Guido Segal, Screenwriter, Journalist, Film Critic, Instructor: I think the best way to make
something is not thinking about the result but just doing it because you feel like you have to.
Film Courage: What does it mean to be bold? I think you’ve said something
where you have to be bold to make it in Hollywood. What does bold mean?
Guido: I’m laughing because the expression. I said it but it makes me cringe because make it's like
what is making it? The more time I spend here, the less I know what it means. To get paid I
guess to do something you love, you’ve got to be bold in the sense that you’ve got to put yourself
out there and it's really hard and we all struggle with it which is sometimes we feel like we're more
comfortable in a place that's not really comfortable which is
I’d rather not go to that event or that screening or I'd rather stay home and watch tv because it's
so hostile and all that and sometimes you got to show up you got to send those emails and the
thing with emails or or texts if you have a phone number and you have a relationship
sometimes they don't you don't get replies you get rejections people ignore you they don't
get back to you you think you're going to meet and the meeting gets cancelled so being bold is
being persistent being getting out of your comfort zone because your comfort zone is not really
comfortable you think it is I tell this to myself every day I think I'm a writer what do I do what I
know how to do is to write and well no that's not it because you can be an amazing writer and no one
will notice and it's hard learning to put yourself out there is hard and sometimes surround yourself
with friends who do it and learn from them i've I i hate it but I had to teach myself
go out to that event meet people follow up friends that can get you into things tell them can you get
me into that event and and you meet people of course then you got to have something to show
and all that be nice to everyone invite them out ask them out for a coffee or drinks
at some point things will start moving by themselves the other thing I noticed with time
no one likes to read script so i've been thinking of directing something myself I'm actually writing
something I want to direct because people don't like reading but they like watching so even if you
don't get into Sundance or whatever it's something to show and I think the best way to make something
is not thinking about the result but just doing it because you feel like you have to so
there's not one single way to do it this is what I'm doing right now and hopefully it pays off and
I know you said earlier that the term making it makes you cringe and I get why that would be but
do you think the longer that you're here or that we are here in this town or in the industry that
the term making it the needle moves so it's like this spectrum and and making it when you first
got here would be one thing but then after you've been here a long time you realize no
there's not really a making it because it's then one project in the to the next and that idea of
success it just keeps moving there's a carrot that you can't grab I think I think it's healthy to
demystify and the the idea I think it was Gertrude Stein they used to say there's no there there
in the sense that one thing that has been helpful living here is realizing that that that I aspire
to is here that I got a chance to meet in Vegas Tom Cruise right oh nice and it was just we were
just two guys in a room sure he's a mega star and whatever and his everything shines about him but
the fact that I can have access to that guy and he and we can talk means that it's not a different
world it's funny when I back in my country in Argentina people ask me like so what's Hollywood
like I'll say well it's mostly a bunch of people in offices it's not glamorous sure you go to the
Emmys or the Oscars or whatever and they're glamorous but the rest of the year it's just
a lot of people in office is saying yes no yes no do we have the money do we want to spend the money
and then going to shoot and shooting anything is not glamorous at all so it takes a long time
it takes a lot of waiting this is the thing no one talks about like movies are glamorous no movies
are not glamorous events are glamorous shooting a movie is strenuous it's exhausting it can be
frustrating that's why actors have trailers because they have to wait you got to sit up
and then when you're in development your meeting in office is having coffee
and a lot of times it's just saying no because it's from their side the exact side it also takes
courage saying no is easy you don't waste money saying yes well that's where it actually starts
I don't know I guess we're all here because we think that it's possible
it's possible to do what we want and get paid for it it's possible to
make a career out of it and when you're here the truth is I I think about this often is I
got to remind myself there are more things in life than a career of course I got to pay a rent and
that's a big concern I got to make a living ideally I can have enough money to also buy
other things and eventually send my kids to college and all that but we get so obsessed
the whole the whole struggle here the hustle you get obsessed with it's all about work
and I'll work 24 hours a day if I have to on weekends like no what's the point especially if
you do something creative it's really hard to do something creative if all you're doing is working
you got to find some balance or try at least if you have no choice I get it but
it can't all be about work all the time and making it
it's not sustainable I see I see very young people who are exhausted again because I want to talk
about the back side as well like people who are actually doing really well and are stressed out
and are exhausted and are not sleeping like you're going to sleep you got to eat you know
anyway when you tell your friends in Argentina that it's
Hollywood is really a lot of people in offices what's their reaction
I guess some people ignore me because they want to keep thinking whatever they want to think
people who are in the film industry there which is
it's barely an industry it's way smaller there's a lot of production but I think
they find that interesting encouraging they're like oh really that makes sense or they ask me
do you go to the beach and I say rarely I don't I forget there's a beach I'm a writer I'm just
I think it's every time you reveal something the backs the backstage or
the backflip of something people imagine it's always interesting nothing nothing's as glamorous
or as exciting from the inside that's a good point hopefully the writing itself is exciting you know
the other thing I always say is a lot of the times
the people in charge the people have the power don't know what they want
until they see it so if you get rejected it doesn't mean your script is bad or it does it's
not worth it it's all very subjective it's very easy to get discouraged when you get turned down
in contests or fellowships and you're like oh my goodness I'm awful
I'm not good enough maybe maybe they they were just looking for something else I was a finalist
for example one of nbc's writing programs I was a finalist and I did really well in that interview
and I didn't get it and they told me it's don't take it too hard
themselves they said it's like we had to pick I don't know six seven people so I didn't I
said what I could have been one of them it's just it's also a matter of luck and context
this project you want to that you're writing to direct do you plan on shooting
it here in the states no I'm actually it's interesting I'm writing that to in Argentina
for several reasons because I'm setting it down there and also to be perfectly honest because
the exchange rate is really beneficial so if you have dollars right now you can
you can do whatever you want in Argentina and dollars go a long way again not to imply
that I'm going to exploit my fellow countrymen because I intend to pay really good salaries but
it makes a difference the currency fluctuates a lot there yeah inflation is a really big inflation
but again you can you can get a an amazing crew and equipment and everything and really qualified
people and actors and and it's also a great way for me to reconnect with my own country
it's not just a financial choice it's just that I really want to
reconnect with the yeah with the language and then the culture and the stories down there.