Roger Nygard has become a successful feature documentary filmmaker, and director and editor on episodic television series including ”The Bernie Mac Show,” ”The Office,” and ”Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but his entertainment career path was not a smooth one. In his profile, he talks candidly about his early struggles, and about how he turned a loan from his mother into much-needed career-stability.

Current project:  My latest documentary, THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE, will be released theatrically beginning June 18 (New York), and July 2 (Los Angeles), followed by a rollout to the rest of the country.  

College & degree:  BA, Speech Communications, University of Minnesota.

Internships: None. But I have facilitated many internships.

First job in the entertainment industry: Production Assistant for a production-management company, Rollins, Joffe, Morra & Brezner. They had a production deal at Paramount and represented clients like Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Robin Williams, David Letterman, and Woody Allen. My goal was to be the best damn PA they ever had. They promoted me to assistant. Then to talent scout.  

Big break:  Selling my first documentary TREKKIES to Paramount for seven figures qualifies as the biggest break so far…

Eureka moment: When I realized I could do what I wanted to do–not what other people expected me to do–and still make a living. I have turned down many projects, such as reality shows or mundane scripts, that would have paid a lot of money and probably advanced my career faster. But I can’t just punch a clock. I have to be challenged. That’s why I do so many varied and unusual projects.  This business is too hard to take lightly. It’s not for the indifferent and you’ll burn out if you are not inspired.

Career path: I started making short films when I was seven and continued through high school and college. When I got to Los Angeles, I realized I needed a kick-ass demo that would get me hired, because nobody will hire you to direct until you’ve already directed (unless you own the script or the production checkbook). So I took my grad school money (I had been accepted to USC) and made another short, “Warped” (which was later released in two home video compilations). I sent that short to everybody who would look at it and that led to my first offer to direct an episode of “Monsters.”

Meanwhile I had read a hilarious script by a comedian I met at the Comedy Store named Steve Oedekerk. My composer on “Warped” knew an investor so we convinced him to finance my first feature, HIGH STRUNG. Each project introduced me to more people, and invariably one of those connections was integral to the next opportunity in my career path. That path has continued through movies, television, and documentaries. If you want a job, start working, even if you have to work for free. You’ll meet people, and if you’re good, they will take you along to the next job.

Worst job (or day) in entertainment industry:  In the gap between my first film, HIGH STRUNG, and my second film, BACK TO BACK (AMERICAN YAKUZA 2), I went $30,000 into debt trying to launch my next projects. (They make those credit card cash advances sooooooo easy!). The worst day was the day I faced the fact that none of my projects were happening and I had no job and big debts. But that’s when a mini-eureka moment happened. I decided to change course and take an Avid editing class. I borrowed $500 from my mother, and with the Avid editing skill newly in my repertoire, I got a job writing, producing, and editing promos for TNT. (One of my connections I met when we were both peons at Paramount was in charge of TNT Latin America and he needed some fresh blood.) I spent the next two years making promos while learning all my editing tricks that became part of my style as a filmmaker, and I brought this style forward to all my projects.

Best day in entertainment industry: Every screening of a new movie or television episode is the new best day. It just gets better each time. It’s a powerful feeling to create something and then witness how people react. When I make an audience laugh, think, gasp, cry, get angry—that’s the best day!

Best thing about your current job: To be able to create! That’s why we exist.

Worst thing about your current job: The long hours. Nobody will work as hard as you do for your projects. Some day I’ll get to sleep.

Brush with greatness: Greatness is the opportunity to work with Larry David. Even greater is being able to dissect from the inside how Larry’s comedy process works. And greatest: becoming a creative part of that process. No matter how ridiculous or crazy a storyline gets, our focus in the editing room is on what do we have to do to more clearly and more succinctly tell that story.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie: Read a LOT. Study literature, not just filmmaking. Learn the art of telling a story. Tell stories that fascinate YOU. Chances are good that if you are entertained, others will be also. Nobody can guess with any accuracy what the “audience” wants. And why would you want to?  How boring is that errand? Be a leader. Create what you like and others will follow.

