Howdy, folks! Sorry this update is so late. Two days late! It's been a few weeks since I've made the Sunday deadline. I'll have to shape up.
So I've been working and, surprise surprise, it's taking up a lot of my time. I don't think I've talked much about my job here, I know I mentioned it before. Also, this weekend I was house-sitting for my buddy out in Long Beach, and I didn't have an internet connection. I'll try to do better next time. So, I've got three interesting things to report on this week, and I'll report them in reverse-chronological order because they're most interesting that way.
1. SUNDAY- There was an earthquake in Long Beach. I don't recall the Richter numbers, but it wasn't that extreme. The crazy part is that I was in my buddy's condo which is on the 17th floor of his building. After the earthquake passed, I could feel the whole building swaying back and forth. Weeeeiiiiirrd.
2. SATURDAY- I had an audition scheduled with the Long Beach Shakespeare Company. I had to prepare a 1=minute performance piece for children. I was having trouble finding anything and was on the verge of not going when I had a flash of inspiration; I would just do "Jabberwocky" a la Eli Garvey. I already had it 90% memorized and it was a very fitting piece. Well, not only did the guy like my resume, he expressed that my piece impressed him a lot. He complimented my voice and urged me to come try out for their next Shakespeare play. Pretty cool.
3. FRIDAY- This is definitely the coolest thing that happened. My new boss at the DVD place tasked me with PAing on a recording session for a DVD commentary. PAs are Production Assistants, and they basically help set stuff up, carry stuff around, etc. The commentary was for a few episodes of "Sons Of Anarchy", an FX show about a biker gang.
I went out to the address I was given, not realizing that I was going to the studios where they shoot the show. I parked at this crew lot and a shuttle took me over to the set. I was driven past the show's main set, which is the garage where all the bikers hang out. Then back into the building where the production studios were. I got to peek into the writers' room, where all these writers were sitting around discussing what was going to happen in the show. The walls were all markerboards with plotlines and stuff on them. It basically looked like the funnest job ever.
The sound guy, Greg, had me set up the mics and headsets for all the cast members recording the commentary. This was no mean feat, because there were 10 guys on the first commentary; the show's creator Kurt Sutter and all the show's main biker gang characters. We were setting up for 2-3 hours, minus a quick coffee break. My boss and I wanted coffee so we went to the craft services table. They had a pot of turkish coffee, which you drink shots of. It's got some crazy Turkish spices in it and its really strong. Also, they had a snack room that was just out of control. There was a whole wall of snacks. Like, imagine if you took the snack aisle of a convenience store and put it into bookcases, that's what it was like.
The cast showed up, and at that point most of them had already been shooting all day. A couple of them were still in costume, and they all looked really tired. I recognized a couple of the actors from various TV shows and stuff. The most famous guy in the room was Ron Perlman, who played Hellboy.
Watching them record the commentary was really cool. I mean, I listen to those things all the time, so it was really neat to see one being recorded. We did two, the second one had far fewer people. At the end of the day the sound guy told me I was invaluable, which was awesome. The whole experience was enchanting. I wanted to just hide somewhere in the production offices and just stay there.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
How I Didn't Get a Job at Universal Studios
So, it's been an eventful week for me down here in LA! First and foremost, there's the release of the new Star Trek movie! What an exciting time to be alive. I think the movie got a little over-hyped for me. It was really good, but I was still disappointed. That's just me, though. I'm too picky to enjoy anything. Go see it, you'll have a good time.
Second, I got a job! I work for DVD Group, a company that produces DVDs for film and television. I'm an assistant editor, which means that I do grunt work. I won't go into a bunch of boring technical details, but basically what I do is go through other people's edited sequences and make lists of the shots they used. To give you an idea of what kind of an undertaking this is, I'm currently working on a 19 minute featurette about that new Fox show "Fringe." I worked on it for eight hours today, and got through fourteen minutes of the sequence. Still, there's worse ways to make a buck! Hopefully I'll be able to sock away a little dough, because I really miss Juniper a lot and I can't wait to get her down here.
Third, I applied for a position as a tour guide at Universal Studios theme park. It's an awesome place, and it would be an amazingly fun job to have. I didn't get it, I didn't even get called back for the interview. I think I know why.
