My passion has always been to work in entertainment/filmmaking, more specifically producing. I currently live away from LA/NY, but will be moving to LA in Q1 of next year.

I'll be 25 when I make the move to LA and will have been working in marketing for one of the largest media conglomerates in the country for about a year. I spend about 25% of my time marketing one of the major late night talk shows and the rest of my time on another company asset (unrelated to the entertainment industry).

After I make the move to LA I plan on enrolling in UCLA's graduate certificate program in Producing or Entertainment Business, mostly to get a better insight on the industry and do some networking. I'm also hoping to be able to volunteer/work on some productions and use my background in marketing to land ANY entry-level position at one of the talent agencies, studios or executive willing to give me a shot. I've repeatedly seen that marketing is a HUGE component of filmmaking (and can make or break producers), so I don't feel like I've been wasting my time and have ended up with some good transferable experience.

I've told this plan to a family friend who had a short, rather unsuccessful, go at a Hollywood career and his response was:

• I'm getting too old.

• The marketing experience won't help me at all getting an entry-level job anywhere in Hollywood.

• Getting a marketing job at a studio would be a waste of time if I want to get into producing. (I couldn't care less if I'm in marketing or not, I just think my experience is something to capitalize on)

• My best bet is to just focus on being a PA and working my way up, but I'm "getting old" and will have trouble finding someone who wants to take me on board.

Now how true is all of this? I was under the impression that there are millions of ways to end up as a producer, and sometimes the more unconventional ways end up being the most successful. I totally agree I should PA a bit to network and understand how a production works, but I hardly believe 25 is to start in the industry. Any advice on how I should make this transition and utilize my experience best would be much appreciated.

Also if anyone is looking for free marketing work on any size production I am more than willing to offer my services.