REGINA: How did you get to Hollywood?
MARIANNE: I moved there while pursuing my BA in Fine Arts at a Jesuit university and started temping in ‘the industry.’ I worked for several agents at three of the top talent agencies, a couple studios and PLAYBOY. Additionally, I dated and was friends with several studio executives, movie producers, movie and television actors, and Hollywood agents. I lived there for a little over twenty years.
REGINA: In a few words, what is Hollywood culture?
MARIANNE: The words that come to mind are: insatiable, sex, drugs, immoral, illusory, predatory, soulless, lost, and lonely.
REGINA: How so?
MARIANNE: If you look at what Hollywood glorifies in movies, you see a tiny sliver of what really goes on and what it emulates. ‘Sex sells’ has been a motto forever, but sex is really more of a currency in Hollywood so it should be, “sex buys.”
REGINA: Sex buys stuff?
MARIANNE: Yes. Actresses/actors got roles, fame and money. Producers would use prostitutes (usually models, low-level actresses, wanna-bes) to close deals. Of course, not everyone gets something in return for having sex with someone in power.
REGINA: Do some people get nothing?
MARIANNE: Then there were the assistants in Hollywood: agent’s assistants, production assistants, etc. These people, their opinions and gripes were often overlooked and taken for granted, but these people suffered with sexual harassment from their bosses, clients, actors, etc without the windfall
of fame and fortune. The assistants just felt they had to deal with this daily grind because to speak up meant that, ”you will never work in this town again.” When you’re barely making enough to survive
in hopes that someday you can move up the ranks and become an agent, the last thing you want to do is rock the boat.
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