People pay you to make their ideas happen

I feel as though I have finally fathomed a "career in the arts." From all this talk with various potential film candidates, etc., I think I've got it figure out. People will pay you to make their ideas look good. It's supposedly not too hard to get a job as a technician in Hollywood. You go and you make someone's movie sound good, or be lit right, or you tweak their lines. On the other hand, it's extremely difficult to get other people to help you make your own ideas. Writing, directing, acting - it's all a mad scramble. You have to be really, really good, and know all the right people, to get a chance to do something with your own creativity.

I suppose that means I won't starve, as long as I can find enough to work on that I don't absolutely hate.

And I'll join the millions of others writing scripts in their spare time, scrounging money to make indy films for film festivals, and hoping to be one of the few indy directors noticed by Hollywood. Apparently that's the only way to go, if you want to eventually be a big director. There's no moving up in Hollywood; you've got to prove yourself on your own. Which, when you think about it, could be fun. I guess it's better to be making your own short films on the side and hoping to be noticed than not making anything of your own at all.