Good news: I have an internship!
Sorry I've been lacking in posts. Just got too much to do, I guess. I have an internship at a production company that makes commercials. I don't want to put their name out there, but they're HUGE. And they have so many good, well-known cinematographers and directors working with them. If you watch any tv at all, then chances are you've seen the commercials that the company that I now intern for have produced. I signed a contract that says I won't talk about ANYTHING about the company or its ads, so I might be vague a lot.
I started today, and it was...okay. Am sort of getting a feel for it. The people are nice, but really stern and blunt. And when you do something wrong, they're on you so fast, you have no idea. So today was rough, just because I was getting a feel for things, and maybe they expected someone who's kind of like them. Like I've written before, I don't have that type of personality. I'm pretty meek and shy. Dad says that I can't let "the white people" get me down...haha. "Once they know they can step on you, they'll never forget it."
So I'm getting into what producers do, and soon I'll be making calls and "taking bids", or in other words, finding people to work on projects. That means I have to "schmooze" and stuff all over the phone. Ugh. I don't want to do it, but I know I have to be good at it. I've already practiced a little. I just feel real gross afterwards. I don't understand.
We'll see how I fare in the coming weeks.
Friday, 26 June 2009
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
the first Hollywood PA job: part 2
Andy, the production manager, kept telling us all throughout the morning, "I got Jacopo's for lunch. You like meatloaf? Best meatloaf ever. In the world. You will LOVE IT."
The food came, and Hannah and I set up the buffet in the large lunch room in the second floor of the studio. Oh. Dear. God. I've never seen so much food on a film shoot. On student shoots, you're lucky to get pizza or some sort of snack. Sometimes people shoot in the afternoon after lunch and finish before dinner so that they don't have to feed people. It's understandable if you're a student and trying to save money, but Andy disagreed. "If you're asking students to work on your shoot for free, then you need to feed them well just for being there."
There was so much leftover so we brought it back to the crafts services table. I helped clean up the lunch area and then I was sent on another errand. This time I had to return the little "heater" that kept all the food warm to Jacopo's in Beverly Hills. Another gopher run!
I am so eternally grateful for my new GPS thing in my car, honestly, without it I'd be lost in LA. It tracks my miles so I know what to write in my mileage log sheet and if I take different turns it immediately re-routes me. There was so much traffic though that Andy asked me if I got lost when I got back.
Spent the rest of the afternoon doing other random jobs: get this upstairs, get that. I finally had to go pick up the crew's dinner at Baja Fresh across from the Arclight. The people there were really nice. They gave us free churros! I had to make several trips to the car with food though since there was so much. I kept getting calls from Andy to "speed it up, but get here safely". Dude. I can't do both. I can either speed, or be safe, but there's no safety when speeding. I can understand the pressure he's in when the crew's going hungry, but really, my safety is important, and I'll never give into putting myself in danger for some crew member complaining of hunger when there's perfectly good snacks to gorge on in crafts services.
I got in, set up the food, and several people ate. I watched on since I couldn't honestly eat another bite. Around 10pm, after much standing around and no end of filming in sight, Andy said I could go home since there was nothing left for me to do. I insisted on staying to help clean up, but he said that it was okay. I thanked him as well as some other people there like all the other PAs and Hannah and said goodbye. A lot of the PAs thanked me for doing all that driving and gopher stuff.
The best feeling in the world was getting thanked by the PAs and production manager. When you're working a thankless job unnoticed by the higher-ups, it's always nice to get a "thank you" and a smile from other PAs for doing the crap that no one else wanted to do.
Got home around 11, tired but so happy just re-living what it's like to be on a set. I haven't been on a set or film shoot for maybe two years. How weird. The only main difference is the professionalism and level of experience between a school shoot and a pro one. Other than that, both types of shoots are comprised of hardworking, passionate people all working on this one goal: to get the film in the can.
