Corporate Development Analyst, Media Company, Santa Monica, CA
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Director of Financial Strategy, Premier TV Channel, Orlando, FL
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Business Assoc., World’s Largest News Organization, New York, NY

We’ve all been exposed to careers in the entertainment industry in one way or another – whether directly, through watching Entourage, or simply having Kevin Bacon six arms’ lengths away.

For many young grads at top schools, a wide variety of entertainment careers all begin in the same place: as an assistant at a talent agency. Many of you have written in asking about what this path looks like, so we spoke with Brett Erlich – a host/writer/producer at Current TV, former agent’s assistant, and member extraordinaire.

 

Entertaining Entertainment with Brett Erlich, Host of the Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

 

Why did you decide to get your first job at a talent agency?

I knew I wanted a job in the entertainment industry, but I wasn’t sure what. People I talked to told me two things. 1) Read The Mailroom, a series of accounts of various industry execs, agents, big shots, etc who all started their careers in the mailroom, and 2) go work in the mailroom.

While at Stanford, I was a part of a student organization that taught Shakespeare to kids in East Palo Alto. I became friends with a girl in the group who suggested I interview there and had a connection at the agency. Knowing someone on the inside of an agency or coming from a good school make getting that kind of job a lot easier out of college.

 

How was your experience as an agent’s assistant? What was most valuable about it?

 

Agencies work with every part of the industry – from producers at the highest level of the studio system all the way down to actors with bit parts in commercials. When you start in the mailroom, you get to work with every part of the agency, so you see it all and learn what makes the industry work.

In terms of what you learn? You learn to get there early and read the trades before the agents arrive. You learn to hustle, to meet and help out as many people as you can. Also, you learn get yelled at. You probably learn that more than anything. No matter what school you went to, someone’s gonna shout at you for letting their coffee drop below 127 degrees.

That environment also makes it pretty easy to identify what you like and don’t like about the industry. If you like working with movie writers, you work at an MP Lit desk. If you want to be an agent, you hunker down and pursue that tract. If you want to produce, your boss will help you get a job at a production company on a lot. Or you get fired and move back to Oklahoma. Either way, you’re evolving.

 

What came next for you?

After UTA I got a job as a writer’s assistant on the Jack Black produced Channel 101 television show. Channel 101 was originally just a group of people who got together every month and played episodic shorts on the big screen in a bar. It gave rise to Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island and was created by the same people who wrote Heat Vision and Jack and now make the Sarah Silverman Programme. Working alongside these seasoned, accomplished, brilliant writers, I knew that’s what I wanted to be.

After that, I went to Current TV. I found out about a writing opportunity through friends from my Stanford Improv group, wrote a submission packet, interviewed, and got hired. Two and a half years later, I’m on two shows — I do Viral Video Film School on infoMania, and I host The Rotten Tomatoes Show — and every week I run into people I met at the agency. Back then they were assistants. Now they’re agents, producers and executives.

 

What advice do you have for smart grads looking to get into entertainment?

 

There are 2 things you should do:

First, as early as possible, identify what you what to do and start doing it. A lot of people show up and say “I don’t know if I want to be a writer, producer, whatever,” but until you start doing those things your really nothing. So if you’re a writer, write now, write tomorrow, write every day. If you’re a director, direct that short. If you’re a producer, find creative minds and produce something.

These projects probably won’t pay, so my second piece of advice is to go get a job in the industry. You might be answering phones and setting up stupid, stupid meetings, but from day one you’ll be meeting people you can help, and who can help you in the future. And as far away as that seems, 1 year turns into 3, you turn into a writer, your friend turns into an agent, and you’re all helping each other get where you wanted to go back when you first met in the mailroom.

 

Where are there opportunities right now? What types of people/skills are valued?

 

Everyone’s taking a pounding in entertainment right now. Fewer movies are getting made. Reality TV is supplanting scripted due to the gap in pricing between the tow. NBC eliminated its 10 o’clock slot and stuck Jay Leno there to save money. In this climate people and organizations who are best at adapting, and creating high-quality low-cost content have the best shot.

In the long run, young, resourceful, entrepreneurial, forward thinkers are going to be able to establish themselves. The system will rely less on big, old studios and more on small independent new producers. In the meantime, television is looking for what’s cheap, and guess what? If you’re a small content creator wanting to be a big star in the real studio system, that’s you. Just look at Human Giant and The Whitest Kids U Know – they started off very small-time, and they’ve gotten movie and network TV deals. If you can make money without spending a lot of it, you’re in demand.

 

What about those with advanced degrees (e.g. MBA’s, JDs) or coming from business backgrounds?

 

People who come out of law and business school often get hired right into studios for roles in business development, corporate development, etc. A big part of Hollywood is finding different ways to impress people, and degrees from top schools definitely will.

I’ve seen a lot of people come to entertainment with experience in other industries and move very quickly by virtue of their experience. My boss at UTA was previously an accomplished lawyer, got to UTA and in no time had established the interactive arm of the agency. After that he went on to start a new media company – all in the span of 3 or 4 years.

View Bretts’s profile. Watch him on Current TV. They’re hiring – check it out

While careers in Hollywood – as in any industry – have their own quirks to understand, a lot of Brett’s advice holds true elsewhere (read: the importance of networking, more networking, and then networking more). So no matter where you’re headed, keep it in mind, and leverage the Doostang community to help you.

What industries do you want to know about? Let us know.

Team Doostang

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