The Manager - Tom Sawyer Entertainment: 4 Years Older and (Somewhat) Wiser

Yesterday we threw a “Tom Sawyer Entertainment is 4″ birthday party at our favorite local bar. We have survived one strike, one defacto strike and a recession, so it seemed like a great reason to celebrate.

And as I sat in a packed bar surrounded by all our clients, friends, former assistants, and interns who had come out to support us, I thought about all the things I’ve learned in the four years since founding Tom Sawyer.

• Find good people that you want to work with.

This applies to both executives, producers, lawyers and clients. A lot of people complain that there are no good people in Hollywood, but that is simply not true.  There are just less good people so it takes longer to find them. That’s why it is worth spending your time and energy meeting everyone so you can find the truly greats in this business.

• Work on material you love.

I can’t repeat this enough. This actually applies to both clients and projects. By working on material you love, when you get the first 100 passes, you will be just as passionate to make the next 100 calls. In the long run, it will be so much more rewarding when you see it through.

• If you are going into business with someone, make sure you know that person inside and out.

My business partner and I like to say we “dated for four years before we got married.” What we mean by this is that, as assistants, we worked as a team (at separate companies but combined forces to cover more ground) for four years before we started a company together. And even in the worst days, when we want to kill each other, we always make up before the end of the day and never walk away mad.

• Have fun.

This business is hard and you will get a lot of rejections. An important thing to remember is that we aren’t curing cancer — we are making entertainment. To entertain is literally in our job description. So take the work seriously but don’t take yourself too seriously. Have fun, enjoy yourself!

Tags: Director, Film Industry, Film Blog, Actor, Hollywood