The Dead and the Naked

How I Never Made it in Hollywood

Photo by Justin Aikin on Unsplash

“You would be the dead girl,” the director said. I could do dead. A low-budget independent film was a step up from the student films I’d been doing. At least there would be pay.

The director had graduated from USC film school and made sure to insert this impressive bit of his resume into our conversation. A framed diploma hung from a nail behind his desk. He didn’t…