Advice to the (Hollywood) Laid Off

Desperate? Furious? Counsel from the Trenches

Dear Susie:

I recently got laid off from the film studio I was working at— a casualty of the writers’ and actors’ strike. I was working on script acquisition, development, everything that leads to a producer’s credit. It was my second year there. I’m 24 now.

The job was a mixed bag to begin with, and now I don’t know what to do. It grates on me, to have this experience in Hollywood at a company that was not always up to par, and where I never worked at the capacity I wanted to. Now I’ve left them via a lay-off, versus through my own volition. I don’t even know if I want to work in the industry anymore.

From my perspective, Susie, you’re someone with skills you applied in myriad ways— but seemingly never at a cost to your identity or level of skill.

This is surely an incomplete view of your life, but still . . . Do you have any advice or perspective to offer?

Claudia

Diorama of Hollywood Success Story, © S.Bright

Dear Claudie,

Yes, I do have a lot to say— you have poked the bear!

I burst…