All that matters is what you have actually done. What you have created. You can talk about how good you are, how educated you are, and if someone would just give you a chance….But life does not work that way. An artist is ONLY judged on their work. In other words the key of being a producer is PRODUCE. You should be passionate enough about your art to find a way to do it with whatever tools you can find, and with or without an obvious paycheck. The best way to become an musician is to start writing songs, the best way to become a writer is start writing. Put in the work, the overnight success fantasy is just that.

The best example I have ever seen of this is Liam Lynch, who directed Tenacious D’s “Pick of Destiny”. Liam was going to school in Europe, with sock puppets and an VHS camera he created “Sifl and Olly”y then sent the tapes to MTV Europe and ended up with his own TV show on MTV America. He took what little tools he was given and created not only fantastic art, but an entire career and now two of his best friends are Jack Black and Dave Grohl. Not bad for sock puppets. The point is you can do it. Just keep networking and creating, so when opportunity strikes you have a large body of work to show for yourself. Or as Neil Gainman says “The work is all that matters”

See Neils thoughts here