To Start Things Off

Welcome to my new blog!

I decided that since I am technically still studying abroad, that I should keep up another blog for all of you, so that you can all live vicariously in Hollywood through me. If you don't know, I'm at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center (LAFSC) in Los Angeles, about half a mile away from Miracle Mile (not the hooker street, the place where movies are made). So relax, sit back, and read my antics in Hollywood while you sip your bourbon, wine, chocolate milk, or other poison of choice.

As most of you know, I got back into the country from New Zealand in July, went straight to Comic Con after a short visit to San Diego, then sat around at home for a month, catching up on quality veg time that I didn't get during my last month in NZ. It was a glorious time, filled with swimming, cats, and eating food that I didn't have to pay for. But like all good things (or mostly good, the boredom set in after week two), it came to an end.

My dad and I drove out to L.A. together in my little Mitsubishi. It was some of the best "dad-time" I've had with him in awhile, and we had a good talk about topics ranging from politics to religion, the economy to free trade. The drive was a bit long, though seven hours compared to the students driving from Ohio and Pennsylvania was nothing. We would have been stranded near California Institute of Technology outside L.A. if our trusty GPS hadn't been able to inform us of a nearby gas station. After a delicious meal of dim sum, a night in a motel off of 3rd Street that looked like and smelled like a horror movie, and checking into the Park La Brea Apartments, my dad and I parted ways, and I was alone in Los Angeles.

So why does this blog have Miracle Mile in the name? Easy: because LAFSC is located on Miracle Mile, at a place we lovingly call the Center. If that doesn't sound ominous enough for you, the Center is open 24/7 to students, and is seriously creepy at night.

Anyway, orientation week! It was like most other orientation weeks: awkward meals, the giving of names we knew we wouldn't remember, the initial panic of getting food, trying to scope out your roommates to see if they are just as messy as you or are total slobs, and attempting to find the hottest (and most available) guy/girl nearest you. Some highlights from orientation week:

Meeting Doug Jones: Doug Jones (the faun and the pale man from "Pan's Labyrinth", the Silver Surfer from "Fantastic Four 2", Abe Sapien from both Hellboy movies, and a horde of other roles) is a rather well regarded actor, especially for odd, horror-esque monster parts. He also happens to be a Christian and an exceedingly funny guy. He came and spoke to us about the industry for two and a half hours, and stayed for an hour and a half after wards taking pictures, talking, and signing autographs. He is absolutely AMAZING, and had a lot of encouraging things to say about making it in Hollywood. His biggest advice? Be a good soul. Funny how the advice your parents give you always ends up to be the most correct...

Touring the Kodak Theater: The Kodak Theater is where the Academy Awards are held every year. While no pictures are allowed inside the theater, I can assure you that it is gorgeous, and much smaller than it looks on television! Evidently there is an open bar inside for celebrities, and the reason stars are always in a hurry to get inside is to take advantage of their one free drink. The area outside the theater has spaces for the names of every Best Picture winner, from the beginning to 2075 (or some absurd number like that). And on the inside, some fun facts: the stairs inside are shallower than normal so that actresses can walk easier in their heels and dresses, people nominated for an award always sit in the aisle so they don't have to crawl over everyone to get out, and the reason movies are called the "silver screen" is because of the glass screens that gave off a silver sheen used to show movies back in the day.

The Hollywood Bowl: Our entire class of 52 attended the Hollywood Bowl last Saturday and was serenaded to the music of John Williams (for those who don't know, he is responsible for such memorable soundtracks as "Star Wars", "Jaws", "Harry Potter", and "Indiana Jones"), conducted BY John Williams himself and the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra. It was fun not only because the music was great, but because during the "Star Wars" part, my nerd status was decreased when people brought out their light sabers and waved them in time to the music.

This first week of classes has been quite the week. We are certainly being kept busy! We had two homework assignments due the first week: a two-page character sketch and a reel if we chose to try out for director in a semester long project. A run down of the classes:

Theology in Hollywood (TIH): We discuss theology. In Hollywood. There's not much else to it...

Hollywood Production Workshop (HPW): In this class, we are split into five groups and each group produces a 10 minute short film that will premiere at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard and will be eligible to be entered into film festivals. Everyone has a part. Director, producer, director of photography (DP), production designer, picture editor, sound editor. The five scripts chosen are written by five students.

Professional Screenwriting (PS): This is one of our elective classes, in which you write a full length screenplay, or as much of one as you can. The other elective is production oriented. I am in screenwriting, however, and it is by far the smaller group.

Internship: As simple as it sounds - we get an internship in Hollywood. We have help in finding the internship, but whether we get it or not depends on our interview!

So the first week is a mass of orientation classes, do this, don't do that, don't sleep in the Center or die, the usual. We all agonized over our scripts that we had to turn in - especially screenwriters, who saw HPW as the Super Bowl of possibilities in this program - and tried to figure out where we wanted to go in the movie business, and thus what internship to apply for.

As for me, I am applying to Mandeville Film and Television, a division of the Walt Disney Company. They have produced some of "Monk", "Surrogates", "The Proposal", "Eight Below", and other films. After two reschedulings, I had my interview today, and while it went well, I have to submit a sample coverage (basically a book report for a screenplay and comments on whether you think it should be produced or not) before they will consider hiring me. It was quite the amazing feeling, though, to be walking on the Disney lot, and into the Animation building! I met the sweetest guy while walking in. He looked to be in his 30s, grinning from ear to ear, and walking with a bounce in his step. Ends up, it was his first day of work on the Disney lot, working as art director for a television show that he had created. What an inspiring way to start the day!

The interview went well, but HPW proved to make my day. Why you ask? I'm glad you asked!


MY SCRIPT GOT CHOSEN!!!

It was one of 52 scripts chosen to be produced, and MAN am I stoked! I can't wait to see my characters come to life on the screen. We had five very different and interesting scripts: a musical about an intern, a film noir about a midget detective, a horror story/fairy tale, a Tim Burton-esque tale, and mine, a British style comedy with a twist of drama. Even better, I got my first choice of job: producing! I am now one of two producers for the detective story, titled "Little".

A glorious day, indeed!

I know L.A. is going to hold a lot of promise, and I pray to God to show me what my purpose here truly is, and to show me if the movie industry is what I really want to do in life. I will keep you all updated on what happens, and anything random and exciting that goes on. For now, though, I will continue to revel in the glory that is God and his most precious creation: people.


Cheers,
Nicole