"I did not have a true office; I worked out of my home. I did not have
a secretary. I did not have a computer--I had an old IBM Selectric type-
writer. I answered my own phone and typed my own letters. I did not
have a development fund of money to option scripts or purchase mater-
ial. All the projects I got were by convincing the writers I could get their
movies made."
Furie's producing fees were commensurate with the declining budgets
of his films. He found himself at a crossroad four and a half years later,
where he could either align himself with a bigger producer or become an
agent. When he realized that what he liked most about making movies
was putting the crew together, it became clear to him that agenting
below-the-line artists was the right job for him to pursue.
Unable to find a position
with an agency representing
below-the-line clients, Furie
took a job with a firm that
wanted to expand into han-
dling writers and directors,
with the hope that he could
later transition into the area he
really wanted. After nine
months, he was not only repre-
senting writers and directors,
but also was participating in
the below-the-line business.
When he asked if he could
move into that area, his boss
informed him that there were
no openings. So he put out the
word that he was looking to
move to another agency.
After being introduced to
Montana Artists owner Carl
Bressler, Furie was hired as a below-the-line agent, representing clients in
those categories for film and television. Now with the firm for six years,
Furie serves as president, overseeing a staff of 12 that includes other
agents, assistants, and a business affairs executive, in addition to working
as an agent.
"The job requires
a lot of sensitivity to
dealing with not just
people's career success,
but people's career
lows, as well . . . I represent people who have
chosen to be freelance artists. They don't
know where their next job is. They could
work for a year and then they could be sitting
for three or six months without a job . . . Last
year with the impending strikes--the poten-
tial writers' and actors' strike--they made a
lot of films in the first half of the year, and
they made very little product in the second
half of the year. So it was a lot of conversa-
tions with clients, letting them know it was
nothing they were doing wrong; the work
wasn't there."--Jonathan Furie
CAREER TIPS
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