That only applies if you are a known name (probably being known among his fans works too), or have somebody in his circle vouch for you. Regular people don't get in.

this is untrue. (source: firsthand)

Curious. Did that change more recently? When did you enter?

over a year ago. I explained that I worked on game engines in college and they were terrible and overengineered and wildly inefficient and I wanted to do things better going forward.