How to handle a meeting
I’m a twenty-five year old aspiring TV writer living in LA. After a friend of mine sent my spec pilot to a few people, one (who works at a cable channel) said she’d like to set a general meeting with me to discuss my writing and the upcoming pilot season.
This will be the first time someone is acknowledging me as a writer rather than as an assistant (my boss is kind enough to let me take off work for the meeting). Do you have any advice for how one should conduct oneself in such a meeting? They’ve already passed on picking up the pilot, and staffing season hasn’t started yet, so it appears that this is just a “get to know you” meeting. Should I prepare pitches for alternate projects? Do I dress casual or professional? What should I do as far as follow-up goes?
– James
I have much more extensive answers to your questions in two previous posts, How to Meet and What to do in a general meeting. But for newcomers, I can offer a bit of a summary.
Your goal in a general meeting is to figure out what they might be able to hire you to write — if not now, then at some point in the future. They want to put a face with the name with the words they’ve read.
At a certain point, they’ll talk about the kinds of projects they have in development, and the things they’re looking for. If anything sparks, pursue it. Talk about it in the room, then follow up the next day, and the next week. You’ll be chasing a lot of half-baked projects, most of which will never come to be. But one or two might. And that’s what you need.
Your advantage at this point is that you’re cheap and available. A producer could likely hire you with discretionary funds to rewrite a mediocre project she has sitting on the shelf. A show might bring you on at the lowest level of staff writer. And if that opportunity comes up, take it. Do an amazing job, then let that momentum carry you into your next assignment. And your next.
You don’t have to put on a suit. In fact, it’s better to be the worst-dressed person in the room.
My overall advice is to not freak out over any given meeting. Pretend it’s just having coffee with somebody who went to your same school. Unless you’re pitching a specific project, don’t approach it with any particular expectation — simply enthusiasm — and it’s likely to go fine.
Articles
November 5th, 2009 at 11:02 am
If I could go back and give my 20 year-old self some advice on how to handle meetings, it would be not to fixate on specific projects. Long term, they are not so much interested in any one golden egg as they are in you, the goose – well, a goose – that lays ‘em to order. So go in loosened up for improv rather than expecting to follow a script. The meeting is a success if they are interested enough to want another meeting.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I have a pair of Floral dr martens that I practically live in. I wear them to all my meetings – without fail someone always comments, it breaks the ice and sets a friendly sunny tone for the meeting. Also, because i’m so comfortable in them, I always feel comfortable in them, and I guess I just feel like me – which is like Dave says, what they’re interested in.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
John…
Was hoping for some further insight on the “worst-dressed person” tip for personal reference if you don’t mind… :)
I’ve often wondered if it is an accepted practice for writers to don the Eric Murphy/Entourage jeans/t-shirt/kicks ensemble when going into Hollywood meetings with designer suits sitting across the table… Or perhaps is this considered a faux pas that’s just played up for the sake of our entertainment?
Obviously we don’t all roll up in Aston Martins (lol) and the vapidness is a given, but I’ve always wondered if the wardrobe depictions of the agency/studio scenarios on Entourage are at least somewhat representative of how things actually go down in real life situations?
November 13th, 2009 at 1:12 am
I have been going on a lot of these meetings lately and I find they go best when I have absolutely no expectations other than to meet some nice people.
If I can communicate to them that I’m not (too) nuts, and probably won’t blow up their hit show with my anti-social antics, all the better.
It’s frustrating though, because here you are at ABC or HBO or whereever and instead of saying what you want to say (“For the love of god, I’m starving…give me a job already”) you’re talking about where you bought your pants. I get itchy and impatient just thinking about it.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Go dressed as you would dress working there, simple. Don
t do wrong color matches, or mistakes with stripes and squares. Read up on that. And find your color, usually its a few colors you just cant do. Never fall in love with those. Or go to almost any James Bond movie for perfect references. Im very interested in how the intern system works for screenwriters. please share. Its important what to wear! But in this society its more important knowing what not to wear. If you don`t have a smashing product not tied up to your personality in spesific. Style is just knowing what store to use, and when to move on to the next one. Is Hollywood all about your personality?