Melissa Rosenberg on Name Confusion and Launching a Career

melissa-rosenbergheadshotThe Wrap has a great interview with Melissa Rosenberg. She tells the story of trying to get people to read her material, trying to get an agent, and some name confusion that happened along the way at her first big meeting:

“I’m like, Wow, what did she tell them? This is fantastic! I send them the script, and then I go in to meet with one of them. Everyone in the agency wants to meet with me, and I’m going, This is amazing.

And one of them says, Yeah, we just made a deal with your mother. And I’m going, Okay, my mother’s been dead 10 years, so you guys are great!

As it turned out, they thought I was Joan Rivers’ daughter, because her name was Melissa Rosenberg also. I had this nepotism going for me without being related to anyone.

Liz Glotzer knew I wasn’t Joan’s daughter, but her assistant didn’t, and her assistant told the other person, who told all the agents and that’s why they wanted to read me. But some of them actually did read the script, including someone over at the Irv Schechter Company, and they called.

I said, I’ve gotta tell you right away, I’m not Joan Rivers’ daughter, but they read it anyway and that was how I got my first agent.”

See more on The Wrap.