently, I revisited an older feature script and strengthened all the action lines (plus some dialogue). I was also assigned to present my writing admin plan in class on November 10th, and Kelly gave me an assignment to create an admin plan for the next chapter of my rugby script (which I quickly started). Finally, I’ve been blogging all year long! 4) Listen to your instincts. Something told me to bring my residents to that event. I’m so glad I listened to my gut. Keep reading below 🙂

I am excited to see how things progress between this agent and I. And of course, to maintain and respect this person’s privacy, I will not reveal who they are 🙂 See you next week!