So I get to the park at about 2:30 PM last Thursday. A helpful security guy directs me to the Jurassic Park garage (all their parking garages are movie-themed). The garage was called...you guessed it...Jurassic Parking!!! I parked Nellie in there and made my way down City Walk to the VIP lounge, which is where the job interview was being held.
City walk is a ridiculously gaudy high-end open-air shopping area. Imagine if a super-rich society made a theme park devoted to malls, and you get City Walk. It's really a very cool place to hang out. I went in a candy story called "It'sugar" (stupid name) and bought a bunch of high-end gummy bears. They had a nine-foot tall statue of Marilyn Monroe made entirely out of jelly beans in there.
So I get closer to the main park gates, and there's this huge line of people. Sure enough, they were all there to apply for the tour guide gig. I'm talking hundreds of people. I had worn my nice jeans and a button-up shirt, but now I had to stand outside in the hot LA sun and sweat up my good clothes. Oh well.
Pretty soon, a hot wannabe actress in a cast got in line behind me. I started chatting her up, and things were going okay. She seemed a little cold, but attractive women in LA are often that way 'cause so many of the guys are evil. She also seemed a little self-absorbed, but whatever. Anyway, I feel like I was starting to make a little headway when this Universal employee came up and snatched her out of the line because she had the cast on. So she got to skip about 2 hours' worth of line and I had to stay there in the sun without an attractive woman to talk to. Ah, well. C'est la vie.
As we neared the VIP lounge, people started getting really catty. A lot of smack was talked about the cast-wearing actress because she had gotten to leave the line. A lot of smack was talked about Universal Studios. A lot of smack was talked about a lot of things. I didn't understand it. Everyone here is really jealous. I guess competing against hundreds of people for crappy jobs does that to you.
So we get into the VIP lounge and we thought we were done, but they basically gave us water and sent us out into another line. Eventually we neared the room that would be our ultimate destination. As I got close a Universal employee told us how the job interview/audition would go down.
In the room were four tables, and each table had a person in fancy clothes sitting at it. Four applicants would enter the room, sit at a table, and talk to the fancily-dressed person for 1 minute and 30 seconds. After the time was up, a Universal Employee would ring a small bell and those four would get up and leave, and the next four would go in.
So I finally get my turn. I sit down across from a woman named Rachel and start explaining to her that I have some basic performance experience, I worked in visitor information for a long time, I used to write movie reviews when I was a kid. She seemed surprised, so I was all "It gets a whole lot crazier!"
As most of you have probably heard, I was a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when I was 13. It was because of the movie reviewing gig I had when I was a kid. It's not something I like to talk about a lot, but it's on my resume, if you get my drift. So anyway, I was about to start telling Rachel about how I went on the Tonight Show when I was a kid, but I really don't like talking about it, so I got all tounge-tied and started stammering. I was trying to figure out how to broach the topic when the bell rang. I just muttered "Aw, it's in the resume", then I got up and left.
As I walked out, I thought about what would happen next. Rachel would probably page through the resume until she found the item about movie reviewing. Then she'd look further down the page and see that I claimed to have been a Tonight Show guest at age 13. And what do you suppose she would think about that? In a place where hundreds of people show up for a tour guide job, each of them desperate to stand out from the crowd? If I were her, I'd think it was a filthy stinking lie. My stammering and getting cut off by the bell would look like a carefully-crafted bid to get her attention. I mean, if you think about it, the idea of some guy from Alaska going on the Tonight Show at age 13 is totally absurd.
So, I didn't get called back. I'm thinking I'll probably take the Tonight Show appearance off the ol' resume.
Second, I got a job! I work for DVD Group, a company that produces DVDs for film and television. I'm an assistant editor, which means that I do grunt work. I won't go into a bunch of boring technical details, but basically what I do is go through other people's edited sequences and make lists of the shots they used. To give you an idea of what kind of an undertaking this is, I'm currently working on a 19 minute featurette about that new Fox show "Fringe." I worked on it for eight hours today, and got through fourteen minutes of the sequence. Still, there's worse ways to make a buck! Hopefully I'll be able to sock away a little dough, because I really miss Juniper a lot and I can't wait to get her down here.
