Saturday, February 26, 2011

How to negotiate!

Several months ago I wrote an article for Hubpages on the art of negotiation.  In my experience there are a few tried and true tips that can help anyone.. whether  you are buying a car or negotiating a multimillion dollar film deal.

Ten Negotiating Strategies


As an agent working in Hollywood, I have had to negotiate some pretty tough deals. When I was just starting out, negotiation was something that terrified me. How would I be able to talk to someone who might be smarter, more important, more experienced than I was? I quickly learned a few techniques that soothed my nerves and helped me make some very nice deals for my clients. If you follow these ten negotiating strategies you will be on your way!
You can read the rest of it here.

Welcome to the Hollywood Dream!

Lights, action, glamour, money!  The Hollywood dream.  Perhaps since you were a child you have watched the beautiful and the rich walk down red carpets with the flashing lights of photographers and the surge of adoring crowds screaming for a moment's glance.  Our world loves celebrities.  Their expensive clothes, cool cars, gorgeous homes.  And then there are the movies.  Exciting car chases,  perfect romances, happy endings.  It's hard not to be enthralled by everything that Hollywood represents.  I know that I was. For me it was Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  The movie was so real and compelling. I wanted to be able to do THAT. Make a movie like that. I had always loved movies.  Starting with The Parent Trap with Haley Mills and then moving on to Gidget and Beach Blanket Bingo.  Movies were where you could be transported to incredible, funny, pretty, romantic, happy places. Movies were better than real life. Not that my real life was so bad -- it's just that life in the movies was so much better.  So not surprisingly as an adult I decided to sell everything and come to Hollywood. Now more than twenty years later I have lived to tell about it. I have worked in nearly every area of the business from being a lowly reader all the way up to being the Vice President of a major Literary Agency.  The question that I get asked the most is: "How did you do it?"

It is that questions that has finally led me to writing this blog.  In future posts I hope to give some answers to those who also aspire to the Hollywood Dream. My story and experience is just that. Mine. Not everyone has experienced the entertainment business the way I have. But the more I talk to people the more I discover the similarities in our stories. So perhaps there is something that can be learned from my journey.  And if not... then just enjoy the ride!