Always pitch/perform to a friendly room
If you audition for a role as an actor, test your comedy routine, pitch an idea to a network or studio, sing or play your song, or show...
NEVER REGRET DOING WHAT YOU’LL LATER REGRET NOT HAVING DONE
Édith Piaf’s iconic song: “Je ne regrette rien”—I regret nothing - is a good rule to live by. Because, in show biz, even though...
Rule 32: You need more than a girl and a gun
The esteemed French critic and film director, Jean-Luc Godard said, “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.” Here’s a little...
Rule 31: Learn from your forbears
During my childhood, our little movie theater only showed cowboy movies. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all. And who knew who the...
Rule 30: You're either funny or you're not
Comedies rarely win academy awards and few receive critical acclaim. But I hold in the highest regard those performers, writers and...
Rule 29: If you direct all the principle photography, the studio can' fire you.
By Directors Guild contract, I had ten weeks to deliver my cut of Spy Hard. At the insistence of my exec, I handed in an eighty-page list...
Rule 28: Make sure your preview is for the intended audience
With most movies, especially comedies, there are methods of pre-testing audience reaction. Previews are arranged by a market research...
Rule 27: If it hits, you get the credit. If it tanks, you get the blame
Reality television has taken off like wildfire. Broadcasting stories starring “real” people has become the staple of cable television....
Rule # 25: Trust no one until proven otherwise.
My studio exec on Spy Hard and his boss, president of Disney’s Hollywood Pictures, came to the set while we were filming. I was...
Rule # 22: Filmmaking isn't brain surgery but it sure requires brains.
Ageism in Hollywood is rampant. Actors, writers, and directors with lengthy lists of award-winning credits are never considered for work...