Always Learning

The Internship.

What's new that I've learned this week at work? Friday's are s l o w. And, going home 11 minutes early is considered "taking an early day". LOL. But, I did get a novel to cover. So instead of the typical script coverage, it's an entirely different mindset going into it. 

Can an adaptation be made from the novel?

Can it be a movie? 

A TV series? 

My boss told me it's not so much about the way that it's written/the writer, but more of the plot and what happens. The other thing about novels is that it takes double, maybe triple as long as scripts, to cover. For one, they're obviously a lot longer. But the other part is that this novel is based on a true story.. about something I don't know much about.. using a lot of language I don't understand (hint: it's about boxing/martial arts/UFC) so I'm constantly looking up words and moves so that I can know exactly what the writer is talking about and know what happened. So it's time consuming. But it's not a bad thing, I've got 20 pages left to read and I'd say I've learned a lot about the subject, and history too. 

A new guy started working for Mad Chance Productions this past week. We got to meet him: Ben. He says that if any of the interns have ever read a comic book, that he automatically will like you better than any of the other interns. Luckily, I've been to three comic stores in the past month (S/O TO RYAN, thanks bud) so i guess that means I've got the one up with the new guy. :) 

Remember how I didn't get to meet Steven Spielberg's assistant last week? Well, this week I did get to go to our intern seminar and I met Jamie Conejo - he works for STX Entertainment. A NEW studio in Hollywood, that's not doing too bad. They haven't been around for long and the most interesting thing I learned from Jamie, was about the animation pipeline. He worked in an outreach department at one point, and learned all the different people needed to make an animation happen: map-painters, animators, sketch artists, etc. I had always wondered about the exact process for animated movies, how it's done, how long it takes, and now I know - Thanks Jamie!

Sadly, I didn't go into work today because I've been sick the past few days. Sore throats. Migraines. Stomach aches. But now I have strawberry lozenges and ice cream and I feel better. :) I still read all day long, that novel, but reading at work is still different than reading in bed. My next day at work can't come faster. 

100 Degrees and Counting

Los Angeles.

8 days. 192 hours. 11,520 minutes. 691,200 seconds. I've been here for that long (or short) of a time and already I feel overwhelmed, excited, and exhausted. Here's what I have to show for it, in order: 

- Lala's Grill (sharing 3 steaks and two sides with Tyrus, is do-able and delicious)

- Q&A with Grady Alum living in L.A. (two of them were homeless at a point, so that's reassuring)

- MasterClass with Mike O'Malley (a good writer has to be able to have an argument, and a good one at that)

- Child Actor living at Oakwood (there are a lot of wanna-be actor-kids here at Oakwood Apartments.. but hey, some of them make it)

- Hollywood Boulevard (casually running into sex shops, smoke shops and food shops, and saw Tracy Morgan and Ed Helms filming something)

- Some mall I don't know the name of (Shoe Palace, is not a palace after-all. only tennis shoes and sneakers... )

- In-N-Out Burger (YUM)

- Downtown Los Angeles (expensive, far, over $50 Ubers, packed with people, oh and expensive)

- Finding Dory (funny, but not nearly as funny/good as Finding Nemo)

- Griffith Observatory (beautiful and packed with tourists)

- Universal Studios (disappointing rides, a LOT of sun, not enough water and good times)

- Salsa Bar (also, YUM)

it doesn't seem like a lot written down in front of me, but the energy it took to do all of that was a lot. being at Universal yesterday completely drained the energy out of me - 105 degrees? definitely not used to that back in Georgia. and today the high is 108. let's all agree to go back to the cool and breezy mid-70 degree LA weather. 

side bar: driving across the United States is a long and hard trip. (haha) luckily on the way back, we'll be driving through more interesting stopping points. aka hellooo Grand Canyon. 

the only thing i can say moving forward is that it feels like there is SO much still to do. but that's a good thing, because we've got 7 more weeks in this place. we can't lose momentum now or we'll miss out on everything that's around us. And not only in Los Angeles.. but Santa Monica, Burbank, Malibu, Anaheim, and more. 

so let's keep it up in the next week.