Some thoughts on production

John Rogers is getting ready to run some of his older posts on screenwriting and production. He also has a link to the site Hollywood University:

My path to showrunning is essentially unique. I'm not sure that if you want to write/run a television show you should do hundreds of gigs on the road as a stand-up, get a failed sitcom pilot, then spin that into a staff position and spec feature career, all oriented solely 'round your geek identity. I mean, I can help you with some tools in the writing toolbox, but I basically backed my way through the process of building a career.

So I'll heartily recommend Hollywood University, where Jessica Butler -- former producer and newly minted writer -- attempts to run you through the basics of the business and craft. She's got a nice eye for detail, does actual research (as opposed to my anecdotal style) and has already accumulated a wide range of links over a good spectrum of resources. Warren Bell also contributes the occasional article. Considering Warren was running shows when I arrived in Hollywood (in, actually, the office two doors down from mine) that's a good ringer to have.

So reading John August recently:

That’s not really the case. Aspiring screenwriters have always had access to this material the same way Reeves apparently got access to it: by working and interning in the industry.

In between answering phones and trying to get their bosses on flights out of Kennedy, bright underpaid aspirants have the opportunity to read almost every script in town. Impromptu networks of assistants pass around their favorite screenplays, in the process picking the next generation of hot writers.

Studios turn a blind eye to this because it helps the industry. You want the smartest people with the best opinions working for you, and you want them to have a good sense of what’s in development all over town. A boss at Disney isn’t going to lose sleep if an intern at CAA reads a draft of that Miley Cyrus comedy. It’s expected. It’s good.

This piece of his post struck me because it makes it seem as though New York or L.A. are the only places to go to break into the business. I would argue that in our current production climate that isn't the case. Just in the U.S. people are receiving experience, and lots of it, in Louisiana, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, and elsewhere.

Wondering what some of you think? Do you still have to go to New York or L.A. to make it in the production world? I know I have no desire to move to either. I personally think we are going to see a rise in more regional filmmaking (not just where films are made, but where they are being produced and coming from).