Next move: I’ve begun the next documentary project, I’m writing the next narrative feature, I’m pitching ideas for the next television series… I can’t be sure which door will open next, but whichever it is, I’ll go through it. Create opportunities, and then say yes.

You can find more information on Roger’s documentary, THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE, which is being released in Los Angeles on June 18th and New York on July 2nd and other cities following that, at: www.TheNatureOfExistence.com.

Josh Bycel has hit a lot of dream landmarks in his career in comedy. From his early days as a freelance writer doing stories for The Onion to being a co-EP for two years helping shape a new series (”Psych”) to writing for the Academy Awards when comedian Jon Stewart hosted, Josh has navigated this sometimes tricky career path well. His talent and hard work and savvy have lead him to a seat at the creative table with some of the top talent working today.

Current position (or recently-completed project or projects): Exec Producer/Showrunner on Scrubs for 2009/2010 season.

College & degree (if any): University of Wisconsin – Madison, Bachelor of Arts, History.  University of California,  graduated from the School of Theater, Film and TV’s Professional Program in Screenwriting (1 year before you can go into the other one). Attended the School of Theater, Film and TV’s MFA program.

Internships: NONE. I was bartending and doing paid sports writing to support myself during that time.

First job in the entertainment industry: I was a PA on Revenge of the Nerds 3. My first task was delivering a script to Booger’s house.

Big break: In this business now, you have to get a big break each year to survive. (Laughs.) My first big break was while I was in the Master’s program at UCLA. I landed a staff writer job on “Veronica’s Closet.” Getting the showrunner job on “Scrubs” was the next big break in my career.

Eureka moment (when you realized you did or did not want to do something or that you should do something differently, etc.): When I left “American Dad,” which was a stable job, and one that I liked, because I felt I was in a rut and didn’t want to do animation for five years. Since then, I’ve had a bunch of really interesting jobs.

Career path (this is where you touch on career milestones you didn’t/won’t touch on in other questions): My writing partner and I had written “Friends” and “News Radio” specs. He had been an assistant at an agency as a day job and someone he worked with  got our stuff to an agent at Paradigm. He signed us, but then left to go to another agency and couldn’t take any clients with him. So we were agentless again for a while, until someone from ICM read us and then took us on. I haven’t worked on that many hit shows, but I have worked consistently and I have worked with great people such as Bill Lawrence, the creator of “Scrubs” and “Cougar Town,” Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter (on “Andy Barker, PI”) and Jon Stewart, when I wrote for the Oscars.

Describe a typical work day in your current position: I get in between 7:30 and 8:00 and begin the day by going down to the stage to make sure filming is going okay. Then I go into the office and review scripts and outlines for upcoming episodes and cuts of episodes in post production. Around 10:00, the rest of the writers come in and for the rest of the day, it’s working with them on stories and outlines, casting, and doing everything else that is involved with producing a TV show. At the end of the day, I check in at the stage one final time. If everything is going well, I leave at 7:30 or 8:00.

Worst job (or day) in entertainment industry: Worst day is when you don’t get jobs. If you get two out of ten jobs you go up for, you are considered wildly successful. But of course that means that eight out of ten times you are getting turned down.

Best job (or day) in entertainment industry: Best day was being up at Robert Evans house working on the cartoon about his life, “Kid Notorious.” When Jack Nicholson would come over for a visit… that was amazing.

Best thing about your current job: Best thing is that being a showrunner fits me. I love being the boss, letting it all fall on me. I think some people are built for that and some people aren’t.

Worst thing about your current job: The hours. The hours are long.

Brush with greatness (can be a celebrity encounter or just being exposed to someone being brilliant at what they do): Working at the Academy Awards. Standing backstage surrounded by people like Jack Nicholson and Nicole Kidman, writing jokes on the fly, writing jokes about them, and then watching Jon Stewart going out and say those jokes to millions and millions of people.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie: The secret to my success is working hard and working smart. I tell anyone who wants to break in as a writer to keep writing. Sooner or later, if you are talented, someone is going to look at your work, but you have to be prepared when the lightning strikes. In other businesses you go from A to B to C, but in this one you have to be able to go from A to B to G because a lot of the time, that’s how it happens.