Third, I applied for a position as a tour guide at Universal Studios theme park. It's an awesome place, and it would be an amazingly fun job to have. I didn't get it, I didn't even get called back for the interview. I think I know why.
So I get to the park at about 2:30 PM last Thursday. A helpful security guy directs me to the Jurassic Park garage (all their parking garages are movie-themed). The garage was called...you guessed it...Jurassic Parking!!! I parked Nellie in there and made my way down City Walk to the VIP lounge, which is where the job interview was being held.
City walk is a ridiculously gaudy high-end open-air shopping area. Imagine if a super-rich society made a theme park devoted to malls, and you get City Walk. It's really a very cool place to hang out. I went in a candy story called "It'sugar" (stupid name) and bought a bunch of high-end gummy bears. They had a nine-foot tall statue of Marilyn Monroe made entirely out of jelly beans in there.
So I get closer to the main park gates, and there's this huge line of people. Sure enough, they were all there to apply for the tour guide gig. I'm talking hundreds of people. I had worn my nice jeans and a button-up shirt, but now I had to stand outside in the hot LA sun and sweat up my good clothes. Oh well.
Pretty soon, a hot wannabe actress in a cast got in line behind me. I started chatting her up, and things were going okay. She seemed a little cold, but attractive women in LA are often that way 'cause so many of the guys are evil. She also seemed a little self-absorbed, but whatever. Anyway, I feel like I was starting to make a little headway when this Universal employee came up and snatched her out of the line because she had the cast on. So she got to skip about 2 hours' worth of line and I had to stay there in the sun without an attractive woman to talk to. Ah, well. C'est la vie.
As we neared the VIP lounge, people started getting really catty. A lot of smack was talked about the cast-wearing actress because she had gotten to leave the line. A lot of smack was talked about Universal Studios. A lot of smack was talked about a lot of things. I didn't understand it. Everyone here is really jealous. I guess competing against hundreds of people for crappy jobs does that to you.
So we get into the VIP lounge and we thought we were done, but they basically gave us water and sent us out into another line. Eventually we neared the room that would be our ultimate destination. As I got close a Universal employee told us how the job interview/audition would go down.
In the room were four tables, and each table had a person in fancy clothes sitting at it. Four applicants would enter the room, sit at a table, and talk to the fancily-dressed person for 1 minute and 30 seconds. After the time was up, a Universal Employee would ring a small bell and those four would get up and leave, and the next four would go in.
So I finally get my turn. I sit down across from a woman named Rachel and start explaining to her that I have some basic performance experience, I worked in visitor information for a long time, I used to write movie reviews when I was a kid. She seemed surprised, so I was all "It gets a whole lot crazier!"
As most of you have probably heard, I was a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when I was 13. It was because of the movie reviewing gig I had when I was a kid. It's not something I like to talk about a lot, but it's on my resume, if you get my drift. So anyway, I was about to start telling Rachel about how I went on the Tonight Show when I was a kid, but I really don't like talking about it, so I got all tounge-tied and started stammering. I was trying to figure out how to broach the topic when the bell rang. I just muttered "Aw, it's in the resume", then I got up and left.
As I walked out, I thought about what would happen next. Rachel would probably page through the resume until she found the item about movie reviewing. Then she'd look further down the page and see that I claimed to have been a Tonight Show guest at age 13. And what do you suppose she would think about that? In a place where hundreds of people show up for a tour guide job, each of them desperate to stand out from the crowd? If I were her, I'd think it was a filthy stinking lie. My stammering and getting cut off by the bell would look like a carefully-crafted bid to get her attention. I mean, if you think about it, the idea of some guy from Alaska going on the Tonight Show at age 13 is totally absurd.
So, I didn't get called back. I'm thinking I'll probably take the Tonight Show appearance off the ol' resume.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Paul's Top 5 Coolest Things About LA
Hey Gang!
First of all, mad props to everyone who made "Mixed Nuts" happen. I hear it was awesome, can't wait to see the tape.
Second, my celeb sighting log is up to 3! I saw Judd Apatow at an advance screening of his new movie that I'm not allowed to talk about, and on Saturday night I spotted Anna Faris at a Mexican restaurant/bar type place. I was talking to Marla on the phone the other day, and she came up with a great analogy; celebrities are basically like moose. You see them semi-regularly, you always look, but it's not really a big deal unless you're from somewhere where there are no moose. Also, much like moose, it's generally frowned-upon to go up and start messing with celebrities.
