If you're still wondering how to break into Hollywood, I have good news. Given advances in production technology, you do not have to break into Hollywood to make money making movies. But if you are like most filmmakers, you probably wouldn't mind a little Hollywood recognition.
I mean, the upside of building a Hollywood career means that you no longer have to seek private investors to get movie money. And once you're in the in crowd, you will meet movie stars and Hollywood power players. But here is the thing. You have to do the work. And In order to break into Hollywood, you can't start from scratch.
How To Break Into Hollywood (Without Moving Here)
Make no mistake. Hollywood is a town focused on selling and producing a product. That product is your movie, television series or viral web show that can later be spun into other forms of media.
If you are looking to break into Hollywood, the first thing you need to do is create something that will get you noticed. And the good news is, thanks to YouTube, you can start creating content and uploading it tonight. Seriously. YouTube creates a path to get your work noticed and you DO NOT need to move to Hollywood!
My recommendation is to create some short Saturday Night Live type of skits… Think about something interesting and funny. Make sure the run time is anywhere from thirty-seconds to two-minutes. Anything longer and you run the risk of losing eyeballs. Make sure your skit has a call to action at the end, preferably a title card that advertises your website.
Get Into The Habit of Making Stuff
The reason for this is simple. In the event your video goes viral, you can rest assured that many people will re-post your video on their sites. You will want to make sure your fans have a way of getting back to your movie website. Finally, your goal is to get into the habit of continually producing content.
A lot of filmmakers waste years doing nothing because they want everything they do to be perfect. Instead of actually producing content, these filmmakers fill their garages with all sorts of fancy filmmaking equipment with the thought that someday they will make a movie. This is a fool's game.
If you want to make movies, you start today. You stop reading this article. (Actually, before you stop reading, you might want to grab some of my filmmaking stuff.) But after you grab your stuff, you then take action! You come up with a short film idea that you can produce next weekend. Then you upload it, tweet it and start planning your next project.
Work Fast And Refine Later
The goal is to work fast and stop worrying about your outcome. It doesn't matter if your first few movies suck. By making short YouTube skits fast, you won't have time to think about how to break into Hollywood. Ironically, if you do this and end up with 52 short skits per year. In this regard, even if you don't break into Hollywood, you will hone your craft.
Look, if think you will break into Hollywood because you think you have the greatest movie idea on earth that has never been done before… Think again. You're old hat. What Hollywood wants is a sure thing. And while there is no such thing as a sure thing – if you're a filmmaker with a gazillion views on YouTube, you are much better off than the would be filmmaker who just bought another camera because they want to “future proof” their filmmaking.
Grab a camera. Take action and make your movie now! And if you enjoyed this article, check out these professional filmmaking tools. They will help you take action, find your audience and make a movie.
