It's a question so many have. Can I break into film and TV while living outside Los Angeles? The truth is yes, as there are so many different paths writers can take to break in. Although getting your start from across the country can raise extra challenges, Jamarcus Turner (Bob Hearts Abishola) found a way to make inroads in the industry while still a factory worker in Indiana. 

Turner put in a lot of work in advance of getting his chance on Bob Hearts Abishola. His interest in writing started back with childhood punishments. He pointed out:

"I used to get in trouble all the time. Punishment would be I had to get sent to my room. There was no TV. No video games. I had an uncle who would send me books. He knew I was a serious kid so he’d send me books like The Way Things Work and all these science books, history books. And I’m a you can’t punish me, I’ll figure a way out of this kind of person, so it’s like I’ll just read these books. I can go into the book. You can’t get me in there. I’m not on punishment, I'm in Narnia."

Not only did diving into books advance Turner's reading level quickly, it created a love for linguistics that drew him to writing. It was a connection on Twitter/X that took Turner from writing humorous remarks on social media to writing scripts. Turner detailed:

"A writer and producer and actor named Yassir Lester DMed me. We had been following each other for years. He would say something funny, I would laugh. I would say something funny, he would laugh. He was like, hey man, what do you do? I was like, I build plastic tanks in Indiana. I didn’t understand why he was talking to me. He was just like, you should write. I think you're a writer. So he bought me a book about writing. He bought me a program for writing scripts."

With that encouragement, Turner sat down and wrote a script. It was terrible so he wrote another and shared it with Lester. The response he got on that second script:

"He was like, this is also pretty bad, but you’re doing better. Then I fixed it and fixed it and then it was an okay sample."

Turner embarked on his next script, but as he was finishing it, his little brother passed away. This had a profound effect on Turner's script. When Lester read it, he asserted that with a few cuts it would make an excellent writing sample. Pleased with this reception of his work, Turner didn’t fully get the significance of the praise. According to Turner:

"I didn't even know what that meant because I was still working sixty hours a week building plastic tanks in this factory. I thought it was just something cool I could show people."

Taking the Leap

Ready with a strong sample script, Turner heard The Problem with Jon Stewart was doing a nationwide search for writers. Anybody could apply. Turner sent in a packet. It was a blind submission and if they liked your writing you kept moving forward in the process. Turner made it to the finals. He didn’t make it any further, but his sample made an impact. He shared:

"They hit me up and told me they were going to go in a different direction. I thought that was it and a couple hours later the head writer hit me back. She was like, we really like your writing and I want to send some of your writing to an executive that I know."

Turner sent his script over on a Sunday night and by Wednesday morning he had a meeting scheduled with Disney. He explained:

"They had read my script and passed it around and really liked it. So I got in a meeting with these people and they were great. We laughed and had a good time and I didn’t understand what big deals they were because I was still working 60 hours a week in a factory. I lacked perspective."

Staffing

From that first meeting at Disney, came even more meetings. Turner related:

"They told people they liked me so producers started hitting me up. Agents and managers started reaching out to me because they realized somebody was going to pay me to write pretty soon."

In just six months Turner had an agent and a manager. They got him a staffing meeting for the series Bob Hearts Abishola, viewing it as a way to get practice in taking this sort of meeting. Turner commented:

"They told me hey, we're going to send you out on this interview. You're not going to get the job. They only hire 60-year-old White dudes because it’s a Chuck Lorre show, but it’s going to be a good experience for you. I was like hey, man. I'm up for all this. I'm 37. Me and my wife have twelve children. We live in the Midwest and it’s just like, cool."

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This was a life-changing meeting. Turner found himself talking with Gina Yashere, a comedian who he admired and revered, and Al Higgins, who through meeting prep Turner discovered had two brothers who were also successful in entertainment. Turner recalled:

"I talked to them about comedy and my journey and they were just like, okay. We got off the phone and I was like, hey man, that was cool. I got to meet two cool people and I got to meet Gina Yashere and talk to her, that was great. I'm going to tell all my friends I got to meet Gina Yashere. A few hours later my agents and managers hit me up and were like, they’re going to hire you."

Reflecting on this experience, Turner encouraged up-and-coming writers to always concentrate on preparing for whatever meeting comes your way. He emphasized:

"Do all the research you possibly can on the people that will be interviewing you. Also on the subject you will be interviewing for. If they're bringing you in for a show, you should have been watching all of that show all day today."

He continued:

"They were interested enough in your writing and who you are to interview you. Be interested enough in them to do the research on them."

Breaking In From Outside Los Angeles

As someone who made the jump from the Midwest to being a television writer, Turner had two recommendations for writers living outside Los Angeles. The first, submit to everything. He elaborated:

"The more eyes you can get on your projects the more likely the success will be. It's like throwing pasta up against a wall. Something's going to stick."

His second recommendation:

"Don't ever compromise the things that you're trying to do for someone else's success."

He asserted:

"Never compromise the writing or the work for anything else, because the work is what will get you the work. If you want to be a writer, writing will get you the work that you want to be doing."

When it comes to following your heart, dreams and goals in life, Turner offered:

"I was really good at making walls and building huge tanks and stuff. Just because you're good at something, does not mean that's the thing you've got to do for the rest of your life. It's what you're passionate about. It's what you want. Being good at something is not the same thing as it being good for you."

Read More: Do You Have To Live In LA To Be A Screenwriter?

Handling Rejection

The ability to deal with rejection is something Turner credits as key to growing and sustaining a career in entertainment. He suggested:

"Take the criticism. Learn how to distill the criticism until it gets to the point where you're like this, I can use this."

He added:

"It is a business of rejection and criticism, but it's not that bad. Nobody's going to stab you or punch you in the face or put you in a trunk or something. They're just going to go, I don't like this. You're going to try to find people who like it and guess what, if not enough people like it, change it. Learn how to bend in the places where you can and learn how to be firm in the places you can't."

Staying Persistent

In his final words of advice, Turner stressed:

"Keep submitting to stuff. Keep working at stuff. If you've already broken in, just keep on taking those meetings. Keep being cool. Be prepared for your meetings. It's staying on top of that."

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When you do get those meetings, Turner noted:

"They've already read your writing. They already think you might be good enough to hire if they're even talking to you. So now they're evaluating you as a person. Be the person that they want to have on their set. Be the person that they want to have in their room and you will be in their writers' room."