Want to make it as a writer in television or the movies?  The opportunities are right in front of you.

Last night I attended a screening at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills of the new George Clooney movie, The Descendants.  A short Q&A followed the screening with director Alexander Payne and screen writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.  Faxon and Rash told the WGA audience that they got their start as writers in the Los Angeles improv group, The Groundlings.  I mentioned The Groundlings in my book, Elephant Bucks, and on this blog as a vehicle for aspiring writer/performers to break into show business.

The Groundlings’ famous alumni include regular cast members from Saturday Night Live: Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Kristin Wiig, Will Forte, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, and a dozen others.  Melissa McCarthy, star of the hit CBS sitcom, Mike and Molly, is a former Groundling, as are Lisa Kudrow and comedian Kathy Griffin.

Jim Rash and Nat Faxon met at The Groundlings.  They started writing sketches together.  From there they wrote a spec screenplay that was sold but not made.  From that unproduced screenplay they got a shot at adapting Kaui Hemmings’ novel, The Descendants.   Now they are Hollywood big-shots.

(The movie, by the way, is wonderful: smart, funny, and heartbreaking.)

How do you get into The Groundlings?  You go there and sign up for a class.  Six-session basic improv classes cost $280.  There are advanced improv classes, classes for writing sketch comedy, and the opportunity to audition for the Main Company of performers in The Groundlings at their theater on Melrose.

There is no secret formula for becoming a success in Hollywood.  I have written over and over again that the way to break into show business is to put yourself into the TV and movie universe here in Los Angeles, or in New York, and then participate in events that can help you to meet people, show your talent, and land your Lucky Break.  I can’t imagine why anyone who is interested in writing comedy for TV or movies wouldn’t at least sign up for a class at The Groundlings, given their amazing record of launching successful careers.  Last night I heard from two Groundlings alumni, the writers of what will likely be an Oscar-nominated screenplay.  Faxon and Rash have major Hollywood agents.  They are booked to write more movie scripts, and it all started for them at The Groundlings.

On Tuesday night, I tuned in to watch New Girl on Fox.  I was delighted to see that the “Written By” credit for New Girl’s Thanksgiving episode was given to Berkley Johnson.  I have known Berkley since 1999 when he was a student at UCLA.  That summer of ’99, while I was producing Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, I spent a week with my wife and daughter at UCLA’s family camp, called Bruin Woods, in the mountains east of Los Angeles.  Berkley Johnson was one of my daughter’s counselors at the camp.  Berkley also wrote the welcoming and closing shows that were performed by the camp staff.  The camp shows were very funny.  I asked Berkley at the end of the week if he had plans to become a professional writer.  That conversation began a friendship between us.  I read some of his stuff, gave some notes, offered encouragement, and wrote a letter of recommendation for him when he applied to grad school at Columbia University in New York.  Berkley wanted to be a sketch writer.  New York was the place to go to follow that dream.  Berkley bravely put himself into the world that he wanted to be part of.  He made some important connections while at Columbia, and was later hired as a writer on The Conan O’Brien Show.  Now he has transitioned to being a sitcom writer and is on staff at New Girl. 

Here are three writers who made it.  Here are stories about how you can create your own Lucky Break by working hard and by putting yourself into the world that you want to be part of.  Faxon and Nash found their Lucky Break in LA through The Groundlings.  Johnson made his Lucky Break in New York writing sketches.

The secret to becoming a success is to figure out what you want to do, grab the opportunities that are right in front of you, and then have the courage to just go for it.

By the way, Elephant Bucks is now available on Kindle from Amazon.