So this week I'm going to tell you my 5 favorite things about Los Angeles:
5. Ridiculous Clothes
When I was 8, I had this really cool tunic-style robe that I wore around the house. I'm not sure where it even came from, but it sort of reminded me of a medieval garment and I really liked it. One day I decided to wear it to school. That basically seems to be the type of outfit-planning that people in LA use. It's so fun walking through Hollywood, because wherever you go you see people wearing things that make you laugh out loud. I'm working on a good way to surreptitiously photograph these people, so hopefully in the future I'll be able to provide you guys with some visuals.
4. The World-Famous KROQ
Some of you may be aware that I regularly listen to a radio show called Loveline. It's a nationally syndicated advice show. Well, it's recorded here in LA and its home station is KROQ, a local rock station. In addition to hearing Loveline's live broadcast for the first time in years, I've been listening to a lot of KROQ and it's an amazing station. Except for the occasional foray into Nickel Park and Linkinback or whatever the kids are listening to these days, it pretty much always plays stuff I like. It's not all rock, either; every now and then they'll drop some reggae or hip-hop. I listen to KROQ pretty much on a regular.
3. Movie Obsession
I have a movie obsession, so it's kind of gratifying to live in a town that shares it. Everyone I pass on the street is talking about a movie, there's movie-themed stuff everywhere, movie posters all over the place. It's an exciting place to be if you like movies.
2. In-N-Out
Basically, In-N-Out burger is gourmet fast food. They are noted for providing healthy ingredients and doing business ethically. They also have a secret menu that isn't posted, but there's a bunch of stuff you can order if you know what to say. They're cheap, and it's sooooo good. It's unbelievable. I've been eating a great deal of this stuff.
1. The Arclight
Greatest. Movie theater. Ever. It's a luxury theater. Tickets are a little pricier, but it's worth it. First of all, you get to select your seat when you buy a ticket. Then you go in and everything padded and velvety and blue. There's a bunch of digital projection going on, and amazing sound, the works. It's awesome. Honorable mention also goes to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which is so crazy I won't even begin to describe it here.
First of all, mad props to everyone who made "Mixed Nuts" happen. I hear it was awesome, can't wait to see the tape.
Second, my celeb sighting log is up to 3! I saw Judd Apatow at an advance screening of his new movie that I'm not allowed to talk about, and on Saturday night I spotted Anna Faris at a Mexican restaurant/bar type place. I was talking to Marla on the phone the other day, and she came up with a great analogy; celebrities are basically like moose. You see them semi-regularly, you always look, but it's not really a big deal unless you're from somewhere where there are no moose. Also, much like moose, it's generally frowned-upon to go up and start messing with celebrities.
So this week I'm going to tell you my 5 favorite things about Los Angeles:
5. Ridiculous Clothes
When I was 8, I had this really cool tunic-style robe that I wore around the house. I'm not sure where it even came from, but it sort of reminded me of a medieval garment and I really liked it. One day I decided to wear it to school. That basically seems to be the type of outfit-planning that people in LA use. It's so fun walking through Hollywood, because wherever you go you see people wearing things that make you laugh out loud. I'm working on a good way to surreptitiously photograph these people, so hopefully in the future I'll be able to provide you guys with some visuals.
4. The World-Famous KROQ
Some of you may be aware that I regularly listen to a radio show called Loveline. It's a nationally syndicated advice show. Well, it's recorded here in LA and its home station is KROQ, a local rock station. In addition to hearing Loveline's live broadcast for the first time in years, I've been listening to a lot of KROQ and it's an amazing station. Except for the occasional foray into Nickel Park and Linkinback or whatever the kids are listening to these days, it pretty much always plays stuff I like. It's not all rock, either; every now and then they'll drop some reggae or hip-hop. I listen to KROQ pretty much on a regular.
3. Movie Obsession
I have a movie obsession, so it's kind of gratifying to live in a town that shares it. Everyone I pass on the street is talking about a movie, there's movie-themed stuff everywhere, movie posters all over the place. It's an exciting place to be if you like movies.
