It's been a long time since I've updated, partly because I was busy working on a couple films that consumed my free time, but mostly because I had nothing interesting to say. I was trying to keep the blog from falling into the mundane routine of my everyday life and decided to wait until I had something worthwhile about which to write. Basically, what I've been doing for the past few months is waiting...working part time, saving money, and killing time. I found out in May I'd be starting a new job, which just began two weeks ago!
I now work for ABC doing set inventory, as part of a talent and diversity program called the ABC Production Associates Program. It has several categories in TV production, with one or two associates in each category and has turned out to be a more excellent opportunity than just any job. I'd highly recommend it for anyone interested in working at television. The past year has definitely been the most challenging and educational of my life as I struggled to work and live in Los Angeles, but everything has turned out for the best, as, out of the hundreds of applications I sent out, I probably ended up in the best job I could have at an entry level. Set inventory consists of marking sets built on stages out of flats and logging them so shows know how to put them back together if they want and other shows can see how they've been configured before. Hopefully, this will lead to great contacts in art departments so I can eventually move to a specific show.
For now, though, it's exciting to witness everything at the highest professional level in the industry. Some people questioned whether I'd enjoy working at a major studio, simply because I'd be a number, another cog in the wheel made of thousands of employees. I definitely was concerned at the loss of creative endeavors, as I can rarely take on design projects anymore. However, after two weeks, I've learned there is something to be said for starting at this level. I lose the opportunity to work on projects as a production design department head, but I get the rare opportunity to see how a studio operates and how productions get put together on that level. I could've continued as a production designer on student and independent projects for a while, but I'd been struggling, and I didn't know for how long I'd spin my wheels at that level. At ABC, I'm starting at the very bottom, but I'm at least working in an area that feeds into the department of my interest where I can make specific contacts, as well as meet people in all areas of the industry.
Being a cog in the wheel has turned out to be less corporate than I expected. Rather than sitting at a desk all day, I'm out on various sets and visiting show's offices. I keep regular hours rather than the typical 12-hour production days. Besides that, I get benefits, which are particularly appealing after having been unemployed for a year. Working at a corporate company, and one that's owned by the Walt Disney Company, has its upside: it's cushy. It's nice. It provides for me because it can afford to. Eventually, I'd like to work my way back up to a creative production position, and I'll see how I feel in a year when my position is done, but I may take at least another year in this corporate world, if for no other reason than simply to save more money. Production is unstable, and I won't be gifted with benefits until I can be unionized. It's true I will never be afforded some opporutnities as quickly as colleagues at smaller companies, and I'll most likely never know the executives on a personal level. I'll always be a number in a crowd. But this number's come up, and it's got my name on it. I may be selling out, but I kind of like it...for now anyway. :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Roots--Green and Otherwise
I learned several things this past week:
1. It's exhausting driving parents around. It's tiring enough driving in Los Angeles on any given day, but it's compounded when you have to drive two small-town people around the big city, particularly because their sense of time in relation to distance doesn't apply to LA. Destinations that are five miles away from my apartment can take up to an hour to reach, whereas at home, it would take about five minutes. My parents visited last weekend, and, apart from the driving, it was nice, because I hadn't seen them since May. It was a fairly chill trip; we went to the Grammy Museum and a sports photography exhibit at the Annenberg Space in the CAA building, both of which were interesting.
2. Going out in Venice is awesome. I parked at my friend's apartment, and we walked to every bar and easily caught a cab at the end of the night. Although I love the bars downtown, I sometimes feel leery walking back at night, and parking, especially on a Friday, is almost out of the question. However, Venice was great; I haven't spent much time in that area of the city, but I had one of the best times going out that I've had in LA, and I'm looking forward to beach season now.
3. Asians on St. Patrick's Day go nuts. Some of the same people who went out in Venice got together at our friend's house to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Four bottles of Jameson, two "freedom style" pizzas (http://www.youtube.com/user/DrunkenChefable#p/a/u/2/vMQ8MAEUSpU), and lots of "shenanigans" and chatroulette later, the Asians brought down the house. It was low key but extremely entertaining!
4. Chatroulette is sketchy. For many reasons. A lot of my friends have gone on it when drunk for kicks, which is exactly what we did. Since it was about 3 a.m. when we were on, the only people we met were those who were too intimidated by the large amount of people in our group to..."exhibit" themselves, Turks, a Brazilian who was really into music, and frat boys from Oregon State who, ironically enough, were the only ones not to ask my friend and I to flash them.