The food came, and Hannah and I set up the buffet in the large lunch room in the second floor of the studio. Oh. Dear. God. I've never seen so much food on a film shoot. On student shoots, you're lucky to get pizza or some sort of snack. Sometimes people shoot in the afternoon after lunch and finish before dinner so that they don't have to feed people. It's understandable if you're a student and trying to save money, but Andy disagreed. "If you're asking students to work on your shoot for free, then you need to feed them well just for being there."
There was so much leftover so we brought it back to the crafts services table. I helped clean up the lunch area and then I was sent on another errand. This time I had to return the little "heater" that kept all the food warm to Jacopo's in Beverly Hills. Another gopher run!
I am so eternally grateful for my new GPS thing in my car, honestly, without it I'd be lost in LA. It tracks my miles so I know what to write in my mileage log sheet and if I take different turns it immediately re-routes me. There was so much traffic though that Andy asked me if I got lost when I got back.
Spent the rest of the afternoon doing other random jobs: get this upstairs, get that. I finally had to go pick up the crew's dinner at Baja Fresh across from the Arclight. The people there were really nice. They gave us free churros! I had to make several trips to the car with food though since there was so much. I kept getting calls from Andy to "speed it up, but get here safely". Dude. I can't do both. I can either speed, or be safe, but there's no safety when speeding. I can understand the pressure he's in when the crew's going hungry, but really, my safety is important, and I'll never give into putting myself in danger for some crew member complaining of hunger when there's perfectly good snacks to gorge on in crafts services.
I got in, set up the food, and several people ate. I watched on since I couldn't honestly eat another bite. Around 10pm, after much standing around and no end of filming in sight, Andy said I could go home since there was nothing left for me to do. I insisted on staying to help clean up, but he said that it was okay. I thanked him as well as some other people there like all the other PAs and Hannah and said goodbye. A lot of the PAs thanked me for doing all that driving and gopher stuff.
The best feeling in the world was getting thanked by the PAs and production manager. When you're working a thankless job unnoticed by the higher-ups, it's always nice to get a "thank you" and a smile from other PAs for doing the crap that no one else wanted to do.
Got home around 11, tired but so happy just re-living what it's like to be on a set. I haven't been on a set or film shoot for maybe two years. How weird. The only main difference is the professionalism and level of experience between a school shoot and a pro one. Other than that, both types of shoots are comprised of hardworking, passionate people all working on this one goal: to get the film in the can.
Friday, 12 June 2009
the first Hollywood PA job: part 1
I mentioned before that I scored a paying (pretty rare for a film student fresh out of college, I'm told) PA job for a commercial.
I signed a confidentiality agreement saying that I won't disclose information about the company or its product, but that doesn't mean I can't talk about my experience as a production assistant/gopher!
We filmed at a studio in Hollywood. The crew was pretty small, about 30 people. A good percentage of the crew was Asian, which was really cool and unexpected. A lot of them were Japanese or Korean and spoke their native languages.
I got there super early, around 6:30 am. Call time was at 7am, but it's always good to get there early. It's a good first impression. The production manager, Andy, showed me around the studio and where to find everything. I helped Hannah, in crafts services (or where you'll find the food), set up her table of yummy breakfast foods. Fruits, Starbucks coffee and pastries, breakfast burritos, and McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. On a student shoot, you're lucky to get any sort of snack or pizza at the end of the day, but these professionals don't mess around. You have to keep your crew happy if you want them to work hard, and sometimes all you need to keep them happy is great crafts services.
I went on my first "run" to buy 60 pounds of ice. I went to the nearest gas station, and the fellows there were so nice, they even helped me to my car with the ice. They asked me if I was throwing a party so early in the morning, and I said no, "We're filming a commercial down the street." To be able to say that gave me a huge sense of pride, not to mention a real ego boost.
Came back with the ice, filled the coolers, and went to the production suite with Andy to help fill out paperwork. I spent the next 30 minutes or so making copies of things, filling out paperwork for all of the crew. I met Yoshi, one of the production managers for the Japanese clients. He was nice. We had a safety meeting with the whole crew and then I had to make everyone sign a confidentiality report. Adam, one of the higher up PAs, gave me my own walkie-talkie. Pretty neat.
