27 Days!

May 24, 2011

Only 27 days until I pack up my Nissan Maxima and have my first hardcore road trip out west to Los Angeles! But, before I get ahead of myself lets rewind a few weeks back so I can explain why the hell I'm moving my life 2,089 miles away. Yes, I did look it up.

It all started when I was sitting in the Telecom building (as usual) between classes. Professor Krahnke came up to me and shoved this poster in my face and told me to apply. The poster heading said, "Get your start in Hollywood." I said, "Alright I will!" What I didn't realize is how much work applying for The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Summer Internship Program took. For those of you who don't know what The Academy is, I will explain! They are a non-for-profit charitable arm of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences...you know, the people who do The Emmys. The Academy has a summer internship program for college students and recently graduated seniors. There are 30 categories to chose from Directing, Programming, Costume Design, to Animation. I applied for the Editing category. The application involved a packet of sorts. I included my resume, school transcripts, an editing reel, a 300-400 word Professional Statement Essay, and 2 letters of recommendation. I heard how competitive this internship was, and started to plan my summer as if I had never applied. Of course, I day dreamed of what it would be like working in Los Angeles this summer...
On April 23 at 4:51 I received an email from Nancy Robinson titled: TV Academy Foundation Internship Finalist Notification I took the time to read the first line that said: "You have been selected as a finalist for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Internship Program in the Editing category." I instantly started shaking with excitement and started freaking out via Facebook chat to my best friend Kathryn Begle. I had 7 days to film myself answering their interview questions they had sent me and overnight the DVD to them. I'd like to thank Dark Hound Productions for letting me use the equipment for my interview, Professor Krahnke, Kathryn Begle, Matt Dirksen, and my cousin Chelsea Cotner for helping me with the interview process. Couldn't have done it without you!! =)
The few weeks leading up to graduation I had lots of people asking, "Ashley, what are your plans for the summer?" "What are you doing after graduation?" I honestly couldn't answer because I had no idea. I said, "I'll let you know in 2 weeks."
Less than 2 weeks later...
Kathryn Begle and I were hanging out Monday, May 9th(2 days after graduation). Two minutes after Kathryn leaves my apartment I hear my cell phone ring. I sprint up stairs to answer it in time and my heart stops after I see the number is an (818) area code aka: Los Angeles. I had been informed by Nancy Robinson that if I had gotten the internship they would call me, if I did not get it they would just email me.  (Lets just say I was terrified at checking email for weeks). I answered the phone trying to remember to breath when Nancy Robinson introduced herself to me and told me she had good news. I probably was very unprofessional as she told me I was chosen for the reality editing internship, as I held back my excitement as much as possible. A week later I was given the name and number of my new hero/mentor, Mark Raudonis. He is VP of Post Production for my host company Bunim/Murray Productions. They pretty much invented reality TV by creating The Real World in 1992. Before calling Mr. Raudonis I researched Bunim/Murray and Mark himself. Yes, he is googleable, which makes him a badass. I saw the company logo and instantly recognized it. I had seen it hundreds of times on TV. After talking to Mr. Raudonis on the phone for 15 minutes, I was relieved that he seemed very cool, rather than a psycho scary LA bosses you hear about. He explained how he wanted me to learn how each of their shows in production this summer are edited. He told me I get to work on my favorite show of ALL TIME: Project Runway. I also will get to work on The Real World and Keeping up with the Kardashians!

Since then, I have been walking on Cloud 9. I can not wait until I move to Los Angeles and start my life.

That's all Folks!