2. In-N-Out
Basically, In-N-Out burger is gourmet fast food. They are noted for providing healthy ingredients and doing business ethically. They also have a secret menu that isn't posted, but there's a bunch of stuff you can order if you know what to say. They're cheap, and it's sooooo good. It's unbelievable. I've been eating a great deal of this stuff.
1. The Arclight
Greatest. Movie theater. Ever. It's a luxury theater. Tickets are a little pricier, but it's worth it. First of all, you get to select your seat when you buy a ticket. Then you go in and everything padded and velvety and blue. There's a bunch of digital projection going on, and amazing sound, the works. It's awesome. Honorable mention also goes to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which is so crazy I won't even begin to describe it here.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Repercussions
Hey gang! Sorry this post is a day late, I was on-set for 16 HOURS yesterday. 8:30 AM to, like, one in the morning or something. The movie I was working on was called "Repercussions", and this blog is to tell you a little bit about the experience.
I found the gig on craigslist. If you ever go to the LA craigslist and start looking in the jobs section, you'll notice that everyone's making a movie and wants people to work on
it for no money. Unfortunately, most of these people are idiots or liars or both. Michael came across as a pretty smart guy in his ad, plus he said he was shooting Yakuza gun battles, so I decided to apply for a PA job. PA stands for Production Assistant, and it's pretty much the lowest job on the set. PA's the guy you send for coffee or whatever. Fortunately, Michael realized I was a sharp cookie and gave me the job of 1st Assistant Director, which is a much more important-sounding title.I was there for three shoots. There's a few more things to be shot, but it's all fairly simple stuff of the main character driving around feeling conflicted and standing in some scenic spot feeling conflicted, also his wife getting killed. All of the pictures on this blog are from day 1, which was last Sunday. We were in a small office in El Monte shooting a scene where the main character is in the office of his import-export business with his partner and also a scary Yakuza guy who he's sort of friends with shows up. Pictured below, left to right, are the main character,
the business partner, and the scary
Yakuza guy.
Day two was a game of cat-and-mouse in a parking garage, and yesterday we shot in a much larger, cooler office which belonged to the Yakuza boss. My job as 1st Assistant Director was to help plan the day, make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing, and make sure things keep moving forward. So basically, it was about 1/5 of what I'm used to doing as a director on Pier 1 shows.
So it was a pretty cool experience. I met some really cool people and learned the following things:
-In the film industry, extension cords are called stingers. I have no idea why, but everyone calls them that.
-I'm very well-prepared for directing an independent movie in LA. I kind of assumed there would be this huge wake-up call about how much I didn't know and I would be all confused, but it turns out the only real difference between this and what I'm used to is that the equipment is more complicated. One thing I've learned from theatre is that you don't need to understand complicated equipment to be able to direct. So it's game on! I've got two shorts and a feature I want to do, now I just need to find some way to get some money.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Orange Thieves
Hey everyone! I am now satisfied that people are reading this, and will no longer post entreaties for comments or say that anybody can suck eggs. It's so nice to get those comments, though. In the past week I've suffered a few minor pangs of homesickness, and of course I miss Juney terribly. Also, my morale took a huge blow when I figured out how much money I owed the IRS and realized that things are not going to be easy for me at all for the next year or so. This passed, however, and I remain undaunted. I have a few different projects brewing, hopefully I'll eventually be able to talk myself into a paying gig. I think I'm going to embrace horrible poverty for a while so I'll have some time to develop some stuff.
So this week, I'd like to tell you about my new favorite hobby. I would like to preface this by saying that I do not approve of stealing in most instances, and that none of you should ever steal, because it is illegal and wrong.
That doesn't stop me though! You see, my friend Rudy who I've been staying with lives in a small house at the base of the Hollywood Hills. We don't have to walk very far at all before we get up into the rich neighborhoods where it's all winding streets, interesting landscaping, and amazingly cool houses. At first, Rudy and I took to walking around up there to enjoy the quiet and gaze jealously at the homes of the rich. It began innocently enough.
Then, the other night, after I had completed my taxes and was feeling downtrodden, Rudy and I went for our customary jaunt into the hills and stumbled across a house that had an orange tree in its yard. There was no fence, plenty of low-hanging oranges, and the street was very dark. On a lark, Rudy grabbed an orange off the tree. We were going to eat it, but it was split open so we rolled it down the hill instead.