I spent the rest of the day doing more runs and hanging out with Hannah at crafts services. There was a lot of downtime during filming for me, so I got to hang out with the other PAs, Adam and Aaron, who were really cool guys and very friendly and funny. I honestly didn't expect some of the people to be so nice. There were some older people there who were nice and smiley to me, I guess it's because I was a new face, not to mention I was the only other girl on set other than Hannah. Everyone pretty much knew each other from other projects.
I got to hear a lot of interesting stories from PAs and grips on their first jobs or some disaster of a production they worked on as well as some great advice from the older, more experienced PAs. Adam, who looked like he was my age, but was probably in his late 20s told me not get disheartened by the film people who will try to get me down. He said that there are a lot of people out there who no longer find passion in their work so all they do is try to alienate the newbies, tell them to find work in something else.
They were really psyched that I got this PA job only two weeks out of college. What scared me though is that Adam has been a PA for four years now. That's a really long time. And he's missed rent for the past 2 months. Aaron, another grip, was super nice. He's a huge guy, like a football player, and he was really funny. While they were setting up for another shot, he said to me, "Don't just stand there watching! Just follow my lead. You’re learning nothing out here [outside the set]. You won’t be in the way. You’ll never learn anything if you’re outside." I told him that I didn't want to step on any toes, but he insisted that I help. He was real nice.
One of the aspects I learned that I must possess in this industry is the ability to flirt. Maybe there's a better term for it, but my vocabulary isn't stellar. I think "schmooze" is also an associated term, but is sounds really asinine and Hollywood, but flirting covers a bunch of bases that "schmoozing" doesn't. Basically, you have to know how to make other people feel good about themselves, to know how to joke around not to mention who to joke around with and who to be serious with. And it ranges from varying degrees, so it could be something small just like looking the person in the eye, smiling, and being very personable to poking fun at a person in a nice way. Either way, you have to be LIKEABLE and presentable, approachable and open, and sometimes the way to be likeable is to flirt, whether it's with guys or girls. It also means being genuinely interested in the other person by asking questions about them, really listening to their stories.
I'm average at this, but I think I can really hone this in as I start working more.
Okay, Part 2 in a bit.
I signed a confidentiality agreement saying that I won't disclose information about the company or its product, but that doesn't mean I can't talk about my experience as a production assistant/gopher!
We filmed at a studio in Hollywood. The crew was pretty small, about 30 people. A good percentage of the crew was Asian, which was really cool and unexpected. A lot of them were Japanese or Korean and spoke their native languages.
I got there super early, around 6:30 am. Call time was at 7am, but it's always good to get there early. It's a good first impression. The production manager, Andy, showed me around the studio and where to find everything. I helped Hannah, in crafts services (or where you'll find the food), set up her table of yummy breakfast foods. Fruits, Starbucks coffee and pastries, breakfast burritos, and McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. On a student shoot, you're lucky to get any sort of snack or pizza at the end of the day, but these professionals don't mess around. You have to keep your crew happy if you want them to work hard, and sometimes all you need to keep them happy is great crafts services.
I went on my first "run" to buy 60 pounds of ice. I went to the nearest gas station, and the fellows there were so nice, they even helped me to my car with the ice. They asked me if I was throwing a party so early in the morning, and I said no, "We're filming a commercial down the street." To be able to say that gave me a huge sense of pride, not to mention a real ego boost.
Came back with the ice, filled the coolers, and went to the production suite with Andy to help fill out paperwork. I spent the next 30 minutes or so making copies of things, filling out paperwork for all of the crew. I met Yoshi, one of the production managers for the Japanese clients. He was nice. We had a safety meeting with the whole crew and then I had to make everyone sign a confidentiality report. Adam, one of the higher up PAs, gave me my own walkie-talkie. Pretty neat.