I guess that's about it now. I'll try and formulate a more cohesive and interesting blog next week. It's been pretty fun this week since most of my friends are on spring break, but since I'm on kind of a permanent spring break, I'll be sad to see them all take up their busy schedules again come Monday.
1. It's exhausting driving parents around. It's tiring enough driving in Los Angeles on any given day, but it's compounded when you have to drive two small-town people around the big city, particularly because their sense of time in relation to distance doesn't apply to LA. Destinations that are five miles away from my apartment can take up to an hour to reach, whereas at home, it would take about five minutes. My parents visited last weekend, and, apart from the driving, it was nice, because I hadn't seen them since May. It was a fairly chill trip; we went to the Grammy Museum and a sports photography exhibit at the Annenberg Space in the CAA building, both of which were interesting.
2. Going out in Venice is awesome. I parked at my friend's apartment, and we walked to every bar and easily caught a cab at the end of the night. Although I love the bars downtown, I sometimes feel leery walking back at night, and parking, especially on a Friday, is almost out of the question. However, Venice was great; I haven't spent much time in that area of the city, but I had one of the best times going out that I've had in LA, and I'm looking forward to beach season now.
3. Asians on St. Patrick's Day go nuts. Some of the same people who went out in Venice got together at our friend's house to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Four bottles of Jameson, two "freedom style" pizzas (http://www.youtube.com/user/DrunkenChefable#p/a/u/2/vMQ8MAEUSpU), and lots of "shenanigans" and chatroulette later, the Asians brought down the house. It was low key but extremely entertaining!
4. Chatroulette is sketchy. For many reasons. A lot of my friends have gone on it when drunk for kicks, which is exactly what we did. Since it was about 3 a.m. when we were on, the only people we met were those who were too intimidated by the large amount of people in our group to..."exhibit" themselves, Turks, a Brazilian who was really into music, and frat boys from Oregon State who, ironically enough, were the only ones not to ask my friend and I to flash them.
I guess that's about it now. I'll try and formulate a more cohesive and interesting blog next week. It's been pretty fun this week since most of my friends are on spring break, but since I'm on kind of a permanent spring break, I'll be sad to see them all take up their busy schedules again come Monday.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Wasteland
I've succumbed to the lure of the internet being a black hole into which I can chuck my thoughts, particularly as I have a lot of free time on my hands right now. This blog has been so entitled "An Education" partly because it's fresh in my mind as a title (i.e. the 2009 Oscar-nominated movie) but also because I'm using it to detail my exploits in a Los Angeles that seems a bit of a barren wasteland at the moment.
I moved here in August 2007 to start grad school at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, and an education is exactly what I got. Not only did I receive a formal education, but, of course, learned many life lessons along the way, not least the which is navigating the ghost world that is life after graduation. I suppose part of it is the fact that I entered grad school not sure what I wanted to do in film; perhaps I chose the wrong program to begin with entirely. I received my M.A. in Critical Studies, which is really a vague way of saying film history and theory. I thought I wanted to write and research for films. I've never really been interested in the "production" side of film, that is, specifically being a director or cinematographer or editor. However, during my time at USC, I learned I was really good at production design, and now production seems to be exactly what I want to do.
Anyway, I received my degree in May 2009 and have been job searching ever since. At first it seemed exciting, having what appeared to be lots of options before me, but even with many jobs open, it's extremely hard just getting that one necessary year of experience under my belt to acquire any of them. I've had some really good interviews that feel like I'll come out successful, but, alas, the hunt still continues. Hopefully 2010 will be a successful year, especially with more projects in production than last year, but, with the economy still poor and the nature of the industry, at times the future seems bleak.
Unemployment has taught me many things: how much I value my parents, who, despite being wary about my career choice continue to support me, the fact that money really does make the world go 'round (a month never seems so short as it does between billing cycles), and that I really have to be confident. I have to depend on myself fully, which in itself is sometimes hard to do. In a world of "no," I have to say "yes." It's strange, sitting in front of my computer every day sending out resumes and cover letters and the occasional reel; it feels like I'm not really job-hunting or doing anything, but I have to remind myself that I am. Sometimes it becomes difficult to make myself tappety-tap on the keyboard, and I think it's due to the nature of the work: in essence, I'm not creating anything, I'm not doing anything, but if I don't do this, then I really won't do anything.
