Interview With Scott Essman
Interview by Jenna Glatzer

Freelance author Scott Essman has written about Hollywood crafts since 1995. The publications in which his articles have appeared include The Los Angeles Times, MovieMaker, Cinefex, Creative Screenwriting, L’Ecran Fantastique, Makeup Artist Magazine, and Directed By: The Cinema Quarterly. Additionally, he has produced special live tributes to PLANET OF THE APES and THE WIZARD OF OZ and, most recently, the classic horror films from UNIVERSAL STUDIOS in the 1930s and 1940s, which is soon to become part of the permanent Universal archives.

In the beginning of your book, Freelance Writing For Hollywood, you suggest that writers "unearth that which intrinsically drives him or her."  What drives you?

I believe that success in any field is the product of many factors – luck, timing, and skill – but those elements are purposeless if passion is not brought to the equation. Ergo, writers must discover what they are passionate about before embarking on a writing career. For me, the answer was pretty simple – I’ve always been fascinating by the mechanics of the entertainment business. I go to movies and say, "How did they do that?" I listen to music and wonder, "Who wrote that song?" My driving force has been to find out the how and why behind many of the "whos" and "whats" that have amazed me in films, music, TV and other forms of popular culture. It has been my mission to meet with these people, write about their efforts, and present them as vital creative forces. With due amounts of persistence and respect for their work and the business as a whole, I have done so over time.

Is writing for entertainment magazines and trade papers a good way to break into other film careers (like screenwriting)?

Writing FOR Hollywood (or "about" Hollywood) is not necessarily a step towards working IN Hollywood as a writer or producer; however, you gain an immense amount of knowledge and connections when you do so. Whereas screenwriters and directors are typically people who I interview and write ABOUT, their imparted knowledge, influences and associations have led to an exponential increase in the number of Hollywood insiders – including agents, publicists, producers, directors, actors, screenwriters, and executives – who know me, respect my abilities and integrity, and will take my calls. As such, writing for entertainment publications is a great way to increase your knowledge base, gain valuable contacts, and get your foot in the door – however, you must be very careful about how and when you take advantage of this position (also see the answer to question 11).

Let's say I really want to break into a certain market, but I don't have any "inside" contacts. Are there any subjects/departments that are easier to break into than others?

Hollywood is certainly the toughest market in the world because it attract many wannabes who are in it for the wrong reasons – being the money, the fame, and the glory. Writing about the entertainment business may also be monumentally more interesting and fulfilling an assignment for a budding writer than just about any other subject. Therefore, writers face an interesting challenge – how do I distinguish myself from the hordes of others surrounding this town? What market is for me? My advice in this area is not so much to look for a side or back door into the business, but to "draw" your own door. Invent your own way into your chosen market. Writers are supposed to be creative – well, be creative in your approach as well. Look for untried avenues into your market. Select potential interview subjects who have NOT already given 1000 interviews. Often, you’ll be surprised how many of these folks have seldom been requested for an interview. If you are trying to interview James Cameron, Michael Eisner, or Tom Cruise, chances are very small (although anything is possible here) that you’ll find your way in. Instead, find someone of interest who hasn’t been covered to death and pledge your sincerity to interview him or her for a freelance article. Chances are that they, as well as you, have little to lose, so long as you go in with the utmost degree of respect for them as an artist and complete integrity in what you are attempting to accomplish. With a little research and a lot of diligence, you can create your own contacts in this manner.

You made a name for yourself by becoming perhaps the first journalist to focus on make-up artists. How did this happen?

My miraculous entree into writing about make-up was really very simple. Having a longtime interest in the subject, in 1995, I endeavored to research who was currently working in makeup and who was still alive from recent decades of outstanding achievement in makeup. Then, I started cold calling people! Eventually, I was granted an interview, and that first one blossomed into others, so that after six months, I had reached nearly everyone who I wished to contact, leading to three years of writing and producing projects about makeup artistry from the most recent work, all the way back to the earliest efforts in cinema. My writing career was certainly launched by writing about makeup artists, and it led to a flurry of other written work for which I was solicited by magazines whose content is cinema-oriented. Hence, drawing my own door – by covering little-known makeup people - led to a fulfilling writing career as a whole.

