This article has been kindly reproduced from the site: thecreativemind.net

A long road for Alan Ball

Getting the needed meetings to get his script for “American Beauty” actually produced [by DreamWorks] only happened some years after Alan Ball [photo] was discovered by a talent scout at Carsey-Werner Television who had seen his play, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.

Never schlep coffee again

In a Writers Store interview, Steven Prigge [author of Created By: Inside the Minds of TV’s Top Show Creators] notes, “There are many different ways to get a writing job that doesn’t include fetching co-workers’ lattés, Frappuccinos or any other coffee oriented beverage.”

Stand-up

He notes, “Many sitcom writers have been discovered as stand-up comedians. For instance, Larry David (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) was discovered while performing stand-up comedy at Catch a Rising Star in New York City.

“Shawn Ryan (The Shield) won a playwriting contest in college, and one of his plays was entered into the American College Theater Festival. … Because of the acclaim of his play, Shawn was rewarded by being brought to L.A. to spend a few weeks hanging out in the writer’s room of My Two Dads. He eventually sold a story idea to the producers and his TV writing career began.”

Find your platform

“It essentially comes down to finding a platform where your voice can be heard by others who are in the position to hire you, or can get you hired. The bottom line is that you have to get yourself out there and get noticed.”

There are a number of ideas and resources about promoting yourself and your creative projects on the page promoting creative talent & entrepreneurial projects.

This article was written by: Douglas Eby