At the age of 20, Salerno landed a one-year apprenticeship on the set of "NYPD Blue" after meeting with producer Gregory Hoblit. During this year, Salerno soaked up all he could about the workings of the entertainment industry. He started commuting from San Diego, but soon moved to Los Angeles where the hungry young scribe read everything he could get his hands on while attending industry lectures and events whenever he could. He wrote his own television pilot, a drama about two minority cops and gave the teleplay to anyone in the industry who would read it. His pilot was met with praise and through this writing sample he landed a three-year deal with Universal Television and producer Dick Wolf ("Law & Order) on his newest show, "New York Undercover." Though unrelated to Salerno's pilot, Wolf's new show also featured two minority cops and Salerno seemed to be a perfect fit to write for the show.

At 21, Salerno found himself a staffed writer on one of the most popular cop dramas on the air. But he was unhappy at his new job and though he wrote several well-received episodes of series, Salerno found the television world to be less than satisfying. He clashed with the other producers and writers and said his time on "New York Undercover" was "the worst experience of my life."

Against the advice of everyone around him, Salerno got out of his contract and turned to writing features. Amazingly, he was met with equally astounding opportunities in the feature world. Within a matter of weeks after breaking his NYU contract and leaving the show, Salerno began developing "A Season in Hell" for producer Arne Schmidt, an action flick about an arsonist. Schmidt was also pitching a submarine story, "Thunder Below" which Salerno convinced Schmidt to let him write. Both projects were ultimately stalled, but not before "A Season in Hell" was bought for mid-six figures and "Thunder Below" was greenlighted by Steven Spielberg for DreamWorks. These breaks led Salerno to the job of helping with the re-write of "Armageddon" and from there he scored the screenplay and story credits for the 2000 remake of "Shaft" with John Singleton.

In the middle of working on a host of other high-profile projects, including starting his own production company and landing a slew of impressive studio deals, Salerno got his own pilot. NBC greenlighted Salerno's drama he had created about a group of undercover investigators. Salerno returned to television with the series "UC: Undercover" which aired in the 2001 season. While the show was not a success with the critics or in the ratings, it did develop a rabid fan base with an internet fan site on which Salerno himself frequently posted. The show was cancelled after one season but Salerno began working on other television pilot ideas for the 2004 season, both related and non-related to the characters of UC.

In addition to developing these pilots, Salerno's collaboration with actor Ving Rhames on "Night Train" began to move forward. The feature "Night Train" was set to begin production in the summer of 2002 with director William Friedkin ("Rules of Engagement") attached. In that same year, Salerno was also actively developing a thriller vehicle with George Clooney attached, showing no signs of slowing down his breakneck-paced charge through Hollywood.