I spent the rest of the day doing more runs and hanging out with Hannah at crafts services. There was a lot of downtime during filming for me, so I got to hang out with the other PAs, Adam and Aaron, who were really cool guys and very friendly and funny. I honestly didn't expect some of the people to be so nice. There were some older people there who were nice and smiley to me, I guess it's because I was a new face, not to mention I was the only other girl on set other than Hannah. Everyone pretty much knew each other from other projects. I got to hear a lot of interesting stories from PAs and grips on their first jobs or some disaster of a production they worked on as well as some great advice from the older, more experienced PAs. Adam, who looked like he was my age, but was probably in his late 20s told me not get disheartened by the film people who will try to get me down. He said that there are a lot of people out there who no longer find passion in their work so all they do is try to alienate the newbies, tell them to find work in something else.
They were really psyched that I got this PA job only two weeks out of college. What scared me though is that Adam has been a PA for four years now. That's a really long time. And he's missed rent for the past 2 months. Aaron, another grip, was super nice. He's a huge guy, like a football player, and he was really funny. While they were setting up for another shot, he said to me, "Don't just stand there watching! Just follow my lead. You’re learning nothing out here [outside the set]. You won’t be in the way. You’ll never learn anything if you’re outside." I told him that I didn't want to step on any toes, but he insisted that I help. He was real nice.
One of the aspects I learned that I must possess in this industry is the ability to flirt. Maybe there's a better term for it, but my vocabulary isn't stellar. I think "schmooze" is also an associated term, but is sounds really asinine and Hollywood, but flirting covers a bunch of bases that "schmoozing" doesn't. Basically, you have to know how to make other people feel good about themselves, to know how to joke around not to mention who to joke around with and who to be serious with. And it ranges from varying degrees, so it could be something small just like looking the person in the eye, smiling, and being very personable to poking fun at a person in a nice way. Either way, you have to be LIKEABLE and presentable, approachable and open, and sometimes the way to be likeable is to flirt, whether it's with guys or girls. It also means being genuinely interested in the other person by asking questions about them, really listening to their stories.
I'm average at this, but I think I can really hone this in as I start working more.
Okay, Part 2 in a bit.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
grad party
Or should I say practice for my future wedding?
Last Saturday's grad party was pretty huge. Mom likened it to a debut, which is a huge party when a Filipino girl turns 18. This was better than a debut because it probably was way cheaper than one and I didn't have to learn how to dance, haha.
We had it at a Chinese restaurant in Cerritos. 14 tables of people! Crazy. Mom set up a table with all my grad photos, from grade school through college. Embarrassing. I greeted people as they entered and told them where to sit. We even had assigned seating!
The food was good, and I think everyone had a good time. I was seated with all my friends from school. EVERYONE LOVED THE CAKE! It was honestly the best cake I've had in a long time. And I'm not a cake fan. Got it at King's Hawaiian bakery. People were getting seconds and thirds. They designed a movie screen on it with curtains and all and my name in the middle. It was nice.
After, all my girlfriends came over and we opened up a bottle of Coppola (not the Rubicon, I'm saving that for later!). Then we saw "Star Trek" at the Garden Walk in Anaheim. This was my 3rd time seeing the film, but one of my friends hadn't seen it, so we decided to see it again at the Sky Lobby which is 21 and over so you can drink in the theater. Plus no annoying teenagers.
So, overall, what an amazing way to celebrate the end of formal education. When my aunt said grace before eating lunch at my grad party she announced to everyone that I had graduated cum laude. Everyone started clapping and yelling, and it was nice. I haven't been telling people just because I don't want them to know, and I didn't think it was a big deal, but I guess it really is. People were surprised and really happy for me.
Mom was telling people how I went to Paris and lived there for a year, and everyone was like, "Wow, that's amazing! How did you do that?" It's like they saw me with different eyes after hearing about these things. None of it would've been possible if I didn't have such a supportive and loving family who believed in my dreams of living in Paris and studying film.
I feel so super blessed and lucky. There are times where I stay up all night thinking, "What did I do to deserve all this? To experience this?" And it just boggles my mind.