How can an unknown writer make contacts necessary for interviews? Where should he/she look?

There are some very good resource materials about Hollywood craftsmanship which provide reliable contact numbers for many of the unions and guilds in the motion picture business. Chances are that your local library (regardless of where you live) can gain access to such materials, either through inter-library loan or perhaps through request for purchase. The best titles are LA 411, the Hollywood Creative Directory, and the series of guide books published by Lone Eagle Publishing. The Internet is steadily increasing its knowledge base of cinema crafts, like the Internet Movie Database, but it is a slow process. I have found that the directory books work better at this point. Also, many of the guilds, such as the DGA (Directors Guild of America) WGA (Writers), MPEG (Editors), etc. will provide contact information for their members if the request is coming from a journalist. Usually, you will be referred to an agent or manager, so be prepared to write a clear concise fax with your interview request, and it will likely be forwarded directly to your desired interview subject!

How do you prepare for an interview, and what do you bring with you in an in-person interview?

I am of the school that research is completely necessary and can only help a writer better prepare an interview. Before I set out to meet a Hollywood craftsperson, I make sure that AT THE VERY LEAST I am aware of all the projects he or she has worked on, and I try to watch/listen to/read about as many of those projects as possible prior to the interview. The paramount reason for doing research is that you will have infinitely more personal and specific questions to ask the subject. If you get a craftsperson to talk with you whose time is valuable (or if they are not currently working – which is when they’ll most likely meet with you – then they are usually exhausted, making their time that much more precious to them), you want to have the best, freshest, most interesting questions possible. The last thing you want is for them to fall into some stock answer that they have given 100 times because your question was too predictable, general, or often repeated. Thus, bring in an informed, original list of questions, and you will get that much more out of the interview. If your prep research has unearthed bits of knowledge, photos, or memorabilia from the person’s past (or a connection that you’ve made to another person with regards to their career), share it prior to the interview – nothing like a good icebreaker. Also, make sure to get your questions down onto audiotape – mini-cassette at the very least. I record my most important interviews onto DAT and the very most vital ones onto videotape as well, but cassette will work, so that you don’t miss any important tidbits. Taking notes by hand is strictly for flying-by-night journalism (whose deadline is NOW!).

My modus operandi when going into an area for which I will be writing an article is that I am the most curious person on earth about my subject. If I have done my research to the point where I am confident that I will ask good questions, then I am adequately prepared. But once I get in there, I am the epitome of almost childish curiosity. "When did that happen?" "Why did you decide to do so at that time?" "How long did that take?" and so on. Once the interview is completed and transcribed, if I am focused and ready to write the piece, it will come out well. If I have asked questions commensurate with the knowledge that I’ve gained (being the curious cat that I’ve tried to be), I will likely have enough material in my arsenal to write it well. But, what if the subject is totally foreign to when I get the assignment? Just this year, I was contacted by MovieMaker to write a piece on an IMAX movie production company. I didn’t know anything about IMAX other than the screen was large. In this case, I talked to WAY more people than were needed so that I could become a mini-expert. I wrote that article for an audience, who, like me before I accepted the assignment, didn’t know anything about IMAX. The finished work, "Mega-Movies: The State of the Art of Large Format Films" was my 3000-word definitive article on the process. I researched, interviewed, followed-up, wrote, and re-wrote until I was assured that I knew all that I could to write that piece. I probably could have written 10,000 words based on the knowledge I had accumulated. It’s a cliché, but it’s true that when you’re writing about a subject, too much knowledge is better than too little.

What if I really want to break into a certain publication, but I keep getting rejections? How can I prove to the editor that I deserve an assignment? Should I just keep sending queries, or are there more personal approaches?

