Last Day of New Job

Hey guys. Last week I stage managed the H-W Dance Concert, and this week I've been interning at NASH Entertainment. It's a production company that produces reality clip shows (mostly for Tru TV). My cousin used to work here and one of her friends is a pretty important honcho around here (y'know, I'm not entirely certain what he does, but he has a nice office and seems pretty important so... yeah) so he set me up with a weeklong internship/learning opportunity. Like my week at "The Suite Life," my first reaction was complete and utter culture shock, simply because every facet of the completely nutso entertainment industry is different. I'm looking into summer jobs and I'm thinking of applying either to work at the Getty (preferably in photography, of course) or volunteering 3-4 days a week at Cedars Sinai hospital. I think the hospital one would be a nice change of pace for me after spending this year exploring "the industry."

Anyway, NASH produces these clip shows. I'm working in the offices for the show "Most Daring," which is in its 4th season. The 4th season actually wraps this week (except for post-production), and they start on season 5 I think next week. It's a show compiled of clips of people doing ridiculous things (crashing ATVs, falling through trampolines, etc...) or in ridiculous situations (tornadoes, houses washed away by a river, etc...). They have another show in production called "Most Shocking," which is pretty much the same. They also both feature a lot of footage from the police about crazy crimes and chases.

Most of the employees in the office spend their time trolling the internet or hunting down tips to find new videos to feature on the show. Each episode is themed, for example right now they're working on "Senior Smackdown" (ridiculous old people). The researchers have to find the source of the clip, contact that person, arrange licensing fees (which is finalized by clearance), and set up interviews with the people involved in the incident (the show tells stories through a combination of voice over written by staff writers and interviews with the people involved).  I spent a lot of time with the production coordinator and the licensing departments, as well as observing two different editors at work.  I also got to use the avid (editing tool) just to transfer some segments from one sequence to another, which was nice of the guy to let me try.

I was there for a good week, since Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, and one of the guys in post-production made corned beef for the whole office and we had a little pot luck buffet.  And then today was someone's birthday, so there was (delicious) ice cream cake, and one of the women in clearance is pregnant.  The office had a pool about whether the baby would be a boy or a girl, and it's gonna be a boy so everyone who guessed "girl" had to buy the others pizza.  So basically, I got a lot of free food!

Holdin' Out For a HERO

Right now I'm stage managing the Dance Concert at my high school, which is a little weird.  Especially considering that two members of the student crew happen to be two of my really close friends.  It makes me feel weird and kinda old but at the same time very deja vu-y.  There was even a moment before rehearsal earlier this week when I was hanging out with Leland and literally felt like I hadn't even graduated.  (The title of the post is a reference to the dance concert's theme, by the way). 

I got my Harvard-Westlake paycheck yesterday, which makes me a little upset that I didn't win "Most Likely to Come Back and Work at H-W" last year for superlatives.  Whatevs.

In other, celebrity-spotting news (OK, I used to always secretly be sad that I never "spotted" celebrities in L.A. all the time, and now I do and it's just funny) -- on Thursday I was sitting in the Coffee Bean near H-W and I'm pretty sure Lisa Rinna walked in (although in all honesty I don't really have the clearest picture of her in my head to compare to).  AND THEN, and this is the exciting part, MACKENZIE PHILLIPS walks in.  Mackenzie Phillips is a musician/singer and was arrested recently (within the past year I think) for cocaine possession and did rehab and stuff.  But MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, she played the role of Molly Phillips on the Disney Channel show "SO WEIRD," which is the greatest Disney Channel show of all time (no offense to "The Suite Life"), and which I also just rewatched the entire series of while I was in NYC (which I'm sure I mentioned while I was there).  So that was a VERY random and exciting celebrity sighting for me.

AND my family went to see Pippin tonight, and guess who was there?  NPH!  I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't completely jealous.

Other than that, I'm working on the dance concert which has had two performances so far with one more to go tomorrow.  And then I think I have an internship lined up for tomorrow.

College? No, Thank You!

This week has been full of college.  Which is exactly what I don't want in my life.

Monday and Tuesday were spent at USC.  I finally visited their new film school building and it was absolutely awe-inspiring.  Just, wow.  I also visited my friends Natasha and Leon.  On my way out I heard someone call my name, and I turned around so see Simon, this guy who went to a summer program at the New York Film Academy with me in 2006.  It turns out that he goes to USC and is planning a road trip up the California coast for spring break.  I can't remember where he's from but I feel like it might be from somewhere in CA like Sacramento or something.  Anyway, it was super random to run into him but kinda cool and I think we're gonna have lunch at some point in the near future to catch up.

Then it was off to Chicago/really Evanston for a brief visit to Northwestern.  I met my friend Taylor for coffee and before she got there I ran into my friend Danny who just graduated from high school with me.  I'd kinda forgotten that he goes to NU, so that was another nice little surprise.  Later I had dinner with my friend Julian at this really cute Asian noodle place, which was great.  We hung out at his dorm for a little while, then I headed back to the hotel since I needed to wake up early today to fly home.

While we (my mom and I) were in the Chicago area we went to check out this new musical called Million Dollar Quartet.  It's about this night when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis happened to all show up at the Sun Records recording studio and had a jam session that was later released as a record, with the group billed as the "million dollar quartet."  The show was good, with the guy playing Jerry Lee Lewis far and away the best cast member.  The music is, of course, really fun.  I think they're developing this show to take it to New York.

Tonight I'm seeing Watchmen, which is why I made sure I was home by this afternoon.  I'm pretty excited, but that excitement is waning as the reviews come in.  Especially reviews from people like Julian, who is a big fan of the comic book/"graphic novel," and still didn't like the movie.  We'll see.