What also keeps me up at night?...How do I pay it all back?
Last Saturday's grad party was pretty huge. Mom likened it to a debut, which is a huge party when a Filipino girl turns 18. This was better than a debut because it probably was way cheaper than one and I didn't have to learn how to dance, haha.
We had it at a Chinese restaurant in Cerritos. 14 tables of people! Crazy. Mom set up a table with all my grad photos, from grade school through college. Embarrassing. I greeted people as they entered and told them where to sit. We even had assigned seating!
The food was good, and I think everyone had a good time. I was seated with all my friends from school. EVERYONE LOVED THE CAKE! It was honestly the best cake I've had in a long time. And I'm not a cake fan. Got it at King's Hawaiian bakery. People were getting seconds and thirds. They designed a movie screen on it with curtains and all and my name in the middle. It was nice.
After, all my girlfriends came over and we opened up a bottle of Coppola (not the Rubicon, I'm saving that for later!). Then we saw "Star Trek" at the Garden Walk in Anaheim. This was my 3rd time seeing the film, but one of my friends hadn't seen it, so we decided to see it again at the Sky Lobby which is 21 and over so you can drink in the theater. Plus no annoying teenagers.
So, overall, what an amazing way to celebrate the end of formal education. When my aunt said grace before eating lunch at my grad party she announced to everyone that I had graduated cum laude. Everyone started clapping and yelling, and it was nice. I haven't been telling people just because I don't want them to know, and I didn't think it was a big deal, but I guess it really is. People were surprised and really happy for me.
Mom was telling people how I went to Paris and lived there for a year, and everyone was like, "Wow, that's amazing! How did you do that?" It's like they saw me with different eyes after hearing about these things. None of it would've been possible if I didn't have such a supportive and loving family who believed in my dreams of living in Paris and studying film.
I feel so super blessed and lucky. There are times where I stay up all night thinking, "What did I do to deserve all this? To experience this?" And it just boggles my mind.
What also keeps me up at night?...How do I pay it all back?
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
steps toward professionalism
Did some impromptu networking in the past couple of days. My cousin's husband knows a guy working down here and got me in contact with him. We had a phone "interview". I was nervous at first, but he was really nice and willing to get me in touch with the right people. It really helps if I smile while talking on the phone. I feel like it travels through the receiver, that he can read my excitement in my voice or even that trepidation. I felt like I was charming and funny, maybe more than usual, because he was laughing at my jokes. So that's a good sign.
I told him what I was interested in doing and that my plan for the year is to just to learn and experience and figure out what I want to do then try and focus on that. He said that that was a good plan and what he did out of college since he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Casting and locations interest me right now, and he's got friends in those areas. He's also working on a commercial in the coming weeks, and he's going to find out if I can help out. He's not sure yet since companies usually don't want people knowing about their product, but I said that he's done enough already and I was sincerely grateful.
Met another guy at my ex-roomie's grad party. We lived together 3 years ago. Anyway, he works on a well-known reality tv show. He gave me his card, but I didn't have any to give him! Oh well. He was nice and gave good advice and said he could send me and Cat PA (production assistant) jobs our way.
Only thing was this: I was wearing a slightly low-cut dress at the party, and the dude was super tall, and I could tell he was checking me out sometimes, you know? And I wasn't bothered by it, in fact, I was actually quite flattered because he didn't come off as a douchebag during the 15 minutes we talked about film, he was actually a genuinely nice guy and not the "let's take advantage of the new person here to Hollywood" type guy. I'd like to think I've got a good barometer for these things. Not to say I judge a person within the first 10 minutes of meeting him, but I can get a feel for what a person's like and this feeling changes the more I get to know him.
I'm also finally seeing how appearance works into these things. Not that I was never aware of it, but it never really applied to me until now. I just want to be charming and smart, well-spoken and witty, and I want that to be the main attraction, something that people remember about me, and maybe my weird, slight cuteness helps too. I don't know. I just wish that was the way if works instead of physical appearances determining everything.
