My trip Home - Working in NYC

Alright, so I am going to make this post about my trip home three months ago in July. I haven't written about it since I was hired, and I have been meaning too. I really just wanted to write about my experiences working in NYC and seeing other productions.

I went home my last week in July to work on The Voice for the NYC auditions. The audition process was two days long, and it was a great one at that. Despite having a crew call time at 6am, I was upbeat and ready to work. Over the course of the two days, it was record breaking temperatures of over 107 degrees! Luckily, I was inside, but there were still some 16,000 people that showed up just for the chance to audition. On my first day, I was in the right place at the right time, where I actually got to see the auditions in the audition rooms, and that was a great experience to witness. Some singers were better than others, and some were amazing, while others were God-awful. I thought some who should of made it through didn't, and some that I didn't did. I guess I wasn't sure what the casting producers were looking for. Overall, working on The Voice was a great experience. The show was so well run; it was by far the most organized live production I have been involved with. I worked 10 hour days with not a minute of over time. They knew what they were doing. Hopefully one of the NYC singers will make it to the finals!

The other experience I had while I was home was meeting a producer on the set of Good Morning America. I have always dreamed about working for a show like this or the TODAY show because of how it seems to combine a lot of television that I love: live taping, some audience, news and entertainment stories, close to home, city life, and production. I was really excited to see the behind-the-scenes of the show, and it was definitely eye-opening. I was a part of the audience in the live outside segment in the middle of Times Square. I watched the judges of Project Runway speak and then stayed for a special appearance of David Beckham. Of course the set went chaotic when he arrived, so I quickly left the scene. I stayed for some time after the show and talked to a producer, walked on the live set, and saw the green rooms. Their world is definitely not as glamourous as I thought. Very little space for a big production. The set is also used for Dick Clark's New Year's Eve service, which I didn't know.

Anyway, my three days in the city was so needed, and it got me thinking a lot about working in the city. I miss home sooo much, and I can totally see myself working for somewhere like 30 Rock, but I have no idea if it will happen. After seeing GMA, I realized just how different their hours are. For producers, you usually work 11pm-noon, and that would really just play with my schedule. I am not a morning person as it is, but I don't think I could do those hours and expect to have a normal life. I miss NYC but I forget how quickly and overwhelming it becomes. Maybe someday, but for now, it was a good taste to see how entertainment productions work back at home.

Aside from that, my trip home was great and busy. I felt I could have stayed home a few more days, especially knowing that I wouldn't be returning until the holidays most likely. Just recently, as in last week, my mom told me that she is flying out here to visit me for a week the first week of November!! I am so excited you have no idea. Her coming out her to visit me is huge, and it will be a taste of home that will last me until Christmas. I will not be able to go home for Thanksgiving because of timing, no vacation days, and price. So I knew July was the last time for a while.

Anyway, I miss home, but what else is new. Home is where my family is, and they are 3000 miles a way. On days I need a hug, I wish I could just run home and get one, but that is not possible. I need to stay strong, especially as we enter my favorite time of year. I just hope that getting my career started out here will be worth it all in the end, because it is hard to be out here away from them. Thanks for making my trip home worth it guys! Love you all.

TV Progress is Being Made!

(Written 7/13/11)

It seems that I may be getting somewhere afterall! I feel momentum is starting to kick up in life... little by little. Let me explain...

Well, today is Wednesday, and last Friday, I applied to be a PA on NBC's new show The Voice for their NYC auditions, and I got it! They want me to be in NYC for two days July 22 and 23rd to help out with the contestants of the show. After NYC, the show will continue to travel to Orlando, Atalanta, San Fran, and then LA by the end of the summer. I am hoping to do well in NYC so they may offer me a position when they tape in LA. I know that is future thinking and not where I am right now, but at least I got the chance to work on it in NYC!! Therefore... I am going home! I will be home Wednesday the 20th- the 27th. I cannot wait!

Then literally a few hours after I booked the flight, I got an email from the production coordinator working on X-Factor, Simon Cowell's new and most anticipated competition show, for ten days here in LA. Of course I wanted to say yes, especially since this is the "dream job" for me, even if only for a few days, but of course as life would have it, the dates conflict with The Voice. I would not be able to go home, and I would have to cancel on Voice.

