"B-e-a-utiful."

August 29, 2011

It has been awhile. Sorry about that. I'm going through many more changes in the past few weeks. On Aug 22nd I finished my internship with The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation. I'm so blessed to have gotten such a prestigious internship. I'm even more thankful to have gotten a job at my host company Bunim/Murray Productions as a Post Production Assistant for a new show called Best Ink. I will start my new job on September 19th. This link talks about the new series that will air on Oxygen and will be produced by BMP. So far it is the only information I am able to find that is released to the public.
http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/Oxygen_Picks_Up_BEST_INK_20101216_page1

Before my internship ended all the Academy interns attended a Mixer at the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. It was an incredible experience networking with all the other intern's and their host company mentors. It was great that my mentor, Mark Raudonis, was able to attend. Here is a picture a photographer snapped of us at the mixer. Mark has been an amazing mentor to me all summer. He took a lot of his time to teach me and push me to succeed. One thing I really respected about him is that he did not hand me a job once my internship was over. He made me go out into the company and find it myself. It gave me such a great feeling of accomplishment when I was able to land my first real job within the entertainment industry on my own.

I was able to go to Universal Studios Hollywood with a group of ATAS interns before the returned to college. My favorite part by far was the Studio Tour ride. I was amazed by all the incredible sets they have on their lot. They have everything you can imagine from, old Western sets, to New York City streets, to the original Psycho (1960 Alfred Hitchcock horror film) hotel set [with a psycho killer included].

For those of you that don't know, I have been a huge Jim Carrey fan since I was young. I grew up watching movies like, Ace Ventura, The Mask, Liar Liar, and continuously quote lines from The Grinch and Bruce Almighty. To my excitement, I was able to see the sets used in Bruce Almighty and The Grinch! This is the city hall set that the ending scene of Bruce Almighty was filmed. You may also recognize it from the iconic film, Back to the Future. (IT'S THE SAME CITY HALL USED FOR BOTH FILMS!!! Blew my mind). Ironically, the houses from the set of The Grinch were located right behind the Psycho hotel set.

Currently I am trying to finalize paper work for a new apartment I hope to move into soon in North Hollywood. I will be living with my friend from Indiana University, Mike Nelson. I'm so excited that many more of my friends from school are making their way out to Los Angeles now. About 8 other students from IU have recently moved to L.A. in the past 2 weeks. Let the Indiana Invasion begin!

Internship to Full Time Job

Sorry people for not writing a new blog post recently! I was busy hanging out with my cousin Kara Fischer last weekend in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. It was great meeting her boyfriend John and his family. They were kind enough to let me stay at their house for the weekend so I could spend time with Kara. We went hiking along the ocean on Saturday, and I was able to go to my first Surf Shop ever on Sunday. Of course, as soon as I walked in I wanted everything. I walked out with some new Toms shoes, a Billabong shirt and hoodie.

I recently moved into Alyssa's apartment on the Burbank/Glendale line. While she is filming in Alaska she agreed to let me stay in her 1 bedroom apartment while she is gone. It's fantastic! I love The Valley area. It is much more laid back with more of a small town feel. Also, the view driving home is pretty amazing. There are mountains on one side and hills on the other. I plan on going hiking on both sides while I am staying here. This road is close to mine, and sometimes I drive down it just to take in the incredible view of the palm trees and mountains in the background.

Alyssa's apartment is so cute. She is a cinematographer and has a very cute aesthetic. I love how she decorated such a small space and made it incredibly home-y.
The commute to the Bunim/Murray office is about the same from when I was staying in Westwood.  It actually  easier getting to work by taking the I-405. Now, I take the 134, the 170 and then drive down a road for 5 miles to get to work so I can bypass the insanely busy I-101.  LA  Traffic! (...yay) Actually, I have been very lucky with my commutes because I am always going the opposite direction than the rush hour traffic, so I can't complain.

My internship is done Monday, August 22. My mentor Mark has talked to me about hiring me after my internship is over. (Awesome, yes). As of now, I haven't told many people because I do not know what my position will be or when I will start. I had a meeting with Lisa from HR who emphasized how things work very last minute. People move around, get promoted and they call people to fill in their position. I'm currently talking to a Post Supervisor I've worked with already about being a Post (PA) Production Assistant for a show, if it is in the budget. We'll see. So, I'll jump up and down once I find out my start date and position. Don't worry...I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime, my "Things To Do" list is very long and filled with life changing events, like finding my OWN apartment here in Los Angeles. I will begin looking by using a website MANY people have told me to use called Westsiderentals.com. You have to pay to use the website, which means it has the most postings and reliable sources. Many people that live in Los Angeles have told me they found all of their apartments by this website. Hope it works for me too!