Keeping My Foot in the Door

(written for 4/20-4/30)

Alright, so the rest of last week was pretty uneventful. I got over my sadness the next day and moved on. I actually was the Production Assistant to a small short film directed by a BU professor. I went to meet some people and see if I really liked being on set. It was pretty neat, but unfortunately, I had NOTHING to do. I was given the one task of buying water bottles for the crew, but that took a total of 20 minutes out of a 12 hour day. It was cool being on set, and I met the woman who will be Puck's mom on Glee. That was a highlight. Overall, the production was not that organized, and got pretty frustrating and boring. It was refreshing to be out of the office though for once. I worked on the movie for two days (Tuesday and Thursday)

Then Wednesday, I signed up with the temp agency that Disney uses, so I can hopefully stay within the company for a while. I just didn't like the signing up part, because it involved over 3 hours of computer testing. I hate tests. ugh.

Then Friday, I did some more meet and greets, and drove to stay with my aunt and uncle this past weekend. I just needed to get away for a little bit, and going to see my extended family was great. I was able to catch up on a lot of emails and contacts I neglected over the last month. I really had no plans other than that. It was what I needed.

That brings me up to Monday 4/26. I actually landed my first temp position! I was needed to work in a neat department at the Animation Studios for two days only. Those two days went by pretty fast. The days went really fast and connected me to top executives, who I will not name, that I thought I would never meet in my lifetime! How cool!

Then starting on Wednesday through May 7th, I will be temping in another department. At least I am getting work!

I love working in the animation building itself. It is a completely different environment than the marketing floor I was on previously for WDSMP. Here, everyone is an artist. The artwork is all over the walls, the carpet is different colors with pattern on them. Some rooms have a chalkboard wall that is two stories high just to draw anything. There are also "flipbook pages" of old movies and pictures of Walt drawing in the olden days. The decorations of each floor vary from colors, paintings, and layout designs. Some of the offices are actually in mini houses like the snow white dwarf huts! It is sooo creative! There is a gym, a coffee bar known as the "caffeine patch" and even a cereal bar! A cereal bar! Wow. I get my breakfast there every morning, saving me money on cereal. I have been going to the gym everyday, because I can. It feels so good to finally get back in shape a bit.

On Fridays, as it was today, is bagel Fridays! Coming from the East coast where bagels are a way of life, I was so excited to finally have good bagels! The bagels are accompanied by the whole building of animators to come and join with the music blasting. It was its own party!

Aside from those perks, the people are really laid back and friendly. I am able to say hi to everyone, and talk to many. This is truly and artistic environment, and a fantastic place to call work. I just wish I had an absolute passion for animation as I do live action, otherwise, there would be no reason why I would not want to work here.

Speaking of animation, the pace is a lot slower. It takes 4-5 years for a project, and that is a long time. It's not like television where the project pace is a few months, or a live action film, where it is a year or two. This is 4-5 years. I am not sure if this is for me, but I love being able to experience it while I can. I have been doing some networking while I was here too. I had lunch with someone in special projects on my first day, then I met with the producer of Princess and the Frog, who happens to be a BU alum! Go figure.

So even though I am not where I want to be yet, I am able to keep my foot in the door. I am meeting people and getting the connections without being committed to the departments. I get the same benefits, but they just last a shorter time period. I even get to visit my roommate when I want to walk around and stretch. I am truly thankful for this experience, although I am trying to make it work with what little time I have. Surviving is the name of the game. Or maybe it is the hokey-pokey, as I have one foot in and then one foot out, and shake it all about.

Tangent. Sorry. To summarize, the animation building is fantastic. An artist's dream, for sure. What a cool experience. Looking forward to what next week has to bring.