The best way to make it in Hollywood is to be born the child of rich and famous parents. The second best way is to be born rich so you never need to get a day job and can devote all your time to the craft. The third best way is to move out here when you're very young, rent a cheap apartment with a bunch of others your age, take any job in the industry you can find, bust your ass doing it, make friends with the people you meet, and write write write. If you grew up here you can start sooner. The fourth best way is to find a job that pays the bills, live within your means, and have a life so you have something to write about. Then get up early or stay up late or work weekends until you have something you're not embarrassed to show to someone. This is most of us. The business is what it is. You can complain about it all you want. Does sexism or racism or all forms of discrimination exist? Yes it does, in just about every business in America. You don't have connections? Make some. Is it hard? Just about everything in life is. Is it fair? What is? People get mad when I dare say you can succeed on hard work and merit. I do not understand this complaint. If you don't believe this to be true then why bother with it at all? If it's not fun or fulfilling just quit and do something else that makes you happy. Nobody cares. They do not need you. You will not be missed. There are more than enough writers willing to do what it takes even if it ends in failure. Again this is most of us. I am sorry to tell you this, but for the vast majority of people who have not found success as a professional screenwriter it is because their scripts just weren't good enough. And by "good" I mean something that someone believes they can sell and make money from it. That's why they call it show business, not show art. Even then most of them will be wrong. I have a sneaking suspicion that most of these gripes are coming from people who aren't actual writers. They just like the idea of being a screenwriter. Because writers know all this to be true and they do it anyway. Because that's just who they are. Writers write. Am I right?