Career – I’ve always wanted a job in showbusiness. Where do I start?
Decide what area of showbusiness it is you want to work in. Music? Film? Theatre? Then pursue a job (any job) in that milieu. The rest is up to you. By the way showbusiness ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. I once worked in a German metalworks factory and started at 7am and had but two fifteen minute breaks which had to last me til I finished work at 4.30pm. The work was dangerous, noisy, underpaid, my boss hated me and I had to ask permission to visit the toilet which was time docked from my pay. By comparison that job was a breeze compared with virtually any other job I’ve had in showbiz – oh yeah, when you work at a Metalfabrik you also get the evenings off and have the weekends to yourself.
Here’s some other useful advice extracted from an article in Brian Lowry’s TUNING IN column from Daily Variety (5/3/06): “(To gain a toehold you’ll need) Confidence and determination – not to be confused with arrogance and a sense of entitlement…Despite what the ROCKY movies teach us, hard work and perseverance do not always triumph, and if the knockdowns keep coming, you must eventually realize when to throw in the towel…First jobs generally suck and seldom last very long…Finally it’s a system of limited resources, most of us on the inside frankly have little incentive to hurry your advancement up the ladder, lest you knock us off it.”
He then finishes with my favourite part: “Now go seize the day. Just keep your grubby little paws off my job.”