For the past few years, I haven't had what you might call a proper office. What I had - like a lot of writers - was a room in my house for writing, plus a mobile phone. And what I did - as a lot of writers do - is sit in my house and check my email all day and try to figure out a way not to answer the phone.
These days - and this is mostly good news - I have an office to go to. I'm in production on a new television show, and I have a couple of large offices on a studio lot, with a fancy coffee maker and a bunch of assistants. This means that finally, after a few desultory years of working at home, I have a place to sit that's dedicated to getting something done, as opposed to the office in my house, which is dedicated to Facebook and naps.
Of course I still have a mobile phone and an email address, so I still get work-related calls and emails on those devices. And this is in addition to the phone in my office, where people also call, and my studio email address, which I didn't even know I had until I got an email at my personal email address asking why I hadn't responded to emails to my studio address.
All of this means that I suddenly have twice the commotion in my communication life. And that's the trouble with all of these devices. They're supposed to make us more productive, but they actually just make us more available.
Still, it's better, all things considered, to have an office to go to. That's what every writer wants - a place to go, a place for work, something a little more formal and composed than, say, a coffee shop.
Finding the perfect place to work is a complicated needle to thread, but two writer friends of mine have managed to do it. How they managed it is an instructive tale of how to make it in Hollywood.
Almost 10 years ago, they had a production deal at a studio, which entailed a couple of nice offices. During the term of the deal, though, because they're nice guys and unfailingly polite and show appreciation to everyone around them - this may have been the reason for their stunning lack of success in the entertainment industry, actually, but that's another story - they won the friendship of the person at the studio who's in charge of things like offices and facilities and work supplies.
As in most businesses, this is always the most important person in the organisation. Upper level executives come and go. CEOs get fired and replaced. But the person who issues the BlackBerrys and distributes the printer ink is the person who stays.
Stays, and remembers.
At the end of their studio contract, the facilities person let my friends know that if they wanted, they could keep their offices for a few months. That's how charming and polite and winning they'd been to this lower-status employee - she actually agreed to let them stick around in their swank movie lot offices, on the quiet, for a little while longer.
So for the next few months, they did just that, making sure to call in parking passes for themselves every day - you can only do that, it turns out, if you call from an on-the-lot phone, which they could.
A few months of this turned into a year, and they kept being gracious to the facilities person, who kept making sure that their offices were available, kept their internet service on, kept their offices stocked with paper and dry-erase pens, and in general kept them on the lot, like guys with a studio contract and unlike guys with a studio contract that had expired.
This has lasted, unchanged, for the past 10 years.
As of this morning they are still in those offices, still calling in parking passes, still eating at the studio commissary - all of which beats hanging out in a coffee shop trying to talk on the phone over the noise of the espresso machine.
This is a version - a clandestine version - of what's often called a "housekeeping deal," which is, essentially, an agreement between a studio and a writer in which the studio provides an office and parking and an assistant (but no money) in exchange for some kind of first-look arrangement with the writer. But that's a deal negotiated by lawyers and agents and studio business affairs people.
My friends' deal was negotiated by no one. It's just the result of two guys being nice and affable and polite to an all-powerful studio facilities person.
You can get a housekeeping deal both ways, of course. But for some reason I like my friends' way better.
Rob Long is a writer and producer based in Hollywood
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
The%20Iron%20Claw
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.