I'm in L.A. trick...

So, it's been a while...I'd like to say I'll do better, but let's be honest, I've said that one before.

Down to business -- this post won't be as fantastical as previous ones but it's been so long that I feel like I have to write something. Work has been incredibly hectic. I kind of got a promotion at work (I'm still an intern ie. UNPAID) but it comes with more responsibility. I'm kind of a stand-in assistant for one of the producers, meaning I keep his schedule, answer phones, talk to important peeps, etc. It also means longer hours, being more on top of my game, but it's also exciting and will hopefully help me get a job at the end of the summer.

What I'm most excited about, though, is the OSCAR I got to touch last week! Seriously, a real Oscar. Hughes Winborne is the Academy Award winning editor of Crash. He spoke to us last Wednesday about his experiences in the industry and he was so amazing. He's so passionate about his work, it was very inspiring. I could go on and on about his story and how he came about, but you could google it haha. The important thing to note is that I am now more motivated than ever to be in L.A. and I really understand what a priviledge it is to have the opportunity that I have. That's the Oscar there, and believe me, it doesn't do it justice. I didn't want to take a picture with it because I want my first picture with an Oscar to be one that I've won :) High aspirations, I know, but it could happen ;)

As far as going out, we've done that a bit. We've been to a place called Winston's, which was pretty fun and last night we went to Lola's which is a cute little restaurant/bar in West L.A. known for their martini's. On Thursday, we ate dinner at Dolce. They are closing indefinitely and Tuesday will be their last day so we decided to hit it up before they shut their doors. It was pretty good. The atmosphere was what you'd expect of a Hollywood restaurant: dark, with plush seats, a long bar with flames behind the liquor bottles, and a less than polite matre'd. It was cool to be there, but unfortunately, there were no celeb sightings that night. Hopefully soon, I'm still waiting on my Zacquisha encounter.

This weekend is the 4th weekend, and we're planning a beach trip so I'm sure I'll have stories from that. Hope all is well in NC. Miss you all lots and I hope to hear from you soon :)

xoxo

Martinis and Manicures

This week was pretty packed but only a few occurrences of my week are noteworthy. I will recall them to you as such.


WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was the screening for a film that was produced by my company. After having found the venue and creating the guest list, I was super excited to see it all go through. It was a low key event held in the evening, right after the end of the work day. There were about 40 guests, including the director, writers, composer and other "big wigs," if you will. I had no idea what the film was about before seeing it and didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The storyline was clever and while I did see the ending coming, the film definitely took some twists and turns to get there.
After the film was over, being the intern, I had to make copies of the completed questionnaires at Kinko's and drop them off at the producer's house. This seems like a simple task except if you know me, you know that I can also be technologically deficient at times. This was one of those times. The copy machine busted and cut off the end of my copies so I had to sit in the middle of the store at 8pm for an hour trying to match everything back up. It was a mess.
I was completely flustered by the time I got home, after a failed attempt at Wendy's, so my roommates and I went down to the hot tub to relax. We met some interesting people there...mostly sketchballs, but there was also a Bruce Jenner look-a-like, no joke.


THURSDAY

A few of my roomies and I went to a laundromat to do laundry for the first time since being here. We found one not too far from our house. You may be wondering why this is of any interest to you. Well -- it's really not except that they played some AWESOME motown jams while we were there and if you recall, I love to sing/dance, especially to Motown. They played a Michael McDonald song (which I love) and it reminded me of this Justin Timberlake parody. Check it out here, it's hilarious.


FRIDAY

We went to The Standard. It's a hotel with a bar and dance club inside. It was a lot cooler than I thought it was going to be. There was a Russel Brandt / Jesse from MTV old school look-a-like in there with messy hair and combat boots. Besides that, it was pretty standard -- pun intended. I had a drink named after me, although I doubt anyone will ever order it, I like knowing that it exists haha. I have no clue what was in it other than some pomegranate flavored something and an orange twist on top. Everyone should travel here and order one so my name can be put on the map :) We also learned that drinks in LA are way more than they are in NC. I think we all knew it would be expensive but mixed drinks ran between $10-12 although they were a bit on the strong side and they only used top shelf liquors. More on these ridiculous prices to follow*.


SATURDAY

We had dinner and a mini lecture at our professor Paul's house. The lasagna was delicious and it was cool to be in a real house with a homecooked meal. He has this adorable little dog that I wanted to steal. He kind of reminded me of my dog Malcolm but with midget legs. Seriously, the dog might have been a foot from the ground but that was it. He was like a really fat hot dog with fluffy hair, so cute!!!
Afterwards, my boss Katie who's friends with a few interns invited us to a house party. We went and it was really chill. Everyone was just hanging out listening to a couple of guys play guitar, etc. Very low key, but nice. My roommates, Amanda and I all went out after that because it was only about 1030 or so. We went to Beauty Bar and Ecco. The first was a really girly bar that played pretty cool eclectic music. You could also get your nails done there. It seems like a cool place to go early on in the night. Since there weren't too many dudes there, we left and went next door to Ecco after about an hour or so. It was apparently guest list only but these two dudes who spoke with strong spanish accents asked if we wanted to go in with them so we said, yes sirs. *They kept asking if we had a "bottle" inside. I learn that a bottle is a full bottle of champagne, which will run you upwards of $800. We didn't see much of them inside but we did meet a couple of guys from UNC (small world!) and a lot of dudes in fedoras haha. It was cool though and they played great dance music.


