Connecting at the Griddle Cafe

An item in the 3/16/2005 issue of The Hollywood Reporter just confirmed the Hollywood cliche that you can work your way up the industry food chain by serving the right people.

The trade reported the sale of a spec script "This Bill Smith" to Columbia Pictures after first-time writers and University of Illinois grads Ben Brandstrader and Jonathan Sadowski reconnected while working at the Griddle Cafe on Sunset Blvd. The writers got their break by serving Griddle regular JC Spink, a manager-producer and partner at BinderSpink. The trade reports, "One morning, when Spink was meeting with Metropolitan Talent Aceny's David Boxerbaum, Brandstrader pitched them the "Bill Smith" idea. Before long, Sadowski [also an actor] and Brandstrader had signed for representation with Boxerbaum and Spink."