One thing I have learned during my college career is that if you want something badly enough, and if you’re persistent, it can happen. That being said, one thing that’s very important to remember is to treat everyone who crosses your path with respect, whether it’s the person serving you your daily cappuccino at Coffee Bean (lord knows that person just helped you get through your day) or the president of the company where you work. To meet your goals you must be open and receptive to all people. As a writer, I never know if the lady sitting next to me on the Big Blue Bus might have a story worth telling, unless I talk to her. When I decided to go to LMU and major in screenwriting, people told me that it was an easy major and probably a waste of time because the film industry is “way too difficult to break into,” unless you know someone, and that someone has to be the person who taught you how to ride a bike (aka your dad). But due to my ADHD and impulsive nature, I have not always been someone who everyone else believed in, so I didn’t listen to them and I went to film school anyway.
When I was younger I was labeled as “dumb,” not because I was dumb at all, but because my mind functions like a computer with about 2,000 tabs open all of the time. Thoughts bounce of the walls of my brain like bouncy balls on coke; that’s just how I work. So when I asked my physics teacher in high school, “If the sun is a star, why can’t we see it at night?” the moment that sentence came out of my mouth I realized how idiotic it sounded. I do things without thinking, but I love my ADHD brain because it has made me insanely creative, and has gotten me into hilarious and awkward situations that make great stories in my screenplays. I'm thankful for all of the people who bullied me in middle school and high school, even the 8th graders who literally sat on my rollie backpack (from L.L. Bean with my name embroidered on it) and asked for “taxi rides” to class. I'm even thankful for the time I dressed as a giant iPod Mini for Halloween and the 8th graders pretended to "play me" in the middle of the quad.
I am so appreciative that people bullied me when I was younger, because I had to be the person to tell myself that I was smart and that I was good enough. I would shake it off and smile smugly knowing that one day I would be accepting an Emmy for a television show that they had binge watched the night before, while gorging on Domino's pizza and cheap beer. I wanted to prove people wrong, and that’s exactly what I did. My younger years made me resilient and my skin thick (two very helpful traits when trying to break into the film industry).
I didn’t know anyone in Hollywood; my parents are both tech nerds from Silicon Valley. Their happy place is in the iCloud, my happy place is with my head in the clouds. However, I’ve had about six internships over the course of my four years at LMU, all of which I got by being annoying and persistent. Even after I got rejected from a major studio, I emailed the hiring manager every four or five weeks to remind him that I still existed. After gaining more experience I finally got the internship at that major studio.
When the president of our division came to talk to the interns about how he had an “open door policy,” I knew I had to go see him. Not only was he extremely down to earth and friendly, but when he freaked out during the meeting and ran out of the office exclaiming, “Shit! I left my phone by the Emmys,” I knew as fellow ADDers we’d get along. When I decided to try out out the "open door policy" to see about getting some additional experience outside of my division, I found it was, indeed, open! In our meeting, we talked about everything from how he meditates every morning (and how I should too because of my ADD) to the crazy night I had singing "Stacy’s Mom" at a karaoke bar the night before. He told me that he had come from a small town in the middle of nowhere, and that everyone told him he was stupid when he was younger and that he would never go anywhere in life. And guess what? Now he’s an important guy at a major studio. I hoped one day I could say the same thing. I was very lucky to find someone who had an interest in me and in helping the "younger generation;" my nerd parents say there are more of those people out there than you would expect. And even though I told him about my 10-hour night in Vegas the weekend before, he still ended up writing me a letter of recommendation.
Fortunately, I was able to continue working at the studio in a different department this semester, and I recently went back and visited my mentor. This time, I burst into his office like a chicken with its head cut off. I paced in circles as I told him I would probably be homeless after graduation because I wanted to be a writer’s assistant and only people with connections get those jobs. He first asked me, “Did you take your medication today?” And I admitted that I hadn’t. He then said, “You realize you’re my friend and I’m someone with connections?” I stopped pacing and smiled at him. I told him I wanted to be a writer because I’m happiest when I write. I get so involved in writing my scripts that I feel like my characters are people I actually get drinks with on Tuesday nights. I told him that my friend and I were writing a sitcom together and wanted to pitch it somewhere. And he said, “well why don’t you pitch it to me?” I gasped! I hadn’t even thought of that!
I think my mentor expected us to show up with a half-baked idea on which he'd give us constructive criticism, but we were determined to surprise him. We went the extra mile with a theme song, and practiced relentlessly with the help and feedback of one of our professors. We showed up and walked through the pristine, manicured studio lot wearing German dirndls (related to our script idea). I watched carefully for feedback in my mentor's face; he finally exclaimed, “this is a fucking awesome idea!” We left with ear-to-ear grins, and pranced around the lot in our German dresses. Why? Because we are going to be pitching our show to a very well known production company next week. Prost to our futures! We haven’t made it yet. But even if nothing happens with our show idea, we will grow from this experience. I am very far from accepting that Emmy, but I still can’t help but smile and think “they told me I was dumb, so I wrote a sitcom and got a pitch meeting with one of the largest and most respected studios in Hollywood.”
Don’t ever let people tell you, you aren’t good enough. Just take people’s doubt as a challenge to prove them wrong. The president I met came from a small town back East where people told him he was dumb, and would probably never leave. Now he has a major position in a large Hollywood studio. Think of Steve Jobs who dropped out of college? Aside from sharing my love of film with Steve Spielberg, we also both were bullied at Saratoga High School and look at him now. One of my favorite quotes is from "Imitation Games," “Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.” I still have a long journey ahead of me, as do most of us in our twenties but I remind myself every day that I am smart, I am unstoppable and I will achieve my dreams. Everyone can do the same; they just have to believe in themselves.