That's a pic of beauty bar. Pretty funky, right? :) Miss you all and hope you're enjoying the summer!
xoxo

Everything's the same in the LA LA Land Machine

It's been almost a week since my last post -- sorry!

I will start off by saying I have not had any more LAPD run ins or car trouble since last we spoke :)

The past week was really busy. I kind of found my niche at work, which was nice. My intern director/boss aka Katie, was out of the office Tues-Fri afternoon helping to film a documentary so I acted in her place. I was in charge of answering phones, taking messages, doing online research and finding a screening room for a sneak peak of a film my producers made.

While answering the phone seems like an easy take, I assure you, it's not. It's actually very intimidating/terrifying at first. One woman explained to me on my first day, "People get fired over the phones in this business everyday. Get it right." After that pep talk, I made sure to ask someone exactly how I was to address people over the phone. Basically, no one will ever call to talk to me, so it's not important for them to know who they're speaking to, just who's office it is. Also, never hang up the phone without having the full name and number of the person who called and the reason that they called. Turns out, I'm not too bad at the phones and was actually praised for my skills. It may seem trivial, but I was ecstatic, seriously.

Now I'll tell you a bit about the office. Like I mentioned the other day (I think), we share a suite with a PR firm called Sunshine Sachs and another production company called Camelot films. The Sunshine peeps are really nice and super trendy. They are exactly like I thought PR people would be: great dressers, great hair, great shoes and funny. I don't work directly with them but it sounds like they have a pretty cool job with some awesome clients.

Camelot is really cool because while they have their own interns, I sometimes will get to work with them as well. The exec producers PA's name is Shauna and she's really nice. I think she's from the NY/NJ area so her accent is really cool...it reminds me of La La and Jac :) I've read some scripts of theirs and written a coverage for a film. Shauna was nice enough to let me read the script for a film that they're making over the summer and it was AWESOME. I'll let you all know when it comes out but it's totally an indie film and the writing was really clever.

Now for Hunting Lane Films: it's GREAT! Jamie and Kevin are the exec producers and Katie is Jamie's PA. I've only met Jamie once but he was really nice. Since Katie was out of the office most of the week, we didn't get to chat too much but she is also really really nice and is definitely someone I feel comfortable going to with "stupid" questions like how to use the copier/fax and where to get "so and so's" number. Since she did this program, she relates to the trials and tribulations of being an intern across the country and not making bones (money).

Kevin is the other e.p. and he's also a sales agent. He is so cool; seriously, that's the only way to describe him. Everything about him is LA. He's definitely the type of person that you really want to like you, and fortunately for me, I think he does. He asked me the other day to describe to him what a mash-up was, so I introduced him to Girl Talk and then we spent 20 minutes watching various youtube clips from different shows in the 70s and 80s. He thinks I'm funny because I'm "so little" aka I'm only 21 and he thinks I'm a baby haha. He also likes the Disney Channel so if you really know me, you know this is a match made in Heaven. I'm sure you'll hear more about him and the rest of the HL crew later on so I'll leave you with that for now.

This week there's a screening for a new film they're exec producing and they invited me to go so I'm really excited--my first early screening :) That's Tuesday evening so look out for a post around Wednesday.

Today, my roommates and I are journeying to a laundrymat so it should be interesting :) Sunday is turning out to be a movie day and we're thinking about seeing "Away We Go" or "The Hangover" which I've heard nothing but good things about from Amber. I hope you all enjoy this lazy Sunday. Miss you!

Celeb Sighting:
Kristen Bell (Gossip Girl's voice, Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) checking out at our local grocery store
Pinkberry -- kind of a "local celeb" Amanda and I went the other day...it beats Yo Po AND Coldstone handsdown.

p.s. the title today is from Demi Lovato's song "La La Land Machine" She's a Disney star so natch, I love it.

Can't hold me down, can't slow me down

...Wise words from Mr. Kanye.

Today was my first day of work. It went well. I got there on time, even a little bit early. The office atmosphere is really laid back. I was overdressed in a casual skirt and button-down, as most people were wearing jeans, flips flops and hoodies/tees. I'll dress more comfortably tomorrow.

For those interested, I did a script coverage which is basically a synopsis of the script. I read 2-3 scripts so I guess it's a good thing that I like reading haha. I only had to run one out of office errand today and I could walk there so it wasn't bad at all.

After I left the office, I went out to my car to find that I had a flat tire. Yes, that's right. I got, yet another flat tire almost exactly a year after my last one and it was the exact same tire. Long story short, I had two tires replaced and got my car realigned. All in all, a good day haha.

Hopefully, tomorrow will go a little smoother and minus flat tires/car probs. I get to run the desk by myself because my boss will be on location with the producer. So wish me luck, again, and safe driving.

Miss you all!

xoxo