Ask an Assistant: Polly Rittenberg (Echo Lake Entertainment)
Polly Rittenberg - Assistant, Echo Lake Entertainment
- Interviewed by: Gillian Madans, Agent Trainee & Commercial Assistant, Buchwald -
Hi Polly! Thank you so much for taking the time to be interviewed. To start off — can you tell us what an average day is like at Echo Lake Entertainment?
My pleasure! I have two very busy bosses so my day starts off with making sure that everything they're both supposed to do that day is properly prepped and then making sure that their clients are equally prepared for any meetings they have that day. When you work for representatives, making sure clients are cared for is a big part of the job. After that, I'm rolling calls with one of my bosses while he drives into the office. Once he's in, the bulk of my day is spent making and answering phone calls, preparing submissions to help their clients get jobs, and scheduling meetings for them. A large part of my job is also streamlining as many things as possible so my bosses can focus on the bigger picture. It can feel stressful when a lot of people are coming to you at once with questions and requests, but working for my particular desk has really forced me to learn a lot about time management.
When you started at Echo Lake Entertainment, did you know where you wanted to land in the entertainment industry? Has that changed at all during your time there?
Not exactly--I had a general idea about what I wanted to do (which was work in development), but I really told myself from the get-go that I should be open to any and all opportunities that came my way. I was flirting with the idea of being a literary manager and while it's a job I greatly admire and respect, I realized that what I liked most about being a manager was the development work that my bosses do with their clients and their new scripts. So it hasn't exactly changed per se, but my job has confirmed for me what exactly I want to do.
Could you speak about how you found your place in the entertainment industry? What was the journey that brought you to where you are now?
I would say it was initially a fierce passion for film. I loved movies and was an avid TV watcher so I just knew instinctively from a young age that I wanted to be in this business, but I was not quite sure how I would make that happen. My journey to get here has been extremely non-linear. When I graduated from college (I attended the liberal arts school Guilford College), I knew I wanted to see more of the world so I moved to Bangkok and worked as an English teacher at a Thai school for almost a year and a half. As soon as I got back to the states, I needed an income fast so I worked in a high-end wine shop in New York City (I grew up in Brooklyn so NYC is my hometown). Believe it or not, that job has prepared me very well for Hollywood, particularly the phone etiquette and handling a lot of different types of personalities all at once.
After doing that for a while, I took a bit of a pause and decided to pursue a graduate degree in film studies because at heart, I really am a film nerd. I attended SCAD so I moved to Savannah, GA. Once I finished my degree, and realizing that I didn't want to climb the academic ladder, I once again needed a small break. I then decided to at least visit LA and see about job opportunities out there, That was in February 2020 and when I was starting to make plans to do that, the pandemic had started. After moving back to NYC and waiting out the pandemic a bit, I finally moved out to LA at the end of 2021 and I started working at Echo Lake Entertainment in the summer of 2022 as a floating assistant and in the fall, I became an assistant to a literary manager and the head of the management division. Overall, I'll say that what I love about non-linear journey has been that every experience I've had (good and bad) has been a useful learning experience for where I am today.
How much has your education helped you in your day to day work? How necessary or helpful do you consider pursuing further education to be? Would you recommend doing so for young professionals hoping to get a foot in the door?
This is tough for me to answer quite honestly because I really think it's a personal decision.
For me, my education (and not just my film classes) has helped me immensely. So much of my critical thinking and writing skills that are big components of my jobs were from my education. But having had other real-world experiences has also been supremely helpful in my job.
I do have a masters degree in film studies and while that was not necessary to have for my current job, I'm personally happy I pursued post-graduate work. I will say though that I do not think it is for everyone: it's a lot of time and money that you will be inputting into a very specific subject so you need to make sure you really love it. I will say that if you only want to go to graduate school or any other higher education just because you feel like you have to, I would take a second and reevaluate. It's not worth it if you don't really want to be there.
As someone who didn't go to UCLA, NYU, USC, etc, etc. I do see how having a piece of paper with one of those names printed on it is a great way to get a foot in the proverbial door, but if you don't go to those places, I don't want you to feel discouraged that you won't get into the business at all! You can find your way in through internships or just good old fashioned networking.
Overall, I'm a big fan of education and have only had positive experiences, but if you've never been a fan of school, I would tell you to seek out real-world experiences. You never know where those will take you.
What are some of your favorite professional projects you worked on at Echo Lake?
I'm thankful to say that there have been many favorites, but I'll talk about a recent one: both of my bosses represent a horror movie legend who just wrote his first romcom, but has a cheeky twist (if I could, I would explain more). He's written a few drafts and I've been working on those with my bosses from the get-go (giving notes, suggesting production companies, and even casting ideas). It's currently out to producers so we're hoping for just one yes.
What about personal projects? Do you have anything you’re working on outside of work that you’re proud of or excited about?
I wish I could sound more interesting and say that I'm working on many cool outside projects, but sadly right now, I'm not. Hopefully one day soon.....
Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now? What do you consider to be the next steps you have to take in order to get there?
Ten years from now, I'm still working in entertainment. Ideally I'm living abroad, working for a major studio (do not ask me how I will achieve this, but maybe writing it down will alert the universe to make it happen!), and producing interesting and varied projects.
The next steps I think I need to take are working in development and production and see how things work from the other side.
What do you feel is the most rewarding part of your job?
I've had my current job for about a year and a half and I would say the most rewarding part is the trust and rapport I've developed with my bosses' clients. They know I can get the job done for them so it's nice to be recognized by people who have experienced many assistants over the years. In a more abstract sense, another rewarding part of my job is just reminding myself that I'm actually working in Hollywood--my nebulous teenage passion has become a real career for me and that is so cool.
What advice would you give to those who want to be in the entertainment industry, but don’t know where to start?
As annoying and cliched as this answer might be, networking is really a great way to start. I don't necessarily mean that you have to attend mixers (though those are good to attend!), but I would start by asking the people in your life (family, friends, mentors, etc) if they know anyone in the business and if they do, respectfully ask for an introduction and schedule a time to hear more about their career paths. Something my Dad told me when I was looking for a job that is so easy and so true is that if you don't tell people you're looking for a job, they don't know that you might need help. It's really amazing to see people offer their time and advice when you raise your hand and say, "Hey, I want a job in entertainment. How do I make this happen?" An informational interview is how I got my job at Echo Lake.
Also, anyone reading this who wants an entertainment job, feel free to hit me up. I'm always happy to listen and see what I can do to help.
Thank you again! I still can't believe I'm one of the chosen people.
