How-To H'wood: Climbing the Greasy Pole to Success
I kick off a week of advice. First, NEVER talk about work-life balance, who rises and why, and understanding that your boss, every single one, is scared
Welcome to another week of Hollywood Field Guides. Previously, I covered nine professions in the industry orbit. This week, I offer how-to advice on some of Hollywood’s essentials: How to live, work and thrive in this industry, where nothing is ever simple or straightforward.
We’ll look at some of the basic elements of life in Hollywood — the secret rules now one tells you about how to operate: Climbing, managing a fall, saving face, making friends and living your life in this world that’s often governed by fear and deception.
First up: How do I move up the ladder?
Below, the things nobody tells assistants (or really anyone along the way): What to do once you get in the door, how to make that first (or 50th) step count and why the advice below is universal to anyone working in this industry.
I. Stop Being an Assistant (or Acting Like One)
Congratulations! You made it in the door. You defied incredible odds and got a full-time job working in the entertainment industry. That’s the good news.
The temptation will be to feel that you’ve made it; you’re on the ladder and momentum will eventually carry you up. Now for the bad news: You passed through the hardest hurdle — getting your first job — but the next one is no cakewalk. Getting in the door will be the end of the line for many. The vast majority of you will go no higher than this first stop. (There are unfortunately no statistics to be found on this but every single piece of experience tell us this is so.) If this was true before, the industry shrinking means the number of openings at every rung gets smaller too.
You need to treat every day like an audition for the next rung, one where you’re going to have to defy the odds once again. In some of the agencies in particular, there are time limits on how long you can be an assistant — before you either prove yourself and get on a desk or are told to move on. In other places, particularly if you’re at a smaller company, there will be less time pressure but you’ll be fighting against an inertia that, if you’re doing a good job, may want you to stay in that job forever.
Either way, moving forward depends on seeing yourself in the next role — and never getting too comfortable with where you are. Few who become an assistant want to be an assistant for life; never let yourself forget that.
II. Embrace Change of Life vs. Quality of Life
A career is not a team sport. Many around town report that there are assistants narrowly focused on work-life balance and spending as few days at the office as possible. Those who take that route should know that they are laying the groundwork for a very comfortable life — as an assistant — and doing little to move beyond that level. When an opening comes up, it’s not going to go to the person who has maintained the best work-life balance but to the one who has made themselves known as someone ready to go above and beyond the call of duty.
To be clear, this is not to suggest that assistants should tolerate abusive or inappropriate behavior. Anything that crosses the line should be reported and the expectation should be that the company will address it without consequence to the injured party.
The good news: It’s gotten better in terms of the most flagrant types of abuse no longer being able to be shrugged off. The bad news is that even in the best of times, it’s a very tough, demanding place to work. And these are not the best of times.
A focus on quality-of-life issues may help you have a more comfortable existence as an assistant, but it’ll do little to help you move out of assistanting.
III. Do Everything
Lyndon Johnson, the most ferocious politician 20th Century America created, had a rule about campaigns, passed on from his father: “Do everything and you’ll win.” Let that be your motto for your campaign to pull yourself out of assistanthood.
Whatever got you here — connections, charm, wit, nice shoes, winning smile — you’re an assistant now and there’s no shortcut to the next step other than impressing people that you can handle this job and this life by doing it. The codicil of the iron rule that “nobody knows anything” means that everybody desperately has to do everything that can be done to seek a path up the ladder. The people who thrive and succeed are the ones who love it so much, who are so determined to be a part of this industry, that they don’t need to be told to throw themselves in head first. There is nothing else that they would rather be doing.
One agency veteran spelled out to me the hard truth of who rises up and why: