Jon reserved a space at the end of our session yesterday for me to ask him any questions—not questions necessarily related to the pilot I’m writing but questions about anything. I had been keeping a list in my notebook for just such an occasion. All of a sudden the questions I’d recorded seemed very menial and silly. I had questions like, “What do you wear to an interview for a writing job?” “How old are the people in your writing room?” “What screenwriting software do you use?” I warned Jon that my questions were stupid, but he assured me that there are no stupid questions. And though my questions might not have impressed Jon, now I’m happy that I have the answers. (Casual dress; a range of ages, the youngest starting at 30; Finaldraft.)
Though a seemingly minor worry, asking what to wear yielded perhaps the most important response. This question arose because I’d heard two different opinions. One, which I was more inclined to trust, came from one of my SU professors, who worked as a comedy writer in Hollywood for a number of years. He told us that, if you do get a pitch meeting, to look like a comedy writer. Don’t wear a suit and come across as uptight. Dress casually, but look like a million bucks. The other opinion held that you should err on the side of overdressing for interviews. Wear a suit.
Jon settled it for me. “If you wear a suit to a writing interview, people will think you’re crazy. You’ll look like you don’t belong there.” Catastrophe averted. It might have sounded like a silly question, but the little things do matter. Should I get an interview or pitch meeting, I will not wear a suit.