I asked the coordinator if I could work half of the expected days and switch my flight, but he said that would not work for him. Darn! I finalized my conversation saying I need to honor my commitment to Voice as I made it first, even if it means losing money instead of earning it. All in the name of taking a career chance.

I do wish I will get the chance to eventually work on both shows. To be a part of the staff when they return to LA would be a dream come true because it is family entertainment combined with Live TV, and a mass appeal. I only hope!

Furthermore, I have been reaching out to producers in NYC working on GMA and Today as well as Rachel Ray. I have been in contact with three of them thus far, and when I return to NYC next week, they want to meet with me! YAY! I hope that could lead somewhere too. I will keep you posted.

And lastly, I was able to shadow the assistant to the Executive Producer on So You Think You Can Dance!! She is a friend of mine, and part of my theater group, and she knows I want to work in live television, so she invited me to watch the taping and meet others on the staff. I was on cloud nine. I literally felt like I was in the right place at the right time. Ugh, if only I could be given the chance to be on a show like that! I met with some of the editors as well as Barry Adelman, the Executive Producer and my friend's boss. He told me if I am interested in learning more about Live TV to hang around with him more often. I really hope he was serious!!

I finally feel with these recent developments, that I am finally gaining some ground in making it in the television world. It is starting to become possible, I just have to keep going. I really hope something breaks soon. I have not heard yet, from my other interviews, but I feel okay about that for the first time.

I recently had an idea pop into my head that maybe having a full time job is not in the cards for me. Maybe I was meant to start out as a freelance PA and have been fighting it all this time. Maybe being this sporadic in various projects was all what my path was supposed to be anyway. A job may not be my answer as I thought it was the only one a few months back. If only I could be wanted on a steady basis, then I could say goodbye to BJs and survive on my own.

I hope to get there someday with or without a job as once expected. I am okay with just knowing that, so who knows where the wind will take me. At least it is starting to become breezy and pointing me in some direction. Here is hoping!!

Just Another Day…

Alright, so I am now officially all caught up on my blog! YAY!! Big accomplishment for me. Man, remind me to never go that long again without posting! My hands would really appreciate it.

So we are now in the second week of May, and this has been one slow week for me. It is the first week in many months where I have not had ONE job interview. I know I am cooling it with my upcoming trip home, but I thought I would get maybe one. I have doing so well getting 3-5 a week, oh well.

I really wish I could tell you that aside from blogging this marathon of posts the last few days, I really have been doing nothing with my week. Each day has become just another day of unemployment boredom and lack of motivation.

It feels at times that I am just on an extended summer or spring break from school. Each day is starting to blend into the next. I do know today was my best friend’s birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALLAN!

So what have I been doing with my time? Well, I am trying to get all of my desired side projects organized. I have about 6 or so different projects running through my head, it is hard to focus on just one. This week was this blog. This weekend, it will be writing my Children’s storybook idea. Then next week, it will be starting a series of interviews I hope to put in a collection to publish as a book someday. Who knows if it will work out, but the hope, intention and idea is there.

Other than that… I have been finding myself sliding into the habit of watching many hours of daytime television, and terrible television at that! I have watched everything from Oprah (sorry Princess Fergie for your struggles), the Nate Burkus Show (come decorate my future room, oh can I work for you?), Everybody Loves Raymond (all time favorite show, must watch), Maury and the Steve Wilkos Show (now that is crazy stuff there), Pregnant in Heels (interestingly addictive), and, of course, my guilty pleasures, Real World and 16 & Pregnant.

I love these shows, and I just cannot turn them off. My afternoons are interrupted by reality “junk” shows. Does it make me a horrible person for watching these shows, which profile other people’s crazy lives that are much worse than my own, and then I feel better about how great my life actually is? I will admit they do give me great perspective on where I am in life. Maybe that is the “reality” part of those programs, perhaps?

