At HollyShorts, a panel appropriately titled “The Long Game: What It Really Takes to Make It in Entertainment” stripped away some of Hollywood’s mythology about overnight success. The message from a group of veteran producers, directors, casting executives, network and streaming executives, and an Oscar-nominated editor was remarkably consistent: careers in entertainment are built slowly, through relationships, persistence, craft, humility and the ability to keep learning.
The panel brought together an unusually broad cross-section of the industry, including Netflix executive Brooke Freundlich, producer and former studio executive Greg Mooradian, casting director and former Hulu casting president Barbara Fiorentino, director-producer Anthony Hemingway, ABC/Hulu drama executive Kendra Patterson, and veteran editor David Rosenbloom, whose credits include The Insider, Rudy, Friday Night Lights, Black Mass and Primal Fear.
One of the strongest examples of the “long game” came from Mooradian and the unlikely road that eventually led to Twilight. The project spent years being rejected before the popularity of Stephenie Meyer’s books finally caught up with his conviction that the material could become something enormous. His larger lesson went beyond Twilight: producers have to trust their instincts, commit to ideas they believe in and accept that other people’s rejection does not necessarily determine an idea’s value.
But persistence alone isn’t enough. Relationships are currency in Hollywood. For someone without an established track record, Mooradian encouraged finding experienced producers to learn from and partner with rather than trying to bulldoze into the industry alone. That theme resurfaced throughout the hour. Networking wasn’t presented as collecting business cards. It was about building trust over time, learning from people who know more than you and becoming someone other people actually want beside them when the work gets difficult.
Hemingway brought that philosophy down to the level of the set. His career began as a production assistant, followed by years as an assistant director before moving into directing. His advice to aspiring directors had surprisingly little to do with cameras or lenses. Learn to be kind. Learn to listen. Learn to communicate. A director, he argued, doesn’t need to personally possess every answer. The job is to lead people toward those answers, communicating differently with actors, cinematographers, production designers and everyone else responsible for building the story.
Fiorentino offered the actor’s version of the same lesson. Recalling an early audition by a then largely unknown Kristen Bell for The Shield, Fiorentino remembered Bell arriving prepared, confident without being arrogant, completely off-book and emotionally present. The performance was so convincing that Fiorentino immediately wanted producers to see her. In today’s self-tape world, the technology may have changed, but the fundamental requirement hasn’t: make choices, be prepared and give the person watching a reason to remember you.
For editors, Rosenbloom warned against confusing access to technology with mastery of the craft. Everyone may now carry what amounts to a miniature production and editing studio in their pocket, but software doesn’t replace apprenticeship, study or experience. His advice was to remain humble enough to learn, study the masters and resist declaring yourself finished before you’ve truly developed the craft. The same principle applies once an editor is working with directors. Creative freedom is earned through trust. Deliver what the director needs first, establish a shared language, and eventually the director begins asking what you think.
For people entering entertainment in 2026, the panelists also emphasized specificity and community. Being able to do everything can be valuable, but if nobody understands what you uniquely bring to the table, versatility can become camouflage. Develop a recognizable point of view, find other ambitious people, make things together and build careers alongside one another. As the panel put it, careers are built through accumulation.
Perhaps the best summary came near the end. A project worth pursuing has to be something its creator can remain passionate about for years, because years may be exactly what it takes. At the same time, filmmakers cannot forget the audience. Entertainment ultimately succeeds because it makes somebody feel something. Technologies, distribution models and business structures will continue changing, but audiences will continue showing up for stories that move them.
That was the real lesson of “The Long Game.” Hollywood careers rarely travel in straight lines. They are assembled piece by piece: one relationship, one job, one rejection, one lesson and one opportunity at a time. The people who last aren’t simply the ones who get through the door. They’re the ones who keep learning once they’re inside.
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