Combine this with the fact that LA is a sprawling city that sometimes leaves me feeling isolated even in the busiest times, and a wasteland indeed ensues. However, there's plenty of things that I do to keep myself occupied and entertained, which include the usual going out, hanging out with friends, trying new restaurants and bars, etc. etc. But living in Los Angeles definitely has its perks, particularly for the entertainment industry. This past weekend, I attended a panel at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian that featured all the Oscar-nominated production designers. It was not only interesting but inspiring to hear about the creative and logistical processes that went into working on the films. Plus, I met my idol, Sarah Greenwood, who was gracious enough to speak with me and who happened to be accepting business cards at the event (which I handed over). While I was in Hollywood, I also got to see the set up for the Oscars that were held the next day; unfortunately, I wasn't invited to the event this year (I'm sure it just got lost in the mail), but I did watch it from the comfort of a Los Feliz bar with friends, which was the best time I've ever had watching the awards. Although I lost the betting pool and got fairly boozed up (sorry to those who had to listen to me talk about baseball and Vegas), I will say it was probably the best weekend I've had in 2010 so far for many reasons and left me with something to look forward to in the longrun (working in film) and hopefully in the near future (Vegas for ShoWest, where my friend is receiving his award for winning the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmakers contest)...more to come on that. I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and if you feel so inclined, just to let me know you're out there, leave a comment! :)
I moved here in August 2007 to start grad school at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, and an education is exactly what I got. Not only did I receive a formal education, but, of course, learned many life lessons along the way, not least the which is navigating the ghost world that is life after graduation. I suppose part of it is the fact that I entered grad school not sure what I wanted to do in film; perhaps I chose the wrong program to begin with entirely. I received my M.A. in Critical Studies, which is really a vague way of saying film history and theory. I thought I wanted to write and research for films. I've never really been interested in the "production" side of film, that is, specifically being a director or cinematographer or editor. However, during my time at USC, I learned I was really good at production design, and now production seems to be exactly what I want to do.
Anyway, I received my degree in May 2009 and have been job searching ever since. At first it seemed exciting, having what appeared to be lots of options before me, but even with many jobs open, it's extremely hard just getting that one necessary year of experience under my belt to acquire any of them. I've had some really good interviews that feel like I'll come out successful, but, alas, the hunt still continues. Hopefully 2010 will be a successful year, especially with more projects in production than last year, but, with the economy still poor and the nature of the industry, at times the future seems bleak.
Unemployment has taught me many things: how much I value my parents, who, despite being wary about my career choice continue to support me, the fact that money really does make the world go 'round (a month never seems so short as it does between billing cycles), and that I really have to be confident. I have to depend on myself fully, which in itself is sometimes hard to do. In a world of "no," I have to say "yes." It's strange, sitting in front of my computer every day sending out resumes and cover letters and the occasional reel; it feels like I'm not really job-hunting or doing anything, but I have to remind myself that I am. Sometimes it becomes difficult to make myself tappety-tap on the keyboard, and I think it's due to the nature of the work: in essence, I'm not creating anything, I'm not doing anything, but if I don't do this, then I really won't do anything.
Combine this with the fact that LA is a sprawling city that sometimes leaves me feeling isolated even in the busiest times, and a wasteland indeed ensues. However, there's plenty of things that I do to keep myself occupied and entertained, which include the usual going out, hanging out with friends, trying new restaurants and bars, etc. etc. But living in Los Angeles definitely has its perks, particularly for the entertainment industry. This past weekend, I attended a panel at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian that featured all the Oscar-nominated production designers. It was not only interesting but inspiring to hear about the creative and logistical processes that went into working on the films. Plus, I met my idol, Sarah Greenwood, who was gracious enough to speak with me and who happened to be accepting business cards at the event (which I handed over). While I was in Hollywood, I also got to see the set up for the Oscars that were held the next day; unfortunately, I wasn't invited to the event this year (I'm sure it just got lost in the mail), but I did watch it from the comfort of a Los Feliz bar with friends, which was the best time I've ever had watching the awards. Although I lost the betting pool and got fairly boozed up (sorry to those who had to listen to me talk about baseball and Vegas), I will say it was probably the best weekend I've had in 2010 so far for many reasons and left me with something to look forward to in the longrun (working in film) and hopefully in the near future (Vegas for ShoWest, where my friend is receiving his award for winning the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmakers contest)...more to come on that. I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and if you feel so inclined, just to let me know you're out there, leave a comment! :)
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