So winter break is technically over even though this is the last week before school starts. And yes, my Hawaii sojourn NEEDS to be chronicled for posterity but given the time crunch and the fact that I have begun my LA industry trip, I will be updating this space with my quick journals (mandatory course work btw) from each day's lectures, networking and other interesting tid-bits from Hollywood.
Before I begin, a quick update. I landed in Burbank yesterday after a painful parting from my sister and sunny Berley. 27 of us from the Television, Radio and Film program from Newhouse School are being put up in Beverly Garland in Burbank which is located in North Hollywood and on the "other side of the hill" as locals say .
In my dictionary (as updated from wikipedia of course) Burbank is interesting because it is referred to as the 'Media Capital of the World' what with significant production facilities of Warner Brothers, PBS, NBC Universal, Walt Disney and Cartoon Network. It's becoming tougher and tougher to weigh New York over LA with such trivia being discovered at every moment of this trip that I am paying for with precious 3 credits.
By the way, I learnt that 'wiki' is Hawaiian for 'fast' and the idea for this name struck the creator when he saw the wiki shuttle at the airport. Ta da!!
So this series of LA chronicles begins here and there will be four more to come. I promise I"ll try sprucing them up later. Write now my fingers are itching to simply type it out and hit the sack before my 7 am wake up call for our breakfast with CAA tomorrow. The no sorry THE Creative Artist's Agency!
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Day 1 of the LA industry Seminar started off with a note of encouragement: “We are in a great spot” and “being clueless is good”. Both statements came at time when my anxiety and anticipation of this trip were at its peak. Needless to say, it was a relief to understand that not only was it good to be at a phase where you are still putting together the pieces for that puzzle but also that we were at the right place to start making sense of what that puzzle could look like when we got down to assembling it.
And sure enough, the speakers for the day started giving us some of those missing pieces. We were given a sense of what these industry professionals did when they started out and if they were to start all over again, how they would do things differently. But perhaps the most crucial feedback that all speakers had in common was that if one wanted to make the right start to a ‘career’ in the entertainment industry, one must move to Los Angeles. Most of our speakers had been shy or intimidated of moving to LA and some even regretted that they did not start their careers here. Some had done what a lot of us in the class think of doing which is to take up jobs in New York because that is where we saw ourselves living. But as the day drew closer, I had a better understanding as to why these people made the choice to move here and why they advised us to do the same.
Our first speaker for the day was Jonathan Greene, a producer and an established writer. Greene is known from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit but started off in his younger days as a documentary filmmaker in New York. What interested me most was how Jonathan related his days in broadcast journalism to his present skills as a writer. Having worked in the Broadcast Television industry myself back in India, I have always been curious as to what I took from my skills in a completely different industry to my present interest in fiction. When Johnathan pointed out that ‘brevity’ in writing as an inheritance from his journalism days has served him best as a Television writer, I could see his point. I also valued Green’s comment when he said that we “must keep an open mind” and “don’t let anyone discourage you”. Some very interesting industry trivia that I took away from his lecture was that in comparison to feature writers, staff writers for TV were required to be out of LA mostly because this is where they had to report to their bosses and work together as a team; that May is when TV series get picked up and that a lot of Producers also have writing credentials; every studio has a writers program that one can apply to with one’s material and the best job that one can start with as an aspiring writer is to be an assistant to a literary agent.
Our second speaker for the day was Kevin Mock, editor of Chuck and America’ Next Top Model. Kevin had very good pointers on the difference between direting for scripted as compared to reality TV. I was surprised to hear Kevin explain how he found directing scripted content to be more relaxing than reality because there was a game plan to follow in the first. As someone who aspires to be a Director someday, Kevin’s tips were priceless. I have heard this before and the fact that yet another industry professional mentioned it, reinforced this idea: that post production is a good route to directing. The single most advice that was of the most value from Kevin’s lecture and perhaps one of the best things I heard today was that as freshers, we should find jobs with people and companies who inspire us and rather than sticking to the theory of “small pond, big fish”, we should aim for the big names in the business.
Our second round of lectures was at the office of Writer’s Guild of America. The pane; comprised of Syracuse alums Danny Zuker, Norm Gunzenhauser and a third writer Bill Diamond. Zuker was thoroughly entertaining and had the maximum laughs from the class as he explained the eccentricities of writers and celebrities. I have often wondered if I writing is feasible for those who are more inclined to production or the creative aspects of the trade but when Zuker revealed that he had started out as a PA before landing up as a writer in LA. Norm’s tip that “there is no real formula of things” and his experience that the industry is at it’s most exciting time with writing avenues no longer limited within the US was also insightful. Bill Diamond also had valuable advice for starters especially this one, “ some of the worst experiences are the ones you learn from the most”. Recalling one of his own experiences while pitching, he explained that while pitching one should project what one does best rather than offering multiple options. The writer’s panel summed up their ‘gyaan’ for us by emphasizing that aspiring writers in the class must get an agent or at least pass on their scripts to writers with agents. Also, the best way to get noticed as a writer is to write work that is original.
The last event of the day served more as entertainment rather than enlightenment. We scuttled across the studio lot of Warner Brothers and waited amidst many others to watch the live taping of the “Lopez Tonight Show”. Of course we had VIP passes but after the hour and half wait, I was more interested in seeing how the set was constructed and how many floor managers, steady cameras and set directors comprised the show unit rather than watch Lopez himself. However, the host did prove out to be quite a treat as much and with the exception of a ‘filler’ who had me cringing with his sexist and racist jokes, my first experience of a live taping will remain a memorable one.
I am excited to be at the Creative Artists Agency office tomorrow having researched how this organization grew from a makeshift office to the leading talent agency that it has become to be recognized today with clients like George Clooney, David Letterman and Julia Roberts to mention a few. Also, I can’t wait to be on the sets of ‘Rules of Engagement’. I was watching this show dutifully during my sabbatical back in India and I can’t believe I am finally getting to see Patrick Jon Warburton in flesh! If only another Patrick Warburton fan could be here with me :/ Baba I shall miss you.