Then already feeling better about myself… I go to the gym where they continue to broadcast Bravo’s programming, and I aim to rock my gluts!

Oh well. There really is not much more to report. A slow week, which is like a vacation, before I go home… for vacation? Oh the life of the unemployed! 7 days till I am home!

Until then…

A Breakthrough to Risk It All!

(written on Friday 10/15/10)

I heard back, and I have good news! I got the CONAN Internship!!!! YAYAYAYYAY!!

Okay, bringing it back down to earth. I got the internship!! I am sooo excited! This is a breakthrough for me. I have had my first yes in months! I am so excited. Did I say that already?

Breathe in.... breath out.... phew.... okay!

Now that my sanity is back, let me explain what this means. As many of you know, Conan O'Brian was kicked out of NBC last winter for some ridiculous reasons. He has not been on television since, but has signed a deal to start his own show on TBS. This new show, cleverly named, CONAN, will air on November 8th at 11pm.

Since Conan's disappearance, his popularity has skyrocketed. He is now one of the "untouchables" in Hollywood. His is being treated as if he is a movie star these days, and has such a huge following. Aside from that, working for him is even harder than talking to him. He brought over his staff from NYC when he moved to LA last year, so there have been few openings to work for him.

Now over the last 2 years, I have been applying to him in whichever way I could. I have been a Coco fan for years. He combines everything that I love: silly humor, great entertainment, variety of guests, live television audience, etc. Plus, I would watch him at night before I went to sleep in college. He is my entertainment when nothing else is on tv and I am always up at that hour. I never thought working for him would be possible.

BUT IT IS! His show is the beginning of something big. Even though he is not yet on the air, he will be around for years to come. He is not going anywhere; I am quite sure of that. For that reason alone, I am going to be taking a giant leap of faith and accept this internship. No brainer right? Well, this is going to cause a lot more extra work and struggle for me.

Internships are unpaid in this industry. Not only will I be working for free for 3 days a week for the show, I also need to get college credit. I need to prove I am a student in order to get this internship. So now, I need to enroll back into school (lose money), like a community college, in order for me to start. Back to school I go! (Isn't it funny? I am not qualified enough for an entry level job, but over qualified for an internship. Where is the middle ground?) Enrolling in a class will be my task for next week.

So aside from school credit, I also need to find another source of income to survive. I will need a job the other 4 days a week (say Thursday-Sunday) to pay rent, bills, gas, etc. Now what job will allow me to do that? I need to find a flexible part time job, and I am assuming it will not be in the industry. Perhaps waiting tables, babysitting, theme parks, etc. It is not ideal for me, but it is in hopes I will be getting in the industry soon.

I am also halting my job search for a bit. I am only going through with this internship, not because I need it ( I have 7 already), but because there is the slightest hope I may grow with the show. Conan is entering its first season, of hopefully many. I asked the girl I interviewed with if there was a possibility of me staying on full time, and she could not promise for there is always that chance of being cancelled. However, she was an intern three years ago, and now she is a producer for the Casting department. Do I need anymore proof?

In total, I will be risking it all for this internship. I will be risking my career job search, my savings to enroll in school, my chances of finding part time work to cover rent, everything I have come out here with, just for the smallest chance I can grow into the show. Crazy?!?!

I think I need a reality check! Still here. okay...

That is the story. That is my new direction: backwards! haha. Seriously though, I am going backwards to hopefully move forward for something that is practically my dream job. I think this is the smartest risk I am taking, but also the steepest. Everything is on the line because nothing is guaranteed. All or nothing. As my mom said, "No risk, no reward." I just hope it leads to reward and not ruin. I am taking it as the biggest investment of my career thus far. That is my approach to this internship.

It is strange to be leaving Disney for a while, but I am still seasonal in FL, so I am just leaving the Studios for a while. This is an answer to my prayers. I just pray I can find the income through odd jobs just to survive out here. I will worry about that next week. But for now... I want to take in this moment.

