Ten Steps to Break Into the Entertainment Industry

What do Aretha Franklin, Peter Criss (Kiss drummer), Chris Noth (Law and Order, Sex and the City), and Bill Cosby all have in common? They've all collaborated and co-written with Charles Kipps. Here's your chance to learn firsthand how to break into the entertainment industry from a guy who started with no connections and made it big in his early twenties.

In his own words, this is how he got his start: "One day I was in DC, and I heard a song coming through a window.  I thought it sounded interesting.  So I walked in and saw three guys singing a song called "5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years of Love)." I told them
that I wanted to take a demo tape of it to New York.  Now keep in mind that I was in my early twenties, and I told them I could do something with it.  I called a couple of people and ended up being directed to a guy named Ron Moseley at Sussex Records.  He loved it, and it went on to be a Top 10 hit and have a Grammy nomination that year.  The group was called "The Presidents."

Charles Kipps has won Emmy, Edgar and Peabody awards, and has 7 gold records. A few highlights over the years:

• TV credits include Exiled: A Law & Order Movie, Little Bill, Fatherhood, The Cosby Mysteries, Columbo, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
• Among his film credits is Fat Albert: The Movie, co-written with Bill Cosby.
• Author of four books: two non-fiction – Out of Focus and Cop Without A Badge – and two mystery novels - Hell’s Kitchen Homicide andCrystal Death. Crystal Death was chosen by publishing trade magazine Kirkus as one of the best mysteries of the year.
• Wrote and produced songs for artists such as Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. He wrote Walk Away From Love, a number one hit for David Ruffin, former lead singer of The Temptations.
• Was behind the blockbuster song The Hustle by Van McCoy. McCoy composed the song after his Charles, his music partner, watched patrons do a dance known as "the Hustle" in the nightclub Adam's Apple in New York City.
• Partnered with Van McCoy in McCoy-Kipps Productions, one of the most successful music production companies of the 1970s.

If you're a writer who's serious about breaking into the entertainment industry, here's the link to the webinar (Wednesday, Jan. 16, 1pm PST): https://www.writersstore.com/ten-steps-to-break-into-the-entertainment-industry?lid=cktwspromo