Picture Perfect
Lucie Simone
August 31, 2012
306 pages
Amazon|B&N
RBM’s Disclaimer
For Lauren Tate, a high-powered TV producer, sex, lies, and scandal make for a great movie-of-the-week, but when she becomes the target of a smear campaign, even the most salacious of Hollywood’s tales can’t compare to her real life drama. With her soon-to-be-ex-husband leading the effort to sully her reputation, and her former assistant threatening to snatch her hard-earned position at Timeless Television out of her hands, Lauren’s perfectly planned life quickly begins to unravel at the seams.
Clawing her way back to the top of the TV food chain is no easy task, especially in an industry where backstabbing is a sport and gossip is a fulltime business. But Lauren learns just how cutthroat showbiz can truly be when the hottest scandal in Tinsel Town turns deadly and the Hollywood hunk who’s stolen her heart is missing in action. Can she salvage her career, her reputation, and her love life? Or will Hollywood be the death of her?
Guest Post:
Lauren Tate’s Tips on How to Make It in Hollywood
By Lucie Simone
Every day, busloads of Hollywood hopefuls arrive in Los Angeles. Some of them dream of becoming superstars with private chefs, personal trainers, and celebrity stylists at their beck and call while they accumulate wads of cash just sitting in a makeup chair. This is rarely the case. Mostly, Hollywood is a daily grind for wannabe actors who wait tables while waiting for that big break. But if you have aspirations beyond (or more accurately, behind) the silver screen, success is actually attainable. Here my are five easy steps to make it in Hollywood:
1. Go to film school. Any one will do, really, but better to get yourself into a top tier program and graduate with honors all while interning at a production company for zero pay and little respect. It’s called “paying your dues” and everyone has to do it. It’s just a part of the game.
2. Look the part. So, you think you can spend your college years in jeans and T-shirts? Not if you want to be a studio executive one day. Your appearance is the first thing anyone will notice about you. And if you show up to your internship in flip-flops and a surf shirt over a pair of khakis, you’re going to be pegged as a worker bee. Yes, even if your lousy internship has you trapped in a media library cataloguing old episodes of Party of Five. If you look the part, you’ll get the part. Get thee to Banana Republic and stat!
3. After graduating, take a low-level assistant position to a high-level studio executive. Glean all the information you can from her on the real business behind the glitz and glamour of showbiz. Because even though you spent thousands of dollars getting that snazzy diploma, you didn’t actually learn anything about how the entertainment industry works. And while you’re busy assisting your boss, you can start making connections with the movers and shakers in the business, always with a keen eye for possible job openings.
4. Schmooze! This is key. Rarely are the top opportunities in entertainment advertised, so you need to have an insider’s perspective on when people leave their jobs. And you have to act fast. There’s a network of assistants pulsing through the system, and every one of them is out for the next great gig. Don’t let some ambitious suck-up in high heels and a pencil skirt steal that great job right out from under your nose.
5. Narrow your focus. Once you’ve worked a couple different assistant desks, figure out exactly what aspect of the industry you want to work in and then beat a path to its door. Scope out a mentor in that niche and make yourself indispensible to her. Sure, she’ll take advantage of your eagerness for a while, but eventually, she’ll take you under her wing as a prize pet and the next opening for a Junior Development Executive will be yours!
That’s it! Now, of course, once you’ve landed that coveted executive title, you must always be on guard for the underling who is hell bent on taking it from you. Trust me on this. I know from personal experience that some assistants will go to any length to usurp you. Backstabbing, conniving, gossiping, husband-stealing, and maybe even…murder!
About The Author:
Lucie Simone has a passion for travel, yoga, and writing. She has a degree in Journalism, a Master of Fine Arts in Television Production, and is a certified yoga teacher registered with Yoga Alliance. Her love of comedy (and living under the delusion that she might one day be an actress) resulted in a stint studying improvisation, which, ironically enough, taught her to be a better writer.
Her short story, A Taste of Italy, won the New York Book Festival competition for best ebook and is a bestseller at Amazon UK. The release of her debut novel, Hollywood Ending, a romantic comedy about life in Hollywood for the not-so-rich-and-famous, marked the launch of her small press, Simon & Fig, which publishes Chick Lit, Lad Lit and Women’s Fiction exclusively.
Lucie lives, loves and writes in the City of Angels, but considers New York City her second home and visits as often as her bank account will allow.
Connect With The Author:
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Love the tips – and the book is great 🙂
Thank you for having me as a guest at your blog, Molly!
Book sounds awesome. Will have to check it out!
Great blog. Book sounds amazing.