Once we got to the bottom of the hill, I found the orange and picked it up again. Out of curiosity, we tore it in half and observed that part of the orange appeared to be in pristine condition. Rudy sampled its juices, and looked up at me with feverish light in his eyes. "It's soooo good!" he proclaimed.
I tried it too, and it was, indeed, amazing. We stood in the middle of the street in a pool of light, digging the sweet pulp out of the rind with our teeth and laughing like hyenas. We emerged from the hills changed men. It was the best orange we'd ever eaten; organic and fresh off the tree. Who were these ungrateful bourgeois that kept such delicious fruit on the property? Why did they not pick the tree clean as soon as the fruit ripened? How could they leave the oranges hanging on the tree for so long that they burst open with ripeness? Here was a wrong that must be righted.
Two nights later, we once more ventured forth into the hills. This time we walked a wider path and kept our eyes open for citrus trees. There were plenty more orange trees, and some lemons as well. Many were behind fences, some were easily accessible. We returned home with a single orange and an unripe lemon, and hatched a plan.
Over the next few weeks, we'll make a complete catalogue of all of the yards that have orange trees, and implement a systematic plan that will allow us to pilfer a few oranges here and there. The rich people aren't even eating them! Once we've charted the whereabouts of this ambrosia and learned the movements of the Bel-Air Patrol, who watches the neighborhood, we will be able to ensure that we never lack for free, delicious citrus fruit. I am confident that these purloined delicacies, and the cathartic act of stealing them from the super-rich, will go a long way towards seeing me through the dark times that are ahead.
I would like to reiterate that stealing is not okay, unless you are stealing oranges from rich people who never eat them anyway.
So this week, I'd like to tell you about my new favorite hobby. I would like to preface this by saying that I do not approve of stealing in most instances, and that none of you should ever steal, because it is illegal and wrong.
That doesn't stop me though! You see, my friend Rudy who I've been staying with lives in a small house at the base of the Hollywood Hills. We don't have to walk very far at all before we get up into the rich neighborhoods where it's all winding streets, interesting landscaping, and amazingly cool houses. At first, Rudy and I took to walking around up there to enjoy the quiet and gaze jealously at the homes of the rich. It began innocently enough.
Then, the other night, after I had completed my taxes and was feeling downtrodden, Rudy and I went for our customary jaunt into the hills and stumbled across a house that had an orange tree in its yard. There was no fence, plenty of low-hanging oranges, and the street was very dark. On a lark, Rudy grabbed an orange off the tree. We were going to eat it, but it was split open so we rolled it down the hill instead.
Once we got to the bottom of the hill, I found the orange and picked it up again. Out of curiosity, we tore it in half and observed that part of the orange appeared to be in pristine condition. Rudy sampled its juices, and looked up at me with feverish light in his eyes. "It's soooo good!" he proclaimed.
I tried it too, and it was, indeed, amazing. We stood in the middle of the street in a pool of light, digging the sweet pulp out of the rind with our teeth and laughing like hyenas. We emerged from the hills changed men. It was the best orange we'd ever eaten; organic and fresh off the tree. Who were these ungrateful bourgeois that kept such delicious fruit on the property? Why did they not pick the tree clean as soon as the fruit ripened? How could they leave the oranges hanging on the tree for so long that they burst open with ripeness? Here was a wrong that must be righted.
Two nights later, we once more ventured forth into the hills. This time we walked a wider path and kept our eyes open for citrus trees. There were plenty more orange trees, and some lemons as well. Many were behind fences, some were easily accessible. We returned home with a single orange and an unripe lemon, and hatched a plan.
Over the next few weeks, we'll make a complete catalogue of all of the yards that have orange trees, and implement a systematic plan that will allow us to pilfer a few oranges here and there. The rich people aren't even eating them! Once we've charted the whereabouts of this ambrosia and learned the movements of the Bel-Air Patrol, who watches the neighborhood, we will be able to ensure that we never lack for free, delicious citrus fruit. I am confident that these purloined delicacies, and the cathartic act of stealing them from the super-rich, will go a long way towards seeing me through the dark times that are ahead.