Moving on, I finally made business cards at Moo, and they look AMAZING, according to the computer screen. I don't have them physically yet. They're sort of my grad gift to myself since they're slightly expensive (50 for $21.99, although I found a link for 15% discount). I had 100 made. I'll probably just save them for "important" people (God, I'm Hollywood already). Meaning, people I really want to impress in the "industry" will get them.
I took some film-related photos that I've taken over the years and put them on the back of the card. The front of the card has my info. 50 of them have a photo of me looking through a Bolex camera. It's one of my favorites. Also, 50 of them have this on it:
We met on (insert date)
@ (insert film shoot)
So that people can remember what film shoot they met me on and what date. I got that idea from a friend's business card that had a blank line on it for him to fill out the shoot name. We'll see if it flies. I've been looking for inspiration in films for business cards, and I particularly liked this one in "Ocean's Eleven":
I love the simple, classic look of it. Then Danny just writes whatever on the back that the person needs to know. Raised lettering sounds expensive though, so maybe next time when I start making moneys.
Also, I've avoided pigeon-holing myself by writing "writer" on the business card. People will just think that's my focus, so I left the position blank. Once I figure out what it is, then it'll be time to make new cards, but these ones are going to be great for now.
I told him what I was interested in doing and that my plan for the year is to just to learn and experience and figure out what I want to do then try and focus on that. He said that that was a good plan and what he did out of college since he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Casting and locations interest me right now, and he's got friends in those areas. He's also working on a commercial in the coming weeks, and he's going to find out if I can help out. He's not sure yet since companies usually don't want people knowing about their product, but I said that he's done enough already and I was sincerely grateful.
Met another guy at my ex-roomie's grad party. We lived together 3 years ago. Anyway, he works on a well-known reality tv show. He gave me his card, but I didn't have any to give him! Oh well. He was nice and gave good advice and said he could send me and Cat PA (production assistant) jobs our way.
Only thing was this: I was wearing a slightly low-cut dress at the party, and the dude was super tall, and I could tell he was checking me out sometimes, you know? And I wasn't bothered by it, in fact, I was actually quite flattered because he didn't come off as a douchebag during the 15 minutes we talked about film, he was actually a genuinely nice guy and not the "let's take advantage of the new person here to Hollywood" type guy. I'd like to think I've got a good barometer for these things. Not to say I judge a person within the first 10 minutes of meeting him, but I can get a feel for what a person's like and this feeling changes the more I get to know him.
I'm also finally seeing how appearance works into these things. Not that I was never aware of it, but it never really applied to me until now. I just want to be charming and smart, well-spoken and witty, and I want that to be the main attraction, something that people remember about me, and maybe my weird, slight cuteness helps too. I don't know. I just wish that was the way if works instead of physical appearances determining everything.
Moving on, I finally made business cards at Moo, and they look AMAZING, according to the computer screen. I don't have them physically yet. They're sort of my grad gift to myself since they're slightly expensive (50 for $21.99, although I found a link for 15% discount). I had 100 made. I'll probably just save them for "important" people (God, I'm Hollywood already). Meaning, people I really want to impress in the "industry" will get them.
I took some film-related photos that I've taken over the years and put them on the back of the card. The front of the card has my info. 50 of them have a photo of me looking through a Bolex camera. It's one of my favorites. Also, 50 of them have this on it:
We met on (insert date)
@ (insert film shoot)
So that people can remember what film shoot they met me on and what date. I got that idea from a friend's business card that had a blank line on it for him to fill out the shoot name. We'll see if it flies. I've been looking for inspiration in films for business cards, and I particularly liked this one in "Ocean's Eleven":
I love the simple, classic look of it. Then Danny just writes whatever on the back that the person needs to know. Raised lettering sounds expensive though, so maybe next time when I start making moneys.
Also, I've avoided pigeon-holing myself by writing "writer" on the business card. People will just think that's my focus, so I left the position blank. Once I figure out what it is, then it'll be time to make new cards, but these ones are going to be great for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)