How to find an arts or screen mentor – and make the most of it when you do

My fantasy of being mentored looks something like this: I meet regularly with an older, wiser person at the peak of her powers. Maybe we meet for coffee or, even better, wine and dinner. She sees my potential and offers encouragement, along with some gentle but perfectly targeted constructive criticism. She says that I inspire her too! (There’s a lot of ego in mentoring fantasies – more on that later – and not a lot of actual hard work.) She shares her networks with me and, as the years pass, the two of us become more like colleagues and friends than mentor and mentee. Rosy glow all round. Closing credits.