I would like to reiterate that stealing is not okay, unless you are stealing oranges from rich people who never eat them anyway.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A Week of Firsts; Reality Intrudes
Hey, Ruby and Leeza! How are you guys doing? You may be the only two people reading this blog, and you know what? That's enough for me! You guys were pretty much my two favorite Homer kids anyway, so everyone else can go suck eggs.
So, I've now been in Los Angeles for over a week, and I've been looking around for work. It's pretty much like everyone said it would be; almost impossible to get work if you don't already have a track record doing the job HERE, or a buddy who can hook you up. So I've decided that I'm going to need to make my own luck here, and find some way to pay the bills in the meantime. I'll let ya know how that goes.
So anyway, I've got a few firsts to report on from the past week;
FIRST PROJECT
I found this guy on craigslist named Michael Shu. He's making a short involving a Yakuza gun battle, which I'm going to be working on as a Production Assistant. That basically means I'll be standing around holding a boom or whatever, but it'll be a good opportunity to get a look at how things run on a properly organzied shoot. Also, Shu seems like a really cool guy and I can probably learn a lot from him, as he specializes in the areas of filmmaking I don't know as much about. You can check out the trailer for his award-winning short "War of the Wolves" at this link:
CLICK HERE FOR "WAR OF THE WOLVES" TRAILER!!!!
FIRST PERSONALITY CHANGE
I'm starting to realize that everyone here has a lot of bravado, so I'm thinking I may need to become a little cocky. I guess you guys are used to that, though. Ha ha! Here's an example: I've been wearing this year's DDF shirt around, and I've gotten some complements on it. At first I was all "Oh, yeah, one of the students on the DDF team I coached designed it, it's really neat, huh?" and the lady smiled patronizingly at me and said something like "isn't that nice." So the next time I got a complement on it I loftily informed the person complementing me that it was a "Kelsey Waldorf original" and the person just sort of nodded.
FIRST HOLLYWOOD CELEB SIGHTING
I was at this old-school Hollywood bar called "The Dresden Room" with some friends and we saw Adrian Grenier from "Entourage". I was excited that my first celebrity sighting was a celebrity who plays a bigger celebrity on TV, and he was there with his real-life entourage instead of his pretend Entourage from the show. It was all wonderfully recursive. The best part; Adrian Grenier called my buddy Rudy a dork. I wasn't at the table at the time, but apparently he identified Rudy as a dork then claimed that he was the "OD", or Original Dork. This resulted in several members of our party discussing what a jerk he was for the rest of the night, but it just seemed to me like a doofy, half-drunk guy blabbing at a bar and getting judged way too harshly for it since he was a TV actor. But whatever.
Well, that's all for this week. I'll get that virtual drive up eventually, but I can't promise it'll be soon. I'm having a really good time, I had forgotten what it was like to live in a place where I had friends. I mean, you guys were all my friends, but not the call-up-and-hang-out-whenever type of friends, you know? All my best buddies are here, and it's awesome living amongst them!
So, I've now been in Los Angeles for over a week, and I've been looking around for work. It's pretty much like everyone said it would be; almost impossible to get work if you don't already have a track record doing the job HERE, or a buddy who can hook you up. So I've decided that I'm going to need to make my own luck here, and find some way to pay the bills in the meantime. I'll let ya know how that goes.
So anyway, I've got a few firsts to report on from the past week;
FIRST PROJECT
I found this guy on craigslist named Michael Shu. He's making a short involving a Yakuza gun battle, which I'm going to be working on as a Production Assistant. That basically means I'll be standing around holding a boom or whatever, but it'll be a good opportunity to get a look at how things run on a properly organzied shoot. Also, Shu seems like a really cool guy and I can probably learn a lot from him, as he specializes in the areas of filmmaking I don't know as much about. You can check out the trailer for his award-winning short "War of the Wolves" at this link:
CLICK HERE FOR "WAR OF THE WOLVES" TRAILER!!!!
FIRST PERSONALITY CHANGE
I'm starting to realize that everyone here has a lot of bravado, so I'm thinking I may need to become a little cocky. I guess you guys are used to that, though. Ha ha! Here's an example: I've been wearing this year's DDF shirt around, and I've gotten some complements on it. At first I was all "Oh, yeah, one of the students on the DDF team I coached designed it, it's really neat, huh?" and the lady smiled patronizingly at me and said something like "isn't that nice." So the next time I got a complement on it I loftily informed the person complementing me that it was a "Kelsey Waldorf original" and the person just sort of nodded.
