{"id":152355,"date":"2025-08-17T05:29:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/152355\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T05:29:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:29:20","slug":"this-book-teaches-you-how-to-break-into-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/152355\/","title":{"rendered":"This book teaches you how to break into Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week, we are chatting with Ada Tseng and Jon Healey about their new book, \u201cBreaking Into New Hollywood.\u201d We also take a look at what our critics read, and visit a bookstore that has become a social beehive in Culver City.<\/p>\n

The entertainment industry is experiencing a massive transformation, as traditional jobs are vanishing and artificial intelligence increasingly upends the way media is created. Thankfully, former L.A. Times editors Ada Tseng and Jon Healey are here to help. The duo, with extensive experience covering show business, have written a new book for anyone who\u2019s ever dreamed of working in Hollywood. Tseng and Healey interviewed hundreds of insiders who work in front of and behind the camera to provide a thorough look at how to break in, and what it\u2019s like when you do find that dream job. <\/p>\n

I sat down with authors to discuss \u201cBreaking Into New Hollywood.\u201d<\/b><\/a> <\/p>\n

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The glamorous fantasy of Hollywood is so intoxicating. But if you\u2019re going to work in the industry, you need to navigate the day-to-day reality of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Ada Tseng, co-author of \u201cBreaking Into New Hollywood\u201d<\/p>\n

(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)<\/p>\n

\u270d\ufe0f Author Chat \"Former <\/p>\n

Tseng and Healey are here to help you pursue your Hollywood dreams with their book, \u201cBreaking Into New Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Ricardo DeAratanha; Jay L. Clendenin \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

This is the most comprehensive how-to guide for Hollywood careers I\u2019ve ever read. Where did the impetus for the book come from?<\/b><\/p>\n

Ada:<\/b> The book started as a Hollywood careers series at the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, when Jon and I were editors on a team that specialized in writing guides and explainers. As we were thinking about how to be useful to L.A. Times readers, I pitched a project to help people who were interested in getting a job in Hollywood. A lot of people come to L.A. starry-eyed with big dreams, but the film and TV industry can be pretty brutal.<\/p>\n

As journalists, we\u2019re Hollywood outsiders, but we had access to hundreds of professionals who were generous enough to share what they wished they knew when they were starting out. We see it like this: On behalf of the people who don\u2019t have connections in the industry, we cold-emailed people, asked for informational interviews, picked their brains, listened to stories of what they did to build a career \u2014 and did our best to consolidate their most practical pieces of advice into an actionable guide.<\/p>\n

Jon: <\/b>A lot of folks I interviewed had similar origin stories in this respect: They knew that they wanted to work in the industry in some capacity, but they didn\u2019t know what exactly they could do. So it made sense to do a book for that sort of person \u2014 a guide that would show an array of possible career paths to people who didn\u2019t know what role they wanted to fill.<\/p>\n

I feel like \u201cHow to Break into the Business\u201d books in the past have tended to focus on positive outcomes rather than the struggle. Did you want to temper expectations, or at least make sure people think things through very thoroughly before jumping in?<\/b><\/p>\n

Ada: <\/b>We just wanted to be honest. The glamorous fantasy of Hollywood is so intoxicating. But if you\u2019re going to work in the industry, you need to navigate the day-to-day reality of it. I don\u2019t think we were trying to encourage or discourage anyone. I\u2019d hope that some people would read the chapters and think, \u201cThis seems doable, and now I can make a plan,\u201d while others would read it and think, \u201cIf I\u2019m honest with myself, I\u2019m someone who needs more stability in my life.\u201d Because it\u2019s not just a career choice. It\u2019s a lifestyle choice.<\/p>\n

Jon: <\/b>Right, this was about expectation-setting and reality-checking. The very first interviews I did in this project were of Foley artists. An expert I interviewed said there were 40 to 50 established Foley practitioners in the U.S., and 100 to 200 folks trying to get into the field. That\u2019s a very tough nut to crack. Then there are the Hollywood unions, which present a catch-22 to anyone trying to join their ranks \u2014 they have to do a certain number of hours in jobs covered by union contracts, but union members get first crack at all those gigs.<\/p>\n

Your book also covers jobs above and below the line. I think many people don\u2019t even realize how many different career opportunities exist.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ada: <\/b>There are two things we heard over and over again. People would say, \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important to understand what all the different departments do.\u201d And they\u2019d also say, \u201cSo many people \u2014 even our own colleagues in the industry \u2014 don\u2019t understand what we do.\u201d So we wanted to encourage newcomers to learn about all different types of jobs in Hollywood and how they work together.<\/p>\n

