ICLA Mentors

Thanks to all the ICLA alumns and spring, 2008 students who made our first ICLA Mentor evening a rousing success! Approximately 125 of you gathered last night at the Pendleton Center for the launch of a program that we hope will help connect each group of students attending the L.A. program with alumns of the program working in the L.A. entertainment industry and related fields.

What the evening showed me is the huge interest people who have gone through the program have in staying connected to us and the school. That was not only heartening but encouraging to know that each group of students we have can benefit from the experiences, expertise and contacts of each prior class. There is already an active network of IC grads who exchange information and contacts and it's our hope to broaden that group and make it a bit easier for everyone to communicate.

After getting reacquainted (and eating!) during the first hour, we separated our alumn mentors into four different rooms divided by individual fields: writing and development; producing, directing and physical production; journalism, advertising and new media; and recent grads with entry level jobs in any and all of those fields. Our current students were then given the opportunity to go into each room and talk to people working in their specific fields. It was so truly exciting to see that our grads are working directors, producers, writers, cinematographers and animators while others are executives, agents, journalists, editors, and account exex. And that's not to leave out students involved in gaming, online journalism and production and even some who are entrepeneurs with their own businesses. Or many others in jobs too numerous to mention here.

A special nod also to many of our recent grads just getting started. Many work on and off as production assistants, apprentice editors and production coordinators, and assistants. Their determination, work ethic and boldness to take the necessary steps to move out here to fulfill their dreams are to be especially admired. Getting started can be challenging but I can't count the number of alumns with solid jobs and careers who voluntarily came up to both myself and Steve Tropiano and credited their LA internship and the people they met out here with both educating them about their field and introducing them to the people who gave them their first opportunities. That's really encouraging.

Our task now is to broaden the scope a bit and see if we can get more of our alumns involved in creating educational and potential internship/work opportunties for our students, or perhaps just serving as a sounding board for a studens who might be trying to choice between several different paths in front of them. To that end, we are in the process of putting together a series of smaller informal panels with working alumns in specific fields; creating an email mentor list for our incoming students; and planning numerous other activities we will let you all know about in the future. If anyone has ANY suggestions at all, please post here or email me at: sginsber@ithaca.edu. (that's sginsber, not sginsberg - for some reason I the final "g" in my last name was omitted from my Ithaca email account. I've never been able to figure out why but now, for some reason, I kinda like it that way :).

Again -- thanks to everyone!! And a special thanks to our adminstrative assistant (and IC alumn!) Holly Pietromonaco and program/services coordinator Jon Bassinger-Flores for helping us all make this event so special.

I will post some pictures of the event soon.

Beware fake agents

A former IC screenwriting student of mine recently emailed for advice. He had just gotten an offer from a "v.p" at an agency called Writers Literary Screenplay Agency (WLscreenplay Agency) who said she was interested in his work. The one caveat -- he was required to PAY a fee to someone "reputable" to "analyze" his screenplay before they took him on. The v.p. (or someone) had read his script and had kind words to say but there was also a very long explanation from the agency offering to either recommend someone they knew or mentioning the student could find an analyst he paid on his own (I'm assuming that analyst would have to meet the agency's requirements.

Here's the point, and burn it into your memory: NO WRITER SHOULD EVER, EVER PAY AN AGENT. OR BE ASKED TO PAY SOMEONE ELSE IN ORDER TO GET AN AGENT. If this is the case, you're likely dealing with some sort of scam. As a writer, or any kind of artist - you are the talent. An agent is the person who represents YOU. You do not PAY them until they make a deal for you. Case closed.

It is very easy to be swayed when people are telling you they like your work. Especially when you're starting out. Especially when it feels like it can be difficult to get a good agent or manager. But don't give into temptation. Your career will eventually move forward if you a. keep doing the work b. keep getting better c. keep putting yourself and your work out into the world.

Don't be taken in by people who want to prey on you and your dreams. If it looks too good to be true, it often is. Use your instincts. Or...email me.

-SG

PS - The agency I mentioned is listed as a group of "scams" by the website: sfwa.org/beware/ Apparently, this agency used to be called the Literary Agency Group. One way to make sure an agent is reputable is to go on the Writer's Guild website (wga.org) and go to the list of wga approved agencies. There's a long list of good people. If in doubt you can call the guild. Or...email me. Again. Whatever you do, don't sell yourself or your talent short!

WGA strike addendum

For those interested, there's a comprehensive article about a possible strike settlement on the front page of Sunday's LA Times. That said, I and all other WGA members received an email today from WGA, west prez Patrick Verrone telling us not to believe anything we read yet about a settlement - that the language of the agreement has yet to be worked out and picketing should continue. Still, all in all it's a good sign.

A new 2008 - WGA strike

I'm trying to renew my blog this semester. So let's give it a try. I'll post more regularly and hopefully you guys will read.

Many people have asked me when the WGA strike will be settled. It's a question everyone seems to ask any of us that are members of the WGA. The real answer -- no one knows. The "inside" answer right now - or the conventional wisdom - it's looking "better." The most reliable reporting info I've gotten on the strike has been from Nikke Finke's column "Deadline Hollywood." Check it out at: deadlinehollywood.com. She does a weekly column for the L.A. Weekly (hence the "weekly" column) but also posts to her online site daily. She has an "attitude" about the moguls and the industry, is quite scathing and opinionated, and usually but not always objective. But allowing all of that - she's a terrific reporter with great sources. So check it out!

Otherwise, I go by word of mouth among friends and colleagues. They remain committed, optimistic and...nervous.