Next move (or next five moves): I’m not sure what my next move is because there aren’t that many jobs for people who do what I do. But as long as I stay in this business, I want to work on projects I think are interesting and work with people I like and respect. My ultimate goal is to get my own show on the air as soon as I can, and then run it.

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Doug Jung’s Hollywood path is a fairly well-worn one: Working an admin job in the field you want to be in as a writer, spec-ing shows on the side, making connections, getting repped, and getting paid. But lest we give you the impression that it’s an easy path, or one that everyone can succeed on, we are quick to point out his years of hard work developing skills and trying to get read, his obvious talent, and the dash of kismet that got his unread script out from under his agent’s desk. Read on for details…

Current project(s): I am the Executive Producer/Co-Creator of “Dark Blue” on TNT. We are filming our second season, tentatively set to premiere in early June. I am also in the middle of adapting a book called “The Last Duel,” which is based on true events in 14^th century France, as a film project for Paramount.

College & degree: I have a BA in Fine Arts from NYU’s Tisch School.

Internship: I had a very good internship at “Saturday Night Live.” I was a Production Assistant in their film unit, which does all of the out-of-studio content for the show, which at the time was “Toonces the Driving Cat,” in addition to the fake commercials.

First job in the entertainment industry: I worked for a director on a Savoy Pictures Studios movie, then became a Production Assistant at Amblin (when it was in the process of turning into DreamWorks.) From there, I worked as an executive assistant for Darryl Frank, a TV executive at DreamWorks Television (now President of DreamWorks Television).

Big break: When my feature film spec script, CONFIDENCE, was optioned by LionsGate and then ultimately was produced.

Eureka moment: I’d been working for years steadily and I took a job on a movie rewrite that I didn’t believe in, didn’t really like. I woke up every morning thinking about how NOT worth it it was. I realized at that point the long-term benefit of only doing things that you are passionate about, which is beyond monetary rewards.

Career path: While I was working for Darryl, I was writing TV specs. (Note: TV specs are samples scripts of current TV shows similar to the ones you want to work on in order to demonstrate your abilities.) I got an agent off of a TV spec and, from there, I started getting work in TV. I got some freelance episodes, and I worked very briefly on a miniseries called “Taken,” then on a drama originally for TNT (which aired elsewhere), ”Breaking News.” While doing that, I created the spec for CONFIDENCE. I sent it to my TV agent who promptly (literally) put it under his desk.

I had a general meeting with a producer who asked if I had any movie scripts. I sent him CONFIDENCE. After reading it, he contacted Brad Mendelsohn, then a film agent at the agency where I was repped for TV, to find out who repped me for movies. Brad stopped by my TV agent’s office and asked if I was his client and then asked him if I had a film script. My TV agent bent down and brought the script out from under the desk and handed it to Brad. Brad became my agent and then, when he left the agency, my manager. The man who read my script became one of the producers of CONFIDENCE.

Describe a typical work day in your current position: When I get to the office, which is on the Warner Bros. lot, I check in with the other writers to find out if anyone needs help with anything. Depending on what’s going on overall, either we gather in the writer’s room to work on story ideas, or I work on an outline or a script. After lunch, I tend to whatever is happening with other aspects of the show- casting issues, production issues, network or producer questions. It’s all about trying to keep everything above water.

Worst job (or day) in entertainment industry: I had written a pilot that I really, really loved and put a lot into and it was moving along with a lot of enthusiasm and then, at the one yard line, it wasn’t picked up. I remember being really crushed because I was so invested in it.

Best job (or day) in entertainment industry: Any day when I’m alone and I’m writing something and it’s working and there’s no hint of doubt about what I’m doing and at the end of the day, I know where I’m going tomorrow- then it’s just the greatest job in the world.

Best thing about your current job: Working with other creative people and also, in this world of TV, you see the whole process from idea to script to pre-production to shooting to editing. You don’t feel worry about whether it will see the light of day- it’s going to happen, it’s going to go from an idea you get to the finished episode being on TV.

