Proper Phone Etiquette
"You have to love the doing of what you're doing and not wait for the phone to ring."
---Robert Stack
"Everything happens quickly, everyone's on the phone. He's hot, and then, He's not."
---Kevin Bacon "For three days after death, hair and fingernails continue to grow but phone calls taper off." ---Johnny Carson In the entertainment business, you spend a lot of time on the phone. Even when you're as low on the show business totem pole as I am, I find myself losing whole days to the phone. For years, I resisted the urge to get a cellphone until my associates finally pinned me down and said, "You have to get a cellphone so I can reach you." Entertainment is dynamic and part of the excitement is the chaos that ensues around it, without a phone you're lost. But if you don't know how to conduct yourself properly over the phone, you could end up shooting yourself in the foot. There is an art to "wooing" people over the phone. In the movie business, it may be your only opportunity to talk to someone. Here are a few tips on how to conduct yourself: Getting the call: Before you hit it big or "big" (or at least big enough to get movie-related phone calls) understand that you have to do most of the calling. People just don't call you back. Who are you? You're a nobody film student! I don't have time to take your calls and answer your questions! If someone does call you, then you need to remember these tips: 1) Be Polite and Gracious: Even if the caller is a complete and utter bastard, be grateful that he returned your call. Even complete bastards in the movie industry are busy and even though you probably don't want to work with a complete bastard, he may hold the key to future work. When you go to L.A., you'll notice that everyone is extremely polite, but sort of in a superficial way most of the time. This is because the movie industry is an incredibly desperate business where people are on top the world one day and scraping to get back the next (See Screech or Gary Coleman). To cover all your bases, you need to be nice to everyone you meet. (Even that obnoxious intern or that jerk pizza delivery guy.) You never know who might be related to some studio exec or might end up in bed with the producer that can hire you. It's doesn't matter who is right or wrong all that matters in Hollywood is your image. You want an image as a nice person that people can work with, not a jerk that once snapped at an intern or stiff the pizza delivery guy. If you're a hothead or you have that sarcastic edge that we East Coasters like to use ("Hey dipshit, you were supposed to call me an hour ago. What the fuck?") you have to learn to turn it off when dealing with work. 2) Don't Answer the Phone if You're Unready: Yes, you are a jerk if you screen your calls, but unfortunately you need to be. Since people can't see you over the phone, when you answer for movie business stuff you want to create the impression that you're a professional. If your idiot housemates are playing video games, blasting music or making a lot of noise, you will come off as what it sounds like: a college kid that isn't ready yet. Unless the phone call is urgent let voice mail get it and call back when you can get to a quiet room. 3) Have Professional Voice Mail: Wacky phone messages and music don't usually sound professional (unless maybe you're good friends with a celebrity who does your message). Keep your business voice mail message for business and make it as professional as possible. New filmmakers will often get a female friend to put on their best secretary voice to do their voice mail message. This creates the impression that you have an office, even when you don't. (Don't lie and say you have an office. You might have to produce one!) It can't hurt you to create this impression for potential clients, even if you're office is in your basement. Making the Call: People that you call for business are not like people you call as your friends and family. Everyone wants to be part of the movie business and many of them are out of their minds. (Some of the people that are in the movie industry are even nuttier.) Assume nothing when you make your call. 1) Be Ready to Call: If you're going to make a business call, make sure you have all the information you need right in front of you. Always have a piece of paper and a pen in case you have to take notes. If you're making a lot of calls at once, you probably should take notes to remember who you talked to or you'll end up like the guy that had to ask William Goldman, "Bill! Bill! Which lie did I tell?!" (Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which_Lie_Did_I_Tell%3F) 2) Politely Defer: As I say again and again, movie business people are busy! If someone tells you that they are too busy to talk, they probably are or at the very least they don't want to talk to you. If you call a movie studio, expect to be put on hold and get hung up on. It happens. Remember, you're nobody to them. If you don't believe me, go into one of the offices in the middle of the day. Watch the girl with the headset handle a few dozen calls in five minutes. You are better off cutting your losses then trying to talk your way past the secretary. If you call back on another day, you might get right through. 