The director of ScriptShark, Lee Zahavi noted on their MySpace blog that he was on a panel with writer Antwone Fisher, who revealed one of the secrets of his success. Zahavi wrote:
"According to Antwone, he has never gotten a single job through his agents, though he has been represented by every big agency in town (and, kindly enough, does not hold it against them). Antwone spoke about the need to go out there, network, be nice to people, and become a trusted writer whom people want to work with. For example, some of the first paid-for work he received was through Chris Tucker, whom he met at the comedy clubs way back when, and whose trust he gained prior to Chris Tucker doing Friday and Rush Hour, so that when Chris got big, Antwone was his go-to-guy for material. Even though these days Antwone is quite established (right now he's working on a Marvin Gaye biopic with Frank Darabont who directed Shawshank Redemption), he still makes a point to send everyone he's ever met in the industry hand-written cards come Christmas time. And he's convinced that it's this little fact that has kept him in the good graces of the industry."
JW note: My version of this was sending gift baskets to the secretaries and Personal Assistants of the people I was working with in Hollywood--a nice thing to do, and one guaranteed to help me get my calls through to the boss!
