-
10 Questions with ... Linda Stuart
March 3, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
NAME:Linda StuartLAST WITH:Westwood One-Metro Networks, Los AngelesPHONE:(310) 487-2422EMAIL:beckettmaupin@yahoo.com
Please begin by giving us a brief career history ...
When Tom Leykis was hosting a current events Talk show at KFI-A/Los Angeles, and I was reading scripts at Paramount Pictures, I wrote to Tom and asked if I could come watch his show. I was an avid listener of Tom's show long before Leykis 101 was invented. We didn't know each other, but Leykis was impressed with my letter, and invited me into the studio.
I was so intrigued with radio that I wrote to the APD of KFI, who hired me as a talk show screener. I then moved to the news department as an editor, and I begged the KFI News Director, David G. Hall, to let me work as a field reporter. I gave him a strong demo tape, but he told me to go out and get more experience. That was a tough, emotional rejection, so passionate was my interest in KFI and the radio business.
For a time, I moved on from radio. I went on to author a successful book on screenwriting and the film industry, "Getting Your Script Through The Hollywood Maze." I became a freelance entertainment print journalist (Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter), and lectured on screenwriting at the American Film Institute.
By 2001, I wanted to get back into the radio business, and started work as a news and traffic broadcaster for Westwood One-Metro Networks in Los Angeles. I did on-air work for many major stations, including KABC, KRTH, KNX, KFWB, THE WAVE, and KLSX. I loved being on the air, and even realized my dream of working as a field reporter.
I spent over seven years at Westwood One-Metro Networks until corporate layoffs were instituted in September of 2008; 60 Metro Networks bureaus across the nation became just 13.
I have been pushed kicking and screaming back into the radio job market. The Westwood One executive who helped orchestrate the layoffs is no longer with the company, and I would like to return. I've heard rumors that Metro Networks in Los Angeles may soon have enough new business to warrant hiring new broadcasters, meaning that some of us who've been laid off MAY be able to come back. I don't know.
So, I'm out here, looking for work at a time when the radio business and the entire nation have seen better financial times. I'm smart, resourceful, and continue to be motivated and ambitious. I have major-market radio experience with top-company credits across the board.
1) What do you do to maintain a positive mental attitude and stay motivated?
I know that I'm smart and capable, so I just keep trying and refuse to give up.
2) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
I have created a series of casting workshops for actors and actresses in film, TV and theatre. I realize that I must do more than just send resumes for work, so I have turned to entrepreneurial ventures. I have also been doing some private screenplay consultation.
3) Some people get discouraged or enlightened with the business when they actually step out of it for a while. Tell us your observations from the outside.
Yes, it's very discouraging to know that you're good on the air ... know that you have a lot to offer ... and you don't hear back from radio stations to whom you e-mail resumes and audio samples. But, again, you've got to keep going. The answer isn't giving up the radio business or giving up your dreams. You have to keep trying, trying, trying.
4) Do you plan on sticking with the music/radio industry?
I will keep e-mailing my resume and audio samples. I will keep checking radio job websites. As radio executives shift and change, one program or news director who rejected you may suddenly be gone from a particular company as a new person comes in. Maybe that new program or news director will give you a job!
5) What's the longest stretch you've had on the beach?
After I left KFI and became a published author, at least five years went by before I decided to go back into radio.
6) What's the best way to get your foot in the door?
A personal referral is always best. The entertainment industry is largely based on referrals for jobs. Beyond that, try cold-calling, a great letter, and persistence, persistence, persistence.
7) What has been your best resource for finding out about job openings?
I like the job boards on All Access and www.scba.com. Again, cold calling can be effective, but it's also very tough because many radio execs are inaccessible and won't return your call. But then try again ... and again and again.
8) What is the next job you'd like to obtain?
I'd love to be a field reporter in which I'm rushing to cover breaking news from politics to fires to courtroom trials and entertainment.
9) How are you finding the "courtesy level" at places you've applied? (Callbacks, e-mails, rejection letters, etc.)
It's VERY tough. One particular news director at an L.A. news station is as hard as steel. She NEVER returns my calls or responds to e-mails, and I can't figure out why she doesn't like my on-air presence.
10) What's the most unbelievable question you've ever been asked in an interview?
One radio news director actually asked me if I had kissed a certain co-worker.
Bonus Questions
My favorite new diversion is ...
...jogging in Santa Monica with my new dog who I rescued from the pound.
-
-