3) Call During Business Hours: Most offices have business hours from 9am to 5pm. It's better to call early in the day or late in the day. Early in the day you might catch your target before he gets into a lot of work. It depends on the person. It's been my experience that East Coast people tend to talk to you in the mornings and West Coast people tend to be chatty late in the day. Lunch is always bad, of course, but it's difficult to predict when a busy movie exec might go to lunch. As long as you call within office hours, you should be okay. 4) Polite Persistence Pays, but Disobedience Brings Destruction: Since people will not call you back since you are a film student nobody you will have to keep calling until you get someone. Use common sense. Ask the secretary when a good time is to reach the person you're trying to call. How many times is too many? Well, it sort of depends upon how far you get. Big office buildings sometimes have switchboards. If you don't even get to ring the office you want, feel free to keep calling. They're just busy. If you get your target's secretary, don't bug her all day. Pretend YOU are just as busy. How many times would a busy movie professional keep calling? Probably no more than once a day unless she tells you a specific time to call back. Finally, if you get through you'll have to gauge when you can call back if you need to. If you get curtly dismissed, give it at least a few days. If you get any instructions like, "Don't call me on Monday" or "Don't call me before 2pm" or "Don't ever call me here", for God's sake, listen to the instructions. Worst case scenario, you'll just have to go through someone else to get what you want. Ignore the rudeness and rise above it. 5) Get to the Point: Short and succinct is the best way to go. "Hi, Mr. Warner, I'm Tony DiGerolamo. I'm a screenwriter and I'd like to come in for a pitch meeting. How's Friday for you?" 6) Mention Contacts: Lots of times your doorway into an important meeting will be through a friend. As long as the friend is in good standing with this new contact mention his name. "Hi, Mr. Warner. Dave Wilson gave me your number." Or, if you've had some previous contact: "Hey, Mr. Warner. This is Tony DiGerolamo. I emailed you about the Batman project." This will also help the target remember you. They won't because you're a nobody film student. Don't name drop unless it's relevant. And if you do name drop someone you don't really know, try and stay neutral about it. You don't want to say, "Mr. Warner! I just met the lead actress from your movie last night! She was so nice!" The actress might not be so nice to Mr. Warner. 7) Don't Gush: Fans are on the other side of the fence. Professionals don't ask for autographs or wax nostalgic about their movies. You want to be positive about your target's professional accomplishments, but just tell them you're a fan, the movie was good and leave it at that. Asking to take a picture with your favorite celebrity is a favor and you'll owe someone. Right now, you need to build cred so you can ask for a favor down the road. Once you're in the club getting an autograph will be nothing. Remember, flattery is the life blood of Hollywood. If you overdo it, people out there can tell especially actors and former actors. 8) Don't Criticize: You're a film student. Keep your opinions to yourself. I know, you want to start by saying, "Mr. Warner, every movie you've produced in the last year has tanked, but I can make you a hit!" Behind the scenes, you don't know what tanked. There are plenty of bad movies that made the studio lots of money and there are plenty of critical success that didn't make jack. Shut your piehole. You're trying to get a job. Would you walk into a job interview and tell the interviewer how ugly his tie is? 9) Be Respectful: As a film student, everyone in the movie business right now is above you. Act like it. Don't call people by their first names unless they tell you otherwise. Say hello, please, thank you and goodbye. Don't assume everyone is like you. Some people will immediately drop the formalities, while others will consider it a vital gauge of your character. 10) Don't be Crazy: It's tempting to burn bridges especially if the guy on the other end of the line is incredibly rude, glib or he makes fun of you. If you snap, you'll be in the crazy camp and you won't get work. Don't ever break. If you do break stay away from that contact for a looooong time because there is some good news... 11) Movie Memory is SHORT: This can really work to your advantage, especially if you screw up. Movie companies come and go and even when the studios endure, the people come and go. In a very short time, all the players can change. A studio that kept a tight lock on its doors may suddenly open them looking for talent. An evil secretary that tells you to "go screw" on the phone may get fired or leave her job opening the door to the nice secretary that gets you a pitch meeting. 12) Keep in Touch with your Contacts: This is tough and I'm personally really bad at this. Try to keep in touch with your best contacts. Thanks to email, it's a little easier now. Every once in a while check in with your business contact. You want to keep your name in their brain so it pops in there if they need someone. 13) Be Clear: People sometimes put emotional emphasis on IM's because they can't see or hear the other person. People can do this with phone calls too because they're not seeing the body language. Unless you're from L.A., understand that colloquial expressions and regional dialects will sometimes be lost on people. There are many people in L.A. from other parts of the country so if you happen to share a region with the target, by all means use that to help your call. Cellphone Etiquette in the Business Place
http://mattplln.chaosnet.org/jammers/ettiquette.html
Telephone Etiquette Guide
http://www.fullerton.edu/it/services/Telecomm/FAQ/etiquetteguide.asp
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