Working in entertainment, Rob Long has become superstitious. Whenever Rob does something humdrum like walking the dog and his agent calls, it’s always bad news. A call on a great trip? Well, maybe it’s a series pick-up! “We're always looking for signs and signals about where exactly we are on the great big greasy power ladder,” he says. And nowhere is your place in the world more on display than at the gates of a studio. If you’re denied entry and the gate arm stays down, you’re not just locked out of the lot — you’re also locked out of the business.

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