FIRST HOLLYWOOD CELEB SIGHTING
I was at this old-school Hollywood bar called "The Dresden Room" with some friends and we saw Adrian Grenier from "Entourage". I was excited that my first celebrity sighting was a celebrity who plays a bigger celebrity on TV, and he was there with his real-life entourage instead of his pretend Entourage from the show. It was all wonderfully recursive. The best part; Adrian Grenier called my buddy Rudy a dork. I wasn't at the table at the time, but apparently he identified Rudy as a dork then claimed that he was the "OD", or Original Dork. This resulted in several members of our party discussing what a jerk he was for the rest of the night, but it just seemed to me like a doofy, half-drunk guy blabbing at a bar and getting judged way too harshly for it since he was a TV actor. But whatever.
Well, that's all for this week. I'll get that virtual drive up eventually, but I can't promise it'll be soon. I'm having a really good time, I had forgotten what it was like to live in a place where I had friends. I mean, you guys were all my friends, but not the call-up-and-hang-out-whenever type of friends, you know? All my best buddies are here, and it's awesome living amongst them!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Los Angeles: Initial Impressions
Hey guys! I know I promised a virtual drive this week, but that project's going to take a little more preparation than I expected, and obviously my time has been pretty much taken up with hanging out with my friends and stuff. So I'll aim to have that thing up next week, and this week I'll just talk about arriving in LA.
I was kind of bummin' when I was on my way up past Grapevine. About an hour and a half out from LA, and I was missing Juney, you guys, my parents, and Alaska in a big way for the first time on the trip. Then, as I started to hit LA, I started to get really, really excited. By the time I was rolling down Sunset on the way to my buddy's place, I had a huge grin plastered across my face. I turned the dial to the world-famous KROQ, LA's big rock station, and they were playing a bunch of '90s hits. Then I got together with three of my best friends in the whole world and was very happy to be here.
The whole trip down, I wasn't sure how I'd react when I finally got to LA. Turned out I got really pumped. There's so much going on here and the whole city's like a giant theme park. I stopped by a gas station earlier today and it was decorated more elaborately than any building in Anchorage that I can think of offhand. A gas station.
Me and my friends went and saw "I Love You, Man" today. It was awesome. Anyway, we saw it at the Grove, which is some kind of outdoor mall with a big farmer's market and a crazy food court, I haven't figured out exactly what the deal is. Anyway, there was a scene in the movie that took place right outside the movie theatre. Like, if I had stepped outside, I would've been standing right in one of the shots. It was awesome. When you see the movie, look for the scene where Peter asks Sydney to be his best man, and they hug by the fountain. That's where I saw it.
So, bottom line: LA's really cool so far.
By the way, is anyone reading this?
I was kind of bummin' when I was on my way up past Grapevine. About an hour and a half out from LA, and I was missing Juney, you guys, my parents, and Alaska in a big way for the first time on the trip. Then, as I started to hit LA, I started to get really, really excited. By the time I was rolling down Sunset on the way to my buddy's place, I had a huge grin plastered across my face. I turned the dial to the world-famous KROQ, LA's big rock station, and they were playing a bunch of '90s hits. Then I got together with three of my best friends in the whole world and was very happy to be here.
The whole trip down, I wasn't sure how I'd react when I finally got to LA. Turned out I got really pumped. There's so much going on here and the whole city's like a giant theme park. I stopped by a gas station earlier today and it was decorated more elaborately than any building in Anchorage that I can think of offhand. A gas station.
Me and my friends went and saw "I Love You, Man" today. It was awesome. Anyway, we saw it at the Grove, which is some kind of outdoor mall with a big farmer's market and a crazy food court, I haven't figured out exactly what the deal is. Anyway, there was a scene in the movie that took place right outside the movie theatre. Like, if I had stepped outside, I would've been standing right in one of the shots. It was awesome. When you see the movie, look for the scene where Peter asks Sydney to be his best man, and they hug by the fountain. That's where I saw it.
So, bottom line: LA's really cool so far.
By the way, is anyone reading this?
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