Networking in Hollywood? Know who you're reaching out to

Advice from a screenwriter

Breaking into Hollywood is all about who you know, right? That’s why building your network is important.

But before you reach out to someone, know who you’re reaching out to. You should know their background and credits. Given that all this information is on the internet, there’s no excuse not to. Just look them up on IMDb.

This should be obvious, but most people make an even more egregious mistake. And when they try to network me, I’m absolutely baffled. It’s an instant no.

So what mistake is this?