"You drive that way in Tiananmen Square, bitch?!" might be my all-time favorite Ari Gold line

Actually Hollywood is exactly as Nathanael West portrayed it "THE DAY OF THE LOCUST" Here's the back cover text- "The Day of the Locust is a novel about Hollywood and it's corrupting touch, about the American dream turned into a sun-drenched California nightmare. Nathanael West's Hollywood is not the glamorous "home of the stars" but a seedy world of little people, some hopeful, some despairing, all twisted by their own desires -- from the ironically romantic artist narrator to a macho movie cowboy, to a middle-aged innocent from America's heartland, and the hard as nails call girl/would-be-star whom they all lust after. An unforgettable portrayal of a world that mocks the real and rewards the sham, turns it's back on love to plunge into empty sex, and breeds a savage violence that is it's own undoing. This novel stands as a classic indictment of all that is the most extravagant and uncontrolled in American life." That is the real Hollywood. Because if one only talks about the successful people it is a lie. The majority of folks who come to Hollywood live on the fringe but some make it inside the circle. Once they reach that success they bring with them all the twisted habits and heavy crosses they bear from the things they did to reach the top. So it magnifies the bad stuff which turns into "over the top behavior" and in doing so proves all the other movies and books about the business to be true. Of course there are normal, hard working people in all aspects of the business. Someone has to do the work. But they're not the majority by far. Not at all.

The Day of the Locust is also where readers are first introduced to Homer Simpson. And I want to add that much of the stuff that gets done is simply delegated to a junior individual who is too young or naive to not keep their wits about them. But that generally changes when they've climbed up high enough to themselves get an assistant. Its assistants that are the reason anything gets done.

Thank you, Scott.

Oops. Didn't mean to post that, I have more to add. You used the exact person I was thinking of when I asked that question! I've read your Business of Screenwriting posts but I've overlooked some. One of my favorites was "Your First Big Paycheck." I've always felt like I've had conflicting views on what Hollywood is really like. It's nice to zone in on reality. Thank you. Michael: I'll have to read that. Thanks!

Michael, great point. I went for the obvious in my response, assuming the question was about the 'typical' representation of Hwood in media, i.e., rich, successful, powerful. But your point is much more accurate. A huge majority of people who work in the business are, as you say "on the fringe." We are reminded that every year when the WGA presents its stats about working writers, much less than a majority making a living wage from their writing. I have to confess, although having seen the movie, I have never read "The Day of the Locust." I have a copy of it, too. Must make the time! Again thanks for your observation.

I feel like I'm always working. I'm not in Hollywood, but I am in Hollywood North (Toronto, as it's no longer Vancouver). I hate getting asked "are you working tomorrow?" because I am always in some way working on: -My current spec / prep on next. -Working on 2nd draft of feature I co-wrote with my producer -Post Prod. on an indie feature I shot (as Director of Photography and am also Associate Producer on) -Pre-Prod. on my next short film (written and directed) -Post on 2 spec commercial's for NIKE I shot. ...and that not even my day job. I also work freelance as a cinematographer/videographer and camera assistant on indie films, commercials and political party campaigns.... Then on top of that... I work as a Production Assistant in film and television here in Toronto and am currently working 16-21 hour days on a CW show called Beauty and the Beast. It's not glamourous but I'm playing the long game here. I know the work I need to put in to live and work in this world, and I know first hand I'm built for it. And just like with the worlds in my stories, I want to understand this industry from every angle before trying to take hold of it (and the incredible amount of networking I get done is a bonus). I've strained relationships with friends and family and I've tossed my social life out the window, because... that's what it takes. Everyone wants to know "how to make it" but no one wants to hear the answer is always "work far harder than you think you need to".

I think you will love the novel. But the movie is a very close adaptation.

I met my first producer yesterday. He was an incredible douche, exactly like on TV. It was hard not to giggle. Definitely self-parody. I couldn't tell if he knows it, though. I wanted to say something, but managed not to. They appear to be exactly the kind of people who think that working weekends is of vital importance even if you don't get anything productive done and, in fact, simply made everything worse. Because you worked your ass off, booyah!

as an Assistant at a studio I can tell you that Hollywood is a drug. Work is long and hard... yes it is... we're making movies. My lifes dream. Hollywood is addicting and I want to be at work everyday. People that bitch about it, don't want it bad enough. The competition here is brutal. Everyone wants that promotion. Everyone wants to be a SOMEBODY. Only the select few are. If you want to be somebody you must make sacrifices. You gotta roll the dice if you want to be in the game. Working on your screenplay for an hour a night in a fly-over state isn't going to cut it if you are trying to outplay me. So to say Hollwood is a parody of itself doesnt quite fit... its a drug.