Howard Rosenman's The Hollywood Sell

I found this talk really helpful and totally applicable to my field, something that is not always possible with the lectures we get. His knowledge of the film industry and its intricacies were really interesting and not something that I knew much about. His main tenants are based around hard work and networking, but first and foremost, passion for your material. Networking and connecting with other people in the industry also seemed incredibly important and the gateway to other, better jobs and projects. Confidence plays a large role in all of this.

As far as finding your source material, "take something that interests you and make it interesting for someone else." It also must be accessible and universal to everyone. Furthermore, the core idea must be clear to you before you can ever pitch it to someone else.

But mostly what I took away from Howard's talk was that passion can sell a movie. Hearing him talk about producing a movie with John Turtletaub and pitching it to studios while having no script and relying solely on the director's enthusiasm, that really touched me. I guess to me it's the idea that if you are that passionate about your work then someone else can also see its potential because you see its potential. It's also the idea that if you care deeply about your work, someone is bound to notice it on that potential alone. Hollywood is sometimes portrayed as an inartistic, money-grab fest, and not to say that never happens, but it renewed my faith in the idea that someone can make a movie they care deeply about and may not be affected at first by that bullshit. Truly a comforting feelings.