I have found that a personal approach/connection/line of communication is invariably more beneficial than blindly sending queries. At this point, I am a published author with over 100 freelance articles and a mass of Hollywood contacts, but my query letters still go unanswered. Much like breaking into Hollywood itself, breaking through to a certain publication is often a matter of "drawing your own door." You’ve got to give them something that they’re looking for that they didn’t know they were looking for! You’ve got an idea that suits their readership and an angle on the story that perfectly fits their upcoming issue. Remember, writing is creativity, so if you really want to break into a certain publication, you must invent your own way in. After having written for Cinefex, Makeup Artist Magazine, and MovieMaker (three publications who asked ME for articles to start our respective relationships), I wanted to expand my horizons some and sought other publications. I approached Creative Screenwriting with three consecutive ideas, each of which got published because they were new, fit into the magazine’s content, and appealed to their readership. It might have helped that I had written before, but your strength undoubtedly lies in your ideas. Don’t be afraid to generate them and pitch them with confidence.

What happens if an editor turns back the same article several times for revision? Would you ever refuse, or demand more money?

The money issue is tricky, and usually depends upon the ground rules that you have established with your publishers. First off, it’s always a good idea to work with a written contract, and I haven’t often done so. In one case, I lived to regret it considerably, but in the other cases, it turned out okay nonetheless. Before you undertake an assignment, you should clarify the following, and preferably have this material in written form: How many words does your publisher want? How much are you to be paid for your draft? Are you expected to rewrite it? [NOTE: very often, magazines do not send articles back to freelancers for re-writing, but have an editor or the publisher him/herself rewrite.] If so, will you be paid for a rewrite? If the magazine doesn’t publish your work, will you be paid a kill fee? Do they pay for any expenses (transcription, materials, travel)? Do not be afraid to politely request this information and expect answers to these questions – after all, this is a business arrangement.

What would you advise a writer to do if s/he had no clips? Should a writer ever work for free, just to get clips?

Depending upon the assignment, you may wish to take a job for free; however, it is easy for publishers to take advantage of writers in this manner, so be careful as to what type of precedent you are setting. If the job is for a professional magazine, chances are that you will be offered pay for your work. Very rarely will a publisher EXPECT that a writer will accept an assignment just for the experience and the copy. It would have to be a very select assignment. I have often bartered with publishers for advertising space in their magazine – if they are not among the top-selling magazines in the country, you may get the opportunity to do this. Yet, in most cases, writers should not be surrendering pay for the experience. Freelance writing by and large doesn’t offer financial rewards to the point where writers can afford to forego income for their work!

Let's say I'm a screenwriter, and I get an assignment ripe for interviewing producers. Is it ever appropriate for me to sneak in a pitch for my own work during an interview?

One must be very careful about pitching their own personal material to interview subjects. The last thing that you want is for an interviewee to think of you as another Joe Gillis, desperate to meet anyone to whom s/he can sell a screenplay. You must take time and care to nurture your Hollywood relationships before you can drop your pet project in someone’s lap. And never do so in an interview – by doing this, you jeopardize the trust that you have established with the subject in gaining access to his/her valuable time, memories, secrets, possible photo collection, etc. I have actually presented my personal projects to Hollywood craftspeople, and many of them have collaborated with me, but it did take patience and steady contact on my part before I felt comfortable doing so.

The last word on freelance writing for Hollywood is that it can be a very rewarding experience that should not be taken lightly. Writing is hard and serious enough business, but when you throw in the machinations of an intense place like Hollywood, you must be very careful, focused, and enthusiastic about your work. And it can be done – when I started, I had NO contacts, NO money, NO resources, and NO concept of how to begin. It was just a simple idea – "I’d like to write about some of the makeup artists in movies who are not really covered that much in most magazines." From there, I built a mini-empire of magazine articles, documentaries, special events, videos, and books. Where I go from here is still up in the air, but I look forward to another interesting journey.

Freelance Writing for Hollywood is Scott's first book and can be ordered at www.mwp.com. Write to him at scottessman@yahoo.com.

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