It's been suggested to me, by a successful scriptwriter here in Los Angeles — who has hundreds of hours of network TV credits to his name on every major channel — that I should write a list of the 50 people I admire and want to work with; talented individuals who are excelling in their fields. Excelling in the same genres and similar styles I'd like to write in.
This list is a very good idea because, not only does it focus you to think "who I'd like to be like," but it also makes these famous, untouchable people seem that little more approachable. There's the possibility that, having written my list, I could actually go through it and find ways to contact them, ask them to be mentors and, indeed, end up working with them.
Anything is possible, right?
And being mentored by someone already doing the work you'd love to do is an essential route to success. They know what they're doing and I'm just learning, so I want to suck up their wisdom like one of Stephanie Meyers Twilight vampires. Only I don't intend to be quite so teen-angst moody about it.
It took me quite a while to put the list together and, probably, I've missed out some really key people I would like to work with. But, for now, here — for your delectation and no doubt endless mocking — is "Anthony Burt's List of the 50 People I'd Like to Work With":
Alan Ball (producer/showrunner True Blood
David Goyer, Marc Guggenheim, Brannon Bragen (creators of FlashForward)
Frank Darabont (director of The Shawshank Redemption)
Stephen Fry (uber-genius, writer, TV presenter, actor, comedian…)
Mark Waters, David Berenbaum, John Sayles (The Spiderwick Chronicles)
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, John Lasseter, Thomas Porter (Wall-E)
Rob Reiner (director of Stand By Me)
Stephen King (author of Carrie, IT, The Stand, The Dark Half, The Dark Tower series)
Louis Theroux (journalist, documentary-maker, discoverer of the weird and my twin)
Steven Spielberg (E.T., AI, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raider of the Lost Ark)
Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Baz Luhrmann (creative genius and director of Moulin Rouge and Australia)
Jamie Oliver (the Naked Chef and all-round passionate, brilliant man)
Robbie Williams (singer)
Bon Jovi (rock band)
Peter Andre (TV presenter and all-round great guy)
Leonardo DiCaprio (fantastic actor)
Rachel McAdams (fantastic actress and stunningly beautiful)
Neil Gaiman (fantasy writer and graphic novel hero)
Bruce Willis (Die Hard actor…just because how cool would it be?)
John Connolly (Irish writer)
Russell T. Davies (writer of Dr. Who)
J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek)
Marc Forster, David Magee (Finding Neverland)
Edward Zwick (director of Blood Diamond)
Anthony Hopkins (actor)
Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald (British band, Take That)
Christian Slater (actor)
John Williams (composer of Jurassic Park and Star Wars)
Ewan McGregor (actor)
William Nicholson (screenwriter of Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Shadowlands)
Ridley Scott (director)
Matt Damon (actor)
Emma Thompson (writer and actress, Nanny McPhee)
Matthew Vaughn (director of Stardust)
Jack Nicholson (actor)
Angelina Jolie (actress)
Brad Pitt (actor)
Clint Eastwood (writer, actor, director)
So, now it's your turn. Go make a list of people you want to work with. They don't necessarily have to be involved with film or in the entertainment industry, just whoever it is you admire; whoever is your hero. Go find them and be part of their lives (in a non-stalkerish way please) and you might discover they actually want to be a part of yours too. They are, after all, just people. Lots of love. Wink.