Worst thing about your current job: It’s the most like a day job I’ve had since I had a day job. In other words, I have to be somewhere at a certain time. And it’s unrelenting. You have to constantly feed the machine.

Brush with greatness (can be a celebrity encounter or just being exposed to someone being brilliant at what they do): Working with Dustin Hoffman. That was good.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie: I’ve never heard of any two people doing it the same way. You have to play to your strengths and be true to yourself. If you know what you’re good at and determine your own self worth, people will see that. But if you pretend to be something just because it’s in vogue or something otherwise you are not, people will see that, too. I couldn’t pretend to be a romantic comedy writer, for instance.

Next move: I’m in a fortunate position where I can wait and make things happen that are meaningful to me, as opposed to going for a “job.” This goes back to my earlier comment about if you’re doing something that you like and feel passionate about, people can sense that and the work is more fulfilling.

Become a Your Industry Insider Facebook fan for updates on when you can see Doug’s work on the small screen and on the big screen.

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Ellen Gurney’s career has been all about story. From her time as a studio executive to her transition to freelance consulting and screenwriting, she has been steeped in the beats that make a script come to life. Her own story will inspire readers and hopefully convey that often a key ingredient in the creative life is imposing some order and routine on what is often considered an amorphous process.

Current position:  I am a development teacher and story and script consultant. I am also a represented screenwriter with a project in development at Infinitum Nihil (Johnny Depp’s production company).

College & degree:  I attended Western Washington University and then the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, where I got an AA in Merchandise Marketing.

Internship:  I started as a six-month intern at Walt Disney TV Animation and was there for 13 years.  When I left, I was Senior Vice President of Creative Affairs at DisneyToon Studios.

Big break:  Really, it was that internship. I walked away from managing retail stores to get back to my creative roots, giving up a comfortable salary to start over at an entry level job.

Eureka moment:  As I rose up the corporate ladder, I realized that I was moving away from the ability to fulfill my creative desires. I loved being an executive, but I also wanted to exercise my creative muscles. I had to work hard to keep that balance.

Career path:  I was lucky to have a straight trajectory with Disney, which culminated when the company bought Pixar. It was at this point that I knew we were exec-heavy.  That’s not how Pixar works. So I saw an opportunity to reinvent myself as a writer and consultant.

Describe a typical work day in your current position:  The freelance world is very different, but I hang on to some of my executive techniques.  I give myself a weekly schedule with specific times (just like meetings) during which I do my own writing, read scripts, and do notes  for the consulting business, develop new projects with colleagues and prepare and teach my classes at Emerson.

Worst job (or day) in entertainment industry:  I actually drove in to work on 9/11 because there was a big presentation scheduled. Of course, it was cancelled.  I turned around and went right back home. Devastating.

Best job (or day) in entertainment industry:  Any time I got promoted, it was always a surprise. Nothing feels better than acknowlegement and appreciation. Also, we had a retreat that featured speakers like Malcom Gladwell, Cokey Roberts — real big name people. Alan Mencken played the piano and talked about his creative process. It was awesome, brought tears to my eyes.

Best thing about your current job:  The flexibility.

Worst thing about your current job: The uncertainty. 

Brush with greatness:  I was at a recording with Tom Hulce (ANIMAL HOUSE, AMADEUS).  I’d just had a scary experience with the brakes in my car going out. I was shaking, trying to pull it together. Tom gave me the kindest, warmest hug.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie: Stay connected to your passion, and keep the well of creativity full.  Hang around people who inspire you.

Next move:  I’m lucky to have a fantastic agent and a manager who believe in my voice as a writer.  Next move is to prove them right by creating and selling some awesome original material this year. Also, I’d love to expand the scope of my teaching at some other colleges. I love the energy of being around folks just starting out.

To find out more about Ellen’s story/script consulting services, visit The Story Society.

Know anyone who could use an entertainment industry insider? If so, please encourage them to subscribe to YourIndustryInsider.com and sign up to receive YII’s Mogul Mindset eBlasts today! Also, please visit Your Industry Insider Store to check out recommended books and DVDs. Content will be added regularly as suggestions come in from industry insiders!