Thread by @glenmazzara

Spoke with an emerging writer who is making the same mistake I made at the beginning of my career. After my first gig on Nash Bridges, I didn’t land my next one (#TheShield) for 18 months.

I was supporting a wife and 2 kids. Living on residuals & credit cards. I cashed in a small pension, ran out of people to borrow money from. I was scared I would never work in Hollywood again.

So I ceded control of my career to my reps. I took all of their notes, gutted my writing, toned things down, stopped advocating for myself, turned the hustle over to them. My agent didn’t get me and I didn’t work until I got my own job.

This emerging writer was letting her rep water down her voice. He’s making her smooth out the edges, stop being so unique. Play it safe.

So she’s playing it safe. And she’s still unemployed.

I get reps are in our corner. I love mine and have been with them for 20 years. But at the turn of century, my first agent was not repping me as the writer I wanted to be, the writer I was putting on the page.

I’m sure he did what he thought was right. “Do this and you’ll get a job. It works for everyone else.”

Does it? There are only a few seats in any writers room. You gotta own that shit. Playing it safe puts you smack in the middle of the competition. You gotta stand out. And that can only happen by embracing your writers voice.

You are unique. You have a unique story and voice. Use it. Not everyone will get you but when they do, they will pay you to do what you love.

There are a lot of writers with bigger careers than mine. Maybe my advice is not the best. But given how hard this business is — a business of rejection — I can’t imagine playing it safe leads to a long and satisfying career.

I pushed that writer. She’s going to rewrite 3 scripts & write a new pilot and send it all to me on Halloween. I bet she crushes it. I bet she has fun. And I bet she gets a new rep and a job. All she has to do is bet on herself.