LEARN TO HOLD A POKER FACE

Sand-bagging, bluffing, and lying are all around you.

I do not know a female veteran of Hollywood who does not feel like a warrior. But the goal is to become a warrior who recognizes the discrete reality of the situation and creates her own ethical behavior - a warrior to respect and admire - who can support herself and the integrity of the movies she chooses to make.

Women tend to feel guilty when they lie and angry when they are lied to. These emotions do not belong in the workplace. Bluffing skills are needed for all high-rolling activities: script and book auctions, negotiations with actors, all deal making on your own behalf.

Lying turns the wheels in Hollywood, and woman should learn to hear it for what it is, or else we can be bluffed hourly.

Don’t take simple declarative statements at face value. “Fox has offered $200,000 for this screenplay” should be perceived as “This person’s agent claims that...”

Learn how to hold a poker face. Skating the fine line requires bluffing skills, little white lies, and tactical withholding of information.