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2015 Austin Film Festival and Conference Schedule has ended
Friday, October 30 • 9:00am - 10:15am
Breaking In as an Assistant

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There are a lot of ways into this industry and not all are accompanied by the glitz and glam that most of us associate with Hollywood. For many, the road to the top is paved with more empty coffee cups and dry cleaning receipts than red carpets or writers rooms. Join VJ Boyd, Kate Powers, and Gordon Smith, as they share their experiences breaking in as assistants, and how they ultimately transitioned from being a writer’s assistant to writer.
Moderators
avatar for Richard Pearsey

Richard Pearsey

writer/narrative designer Spec Ops: The Line; 1979 Revolution
Richard is the writer and narrative designer of Yager Development’s Spec Ops:  The Line, which was recently named one of the 100 best video games ever made for any platform by Edge Magazine.  He also wrote the forthcoming game about the Iranian Revolution, 1979 Revolution, for... Read More →

Panelists
avatar for VJ Boyd

VJ Boyd

writer/producer Justified
VJ Boyd is a writer and Supervising Producer on the new NBC show THE PLAYER, starring Wesley Snipes. Previously he was a writer/producer for 5 seasons on JUSTIFIED on FX. He is also the author of the graphic novel GHOST COP.
avatar for Kate Powers

Kate Powers

writer Rectify; assistant on Breaking Bad, The Good Wife, UnReal, Quarry
Kate Powers began her television career as an intern on the first season of Mad Men, researching everything from the historically accurate pronunciation of “kaiten” to 1960s salaries. In 2008, she joined Breaking Bad as writers’ P.A. and showrunner’s assistant, eventually... Read More →
avatar for Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith

writer Better Call Saul; writers’ assistant Breaking Bad
Gordon Smith was born and raised in Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan where he studied writing and lurked around the theatre department, writing plays. Afterward, he walked the earth like Caine from Kung Fu for a few years, working random jobs, including helping out... Read More →

Friday October 30, 2015 9:00am - 10:15am
St. David’s Episcopal Church, Historic Sanctuary
  Conference, PANEL

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