I am so scared, nervous, excited and anxious all at the same time. I will be the intern for CONAN! Not just the show, but specific to the Talent and Casting department! CRAZY! I will be dealing with all the celebrities, musical guests, talent, etc that you will see on the show. I will be interacting with the executives of this department, which I am sooo interested in. It could not have been a better department. The girls I will work with are really young and bubbly. They looked so happy working there. I just hope to be one of them some day.

For now, I may be the lowest on the totem pole, but hey, I will be there! So check it out everyone. Watch CONAN on Nov. 8th on TBS!!!

Finding My Niche?

So this weekend (5/15-5/16), I felt as if I may be finding LA to be a little bit more comfortable. Is it that I am slowly adjusting? Perhaps, but I would like to think of it as, I am closer to finding my niche.

First, Thursday and Friday afternoon, I went to the tapings of the new Disney XD show premiering in September, Pair of Kings, and Suite Life on Deck respectively. I must say, I really loved seeing these shows come together. I was just an audience member, but I got the tickets through a contact. It made me think more about pursuing a career in Television on an actual show/set. I watched the interaction of the actors and the crew between and during takes, and I felt the urge of "that's where I want to be." I want to be involved in a team environment with a specific role. The live action was great. I think I want to pursue live action over animation, but that does not mean I like animation any less.

The crews, although both really different for each show, both worked well together, and you can tell they love their jobs. Pair of Kings was actually really funny, and I think that will do well. I understand these shows are for kids, but adults were in the audience too, and all enjoyed it. That's what I want to be a part of, an industry that brings the family together, even if just for a moment. It unites us. Okay, sorry for the corniness, but I am happy to be finding a new direction for me.

What I want is tangible and definitely do able, but I just have to find out how. I want to make it a goal within the next two weeks to find a contact within these shows and meet with them. I would love to be a PA (prod. assistant) if they are hiring. I should take advantage of the fact it is pilot season in the industry, meaning they are assembling crew this summer to film the series, so they should be looking for new hires. I have been so focused on film at disney, I now need to brach out and fast. I hope something will come of that. I just love the fact I have found a possible new direction.

Then on both Saturday and Sunday, I played beach volleyball. I am trying hard to find a team/league to play on. I found some people who just like to play for the heck of it on Saturday afternoons. It is fun, but I am looking for something more. When I am there, I cannot deny how good it feels to be on the beach court again.

Sunday happened yesterday, and it was a lot better than Saturday. Despite gloomy beach weather this weekend, Santa Monica was still perfect. I found a team from an online site saying they were more competitive, which they were, but still filled with beginners. I thought because I am new to the Beach Vball world, I would not be that good, but from them, I was still one of their top players. I did play a 2v2 game, and that was the best! It was soooo hard because I was not used to it, and man is it a workout!! Now I see why those women are so buff! At the end of the afternoon, the better half of the players stayed and played and intense 4v4. It felt so good to finally get some great rallies and plays!

I cannot help but want to compete. Volleyball has never been a recreational activity for me, it has defined my identity as an athlete, and always been a serious competition. I played in high school and college to win. So to switch the competitive side off, it is not possible. Recreational league is hard to sit and take when I want to win and everyone else goofs off.

This makes me realize, I want to compete. I want to be in tournaments with a partner and strive to win. I can sign up for the CBVA, California Beach Volleyball Association, but I need a partner. I hope to find one soon. Any idea on how to get one? I'm open for suggestions. I will wait for my sister, but that will take 4 or 5 years. ugh. Come on, Casey!

So now I know I want to be an athlete again as a serious hobby, I see that I may be starting to find my niche. Even-though I have not found the people I want to be near, that will come once I dedicate myself to the activity. One of my favorite parts of yesterday was looking around the beach court, seeing the palm trees, good looking people all around on the courts, bike riding, and roller-skating. It was a very big, "pinch me" moment, because I was actually playing hard on my sport, outside, with people, in Santa Monica! Now, that is awesome! That could be my life, or is it already? I think I found one big aspect I love about living in LA.

With 2 show tapings, and 7 hours of volleyball later, I am feeling my guard coming down little by little, adjusting a tiny bit more each day, and finding what I really want to pursue with intent. I hope I find it, but I think I am slowly finding my niche.