Over the last 17 years that I have spent in the entertainment industry, I have heard many different talking heads give their opinion about what will or won't get you a job in "this town."
You need to know somebody. You need to be a fresh face. You need to pay your dues before you come out on top. Only submit your work to the top companies. Submit it to everybody. Take classes. Stay away from classes, just get out there and work. Go to festivals, don't go to festivals. And on and on.
Screenwriting IS a language. There ARE patterns to follow. Otherwise, all you have is noise. Like the difference between a well-made film and a static-filled TV screen. But William Goldman is right when he says, "Nobody knows anything." There are a hundred "rules" out there, and I've heard all of them. You will too. Heck, I'll lay out plenty when I read your work. (I mean, you have to know the rules before you can break them.) But what trumps them all is YOU HAVE TO BE OUT THERE.
Don't paralyze yourself because you think you might not be doing it right. Write the screenplay. Make the short film (heck, make the whole feature if you have the time), enter that contest. Send it off to that agent, that producer--even if they are based in Hoboken, CA, as opposed to Hollywood, CA. (But by all means, knock on Hollywood's door first.) Because nobody ever got a "Yes," or a "No" for that matter (and you will get hundreds and hundreds) without making something for the rest of the world to judge, first.
And isn't that why you want to be in this business? :)
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