o you have Hollywood dreams? If so, you’ve probably been told that breaking into the industry is incredibly hard. That is true. It involves a combination of skill, luck, and persistence.
While superstardom has occurred overnight, you hear those stories not because they’re the usual case, but because they’re outliers. Many people spend decades trying to break into the entertainment industry.
It’s not who you know, or even where you developed your credentials, that will make or break your career. It’s your ability to identify and capture opportunities.
In this article, we take a look at how you can break into Hollywood without a degree.
Overview
What does success really look like in the entertainment industry? It’s important to first define our terms.
Success in the entertainment industry is often only viewed in its highest forms—the actor with $400 million in the bank and houses in six different countries. That is certainly a version of entertainment success, but also an extremely elusive one.
The vast majority of people in the film business live moderately successful, but ultimately very satisfying lives. They aren’t overwhelmingly rich, but nor are they poor.
This version of entertainment success is not necessarily as glamorous as the one you might have in your head, but it is often a much more attainable one.
In the next couple of headings, we’ll take a look at how you can achieve this version of the Hollywood dream.
Start at the Bottom
One of the best ways to get your foot in the door is to start at the bottom. The bottom can mean different things depending on what sort of career you're looking for.
If you're interested in the production side of things, for example, you might find good luck as a production assistant, basically an errand person. The work isn't glamorous, but it does put you right on set and may even involve rubbing elbows, however distantly, with the stars.
Production assistants often make only minimum wage, but they do get real Hollywood experience. The jobs are nearly always hiring, so it's reasonably easy to get your foot in the door. And if you're willing to work hard and make a strong impression, you may develop relationships that can be scaffolded into something else.
On the other hand, if you're more interested in the business side of things, getting an entry-level job at a production company or talent agency is another way to go. It might not feel like much to start with, but again, the same logic applies. You're establishing connections and building a resume.
Work Incredibly Hard
The next step, of course, is to seize hold of your opportunities and muscle them into more. Maybe it's not completely fair to say that hard work guarantees success, but it can strongly tilt things in your favor.
It doesn't matter how small the job is. You should see it as an opportunity to establish yourself as someone who can be trusted to do hard things. Basically, your goal should be to work so hard that it would be unreasonable for you not to succeed.
Success might not happen all at once, but hard work scaffolds.
Pursue Forward Momentum at All Costs
If you want to succeed in Hollywood, really succeed, you need to adopt a shark’s mentality. Move or die.
It sounds dramatic, but without the aggressive pursuit of growth, you’ll easily stagnate. We mentioned that no job is too small. That’s true, but if you fetch coffee for 10 hours a day, people aren’t going to immediately say, “That person should be a film producer.” They’re going to say, “I like it when that person gets me coffee. I’ll have them do it more.”
Seek internal promotions aggressively, state your intentions to your supervisor, and apply to any and all jobs that come up. Make it a daily task to look for job openings, apply for new positions, and allow momentum to build.
Ultimately, it’s a numbers game. People speak to the luck factor a lot, and there is some truth to it, but there’s also something called the rule of averages. If you’re doing good work, developing a strong resume, and applying for lots of higher-level jobs, something will eventually come up.
Network
Networking is a bit of a cliché, possibly never more so than in the case of Hollywood, but it’s also a genuinely valuable asset that should be taken advantage of whenever possible.
Hollywood is a big small town. Once you start getting your reps in, you will develop connections. Be kind to everyone and stay in touch. You never know when someone you used to PA with will break through and possibly want to take an old friend with them.
The bottom line is this: you can’t necessarily count on your relationships to drive your success, but you should, at the very least, think of them as an effort multiplier.
You have a finite ability to seek opportunities out on your own, even if you are searching job listings every single day. If you can develop a referral system alongside your own effort, things will move that much smoother.
It’s Not Easy, But It’s Also Not Impossible
At the end of the day, there will be lots and lots of competition for any entertainment industry job. It’s not easy to break through, but that’s not the same thing as saying it’s impossible.
Clichéd though this might be, it is true that wanting it more than the other person can help you along the way. Pursue your opportunities vigorously and work as hard as you physically can, then work a little more.
If you want elite opportunities, you need to put in elite effort.
