Why Does It Take Hollywood So Long to Respond to an Email?

Unfortunately, there's a growing trend among Hollywood professionals to ignore emails. Agents, executives, and the like receive hundreds of emails every day, and it's impossible to respond to each and every one. (I'm not exaggerating when I say hundreds. As an assistant at Touchstone Television, I received 200-300 emails per day.)

In addition to hundreds of emails, the phone rings constantly and when an agent must decide who to respond to first -- the person on the phone or the person on the other end of an email -- the caller wins.

In my experience, emails are responded to either immediately or two weeks after they are received. Everyone in Hollywood has a blackberry and if you ask a yes or no question, you'll often receive an answer within seconds. However, if you ask a question that requires decision making, research, or correspondence with other parties, be prepared to wait up to a week (or longer).

My point is, don't panic if you send an email and you don't received an immediate response.  Most of my emails begin "I apologize for the delay..." I have a habit of letting my inbox overflow before sitting down to respond to my messages. My response time is something I strive (and fail) to improve every day.

That said, if it's been two weeks, or if the subject matter requires immediate attention, feel free to follow up.