Rule # 13: No six people laugh at the same joke
I directed six pilot episodes of a VH1 TV series called Shoot the Band, which was patterned on the popular cable show Mystery Science...
Rule # 12: Book your next job before the star or studio suit croaks
Cocaine came to Hollywood like a monsoon to Mumbai. After my first feature film, KGOD aka PRAY TV, was finished shooting, my agent,...
Rule 11: If you craft it well, they will come
Although there is great pain in casting, there is also joy. We had refined, acted, and knew every scene of the movie KGOD, a.k.a. (later...
Rule # 10: Do anything to finance your dream
With the increasingly sophisticated and less expensive high definition cameras and editing equipment available to us today, making a...
RULE # 5: Life Lessons are learned by living
Even though I didn’t go to film school, the most important thing I gained at USC was an elective class called “Monday Night at the...
RULE # 4: Hollywood's still the Promised Land.
Many union rules, location costs, traffic control and the lack of tax and cash incentives have caused production in Hollywood to plummet....
RULE # 3: Good Ideas Don't just fall off a turnip truck.
Whether you’re writing a stand-up routine, thinking of a movie idea, or conceiving a song, unique ideas are not easy to come by. Some of...
RULE # 2: Be Determined to the point of obsession
The most fortunate in life are those who have such an obsession for something—singing, dancing, writing, painting, whatever they...
Rule #1: It's All About Passion
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...