Although many people dream of breaking into show business, few actually pursue a career in Hollywood.

Bakersfield College student Phillip G. Kopp is working to make his ambition into a career.

Kopp, 25, wrote, acted, directed and produced his own film, “B&E,” which was recently accepted into the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.

The first hurdle on the way to success is getting an agent, said Kopp. An aspiring screen writer, he first came upon the idea of shooting a short film after reading several books on getting into the film industry.

“One of the books suggested making a short film to go along with your script and query letter to show you’re serious,” he said.

After attending the Kern County Short Film Festival last year, Kopp decided that was his best option. “I thought, ‘Wow, a lot of these films are horrible. I can do that,’ ” he said.

Soon Kopp found that making a film was not as easy as he had first thought. Amid bad acting, equipment failure and losing cast and crew to food poisoning, electrocution and lack of transportation among other things over the five-day shoot, he struggled to finish his work.

“There was no budget. $1,000 to make the film and half of that went to the camera. I lost 10 pounds while making the film and had a seizure the fourth day. It was a learning experience,” he said.

To make his film, Kopp created his own production company, Beyond Faith Films. His philosophy on why he continues to act and write is inherent in the company name.

“You’ve got to have more than just faith in yourself. No one will support you. You get a lot of doors slammed in your face,” he said.

Kopp first got into acting while in high school where he participated in plays and began to write short scripts. For him, the theater is in his blood.

“All my sisters, my two brothers, we all act,” he said. “My brother James is my inspiration.”

Although his script placed in the top 100 out of 2,000 submissions in the American Gem Short Screenplay contest, “B&E” was rejected by three other film festivals before being accepted by the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, which holds three festivals in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Kopp’s film will be shown at the L.A. festival in March 2006 as well as locally at a film festival held at the Spotlight Theater in November.

After all the rejection, Kopp felt down but refused to give up.

“I felt like I was wasting my time,” he said. “But I could be on a deserted island with a pen and paper, and I’d be happy.”