Jon: <\/b>Talking about the emotional components is about setting expectations too. The vast majority of people who work in Hollywood, from A-list actors to entry-level grips, are freelancers. That\u2019s a tough life of highs and lows, and you have to prepare for that mentally as well as financially. People have to hustle for years to establish themselves, and that takes an enormous capacity for rejection. On top of that is the physical toll the work can extract, especially on the folks involved in setting up and tearing down sets. Part of the point of the book is to tell people with Hollywood dreams that they\u2019ll need to gird themselves emotionally and physically for the work.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0 The Week(s) in Books \"Karin <\/a> <\/p>\n

Karin Slaughter\u2019s new book series, which launches with \u201cWe Are All Guilty Here,\u201d is not for the squeamish.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Mark Athatakis<\/a> finds much to like in \u201cReady <\/b>f<\/b>or My Close-Up,\u201d<\/b><\/a> David M. Lubin\u2019s book about the classic 1950 film \u201cSunset Boulevard.\u201d \u201cThough the book has its shortcomings,\u201d he writes, \u201c[Lubin] rightly sees the movie as a kind of passkey into the history of the first half-century of Hollywood itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robet Allen Papinchak<\/a> weighs in on Phoebe Greenwood\u2019s Middle East satire \u201cVulture,\u201d<\/b><\/a> finding it \u201ca darkly comic, searing satire grounded in historic politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Sloley\u2019s novel \u201cThe Island of Last Things\u201d<\/b><\/a> envisions a future where animal life, and then entire ecosystems, are wiped out, but Ilana Masad<\/a> writes that Sloley also highlights \u201cthe small moments of beauty, joy and care that emerge even during \u2026 horrible times.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Paula L. Woods<\/a> has a chat with master thriller novelist Karin Slaughter about her new book, \u201cWe Are All Guilty Here,\u201d<\/b><\/a> and TV series.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcd6 Bookstore Faves \"Interior <\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cBooks are an antidote to the constant distractions in our lives,\u201d says the owner of Culver City\u2019s Village Well bookstore.<\/p>\n

(Jennifer Caspar)<\/p>\n

Four years after it opened its doors to the public, Village Well Books & Coffee<\/b><\/a> has become a community locus in its Culver City neighborhood. Owner Jennifer Caspar has created a vibrant space with a full-service cafe, allowing her customers to linger for as long as they please while perusing Caspar\u2019s ample and well-curated selection of new books. I chatted with Caspar about her store and what\u2019s selling right now.<\/p>\n

Why did you open the store? <\/b><\/p>\n

I wanted a place where people can facilitate connections with others, because I think that\u2019s what people need. Everyone is so overwhelmed by their phones and technology, and we tend to take the easy path, which is to not get out and see people.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s selling right now? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAtmosphere,\u201d<\/b><\/a> Taylor Jenkins Reid; \u201cMartyr,\u201d<\/b><\/a> Kaveh Akbar; \u201cThe Emperor of Gladness,\u201d<\/b><\/a> Ocean Vuong; \u201cAll Fours,\u201d<\/b><\/a> Miranda July. There\u2019s been a real increase in books about activism and the Middle East situation. We\u2019re launching an activism book club here, starting with \u201cMutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)\u201d<\/b><\/a> by Dean Spade. It will be interesting to see who comes out for that.<\/p>\n

Why books now? Why not the Substack, social media, etc<\/b>.<\/b>?<\/b><\/p>\n

Books are an antidote to the constant distractions in our lives. People need to connect offline, and books give us a chance to settle down and focus. Studies show that what we learn from books stays with us longer. You can read a Kindle, and I do, but there is something about sitting down with words on paper. For me, it\u2019s great physical therapy for my emotional state.<\/p>\n

Village Well is located at 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week, we are chatting with Ada Tseng and Jon Healey about their new book, \u201cBreaking Into New…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":152356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[3601,3602,3604,1022,1582,276,3596,3606,3603,3605,3607,2323,3599,3600,2961,2252,224,5337,3597,3598],"class_list":{"0":"post-152355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-author","9":"tag-bestselling-novelist-silvia-moreno","10":"tag-book-exploder","11":"tag-books","12":"tag-ca","13":"tag-california","14":"tag-chef","15":"tag-conversation","16":"tag-daughter","17":"tag-doctor-moreau","18":"tag-fiction","19":"tag-garcia","20":"tag-keith-corbin","21":"tag-l-a-times-book-club-newsletter","22":"tag-la","23":"tag-life","24":"tag-los-angeles","25":"tag-losangeles","26":"tag-memoir","27":"tag-thrills"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115042462581141896","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}