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Questions About Anime Careers

I'm just going to tell you to go to school.

Do you have any practical experience in television production? Screenwriting? Filmmaking? Writing for animation? Do you know the technical process involved in writing a script? Do you have any connections in the field? Have anyone but your friends and close relatives told you your idea was good? Do you have an agent? Have you ever read a book about screenwriting?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no", then your first step is to enroll in a film studies program at a major university, and focus on filmmaking and production. Your entire outlook on the situation will change, I guarantee it.

Kids, here's an important tip: watching a lot of anime does not mean you know anything about how to write anime, just like driving a car does not mean you know how to fix one. Screenwriting is a very precise process with lots of technicalities, and frankly, nobody's going to take you seriously unless you have contacts, credentials or both. An American with no money, no experience, no contacts, no education and no representation just calling up Gainax and scoring a deal is not going to happen, period. If you're seriously interested in television production and screenwriting, go to college.

As for where, there are a number of schools across the country that have film and video production programs, and acting/theater programs are available nearly everywhere. However, if you're interested in anime dub work, I'd suggest going to a school in a city that has an active dub studio nearby. That way, while you attend school, you can go to voice acting cattle calls, get interships, apply for open positions, etc. Also, there's a good chance that someone in the school will know someone at the studio, and you can network from there.