Let's say I tracked down the production office addresses of some shows, along with the business phone and fax numbers/names and titles of some folks at work on these shows. What, would you say, is the best way to ship them my resume and get it into the right person's hands? Without getting it burned and danced upon? I'm trying to think of a professional, classy, non-creepy way to do this. Do you think faxing a cover letter and resume (addressed to each production coordinator, I'm guessing?) to the production offices will do? I'd guess these people are already bombarded with cold callers' resumes. And I actually hate bugging people. But letting this information go to waste feels spineless.
This is a tough way to break in. You're right, they're probably bombarded with cold calls and faxes. (Wow. People still fax things?) And generally by the time you hear about a production, it's staffed up. And you're right: contacting the individual production coordinator is slightly better. I'm guessing that walking a paper resume in the door would probably do heaps better, assuming you're perky and presentable. But how would you get in that door? And that's a huge investment of time. Really the way to get hired onto a show is to know somebody on the show. If you don't know anybody, the usual way is to offer to intern. Most people will listen to an overqualified person willing to intern. I have to say, though, that being a p.a. on a show is a bit overrated. There's a big divide between production and producing. Producing is mostly about development and working in regular offices. A writer can learn a lot from working for a producer. However, a writer doesn't learn that much from being a p.a. It gives you some stories to tell, but the people on a shoot, with the exception of the director, have almost nothing to do with how a show gets greenlit. The job you really want, assuming you're a writer, is writer's assistant, or writer's intern. Those jobs are even harder to get. Readers: I'm not being very helpful here. Does anyone want to share their wisdom? UPDATE: The comments below are FAR more useful than my post.
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