WorKing in Hollywood

Welcome to a new world. A world I never dreamt I’d be a part of… a world I never even knew much about… ‘where stars are born’ and where magic on the big screen is made. It’s Hollywood. Today was my first day of work with the New York Film Academy, which if you are unaware, it is a very legitimate film school in LA. During my semester at LAFSC last fall I had the opportunity to work with some alums of NYFA and they were fantastic.
Today my job was to TA for a group of ‘tween’ aged kids. A lot of celebrity’s and people in the film and entertainment industry will send their kids to film and acting camps put on by NYFA. We shoot on the backlot of Universal Studios and today we were in “Europe”. So many movies have been shot here, it’s seriously insane. Here are just a few:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
• Frankenstein (1931)
• Dracula (1931)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Voyagers (1982)
• Pirates of the Caribbean 1,2,3 (as Port Royal in the first film and Will's workshop)
• The Pink Panther (2006)
• Princess Diaries 2 (2004) [Genovia]
• Angel (TV)
• The Good German (2006)
• Heroes (TV) (as India)
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
• Angels and Demons (2009)
Being there was somewhat surreal. To think, wow this is where Orlando was hanging out in his pirate gear, this is where history was made. The part that I was even MORE impressed with today was my group of young filmmakers. I had a 9-yr old girl, an 11-yr old boy, and 13-yr old girl. (*Changed names for privacy reasons). But these kids were insanely talented, knowledgeable, and wonderfully creative!! Myra, my 9-yr old, her mom is a big producer and this girl knew her stuff. She was so adorable, pleasant to be around, and the most film-efficient girl ever. She set up shots and angles and scenes better than people well beyond her years. Of course her parents play a great influence in this, and that’s how great filmmaker’s are made. These kids knew things that I had just learned in the past year!
In addition to that, my coworkers are a fun bunch. It’s a mostly male-dominated environment, (duh, it’s filmmaking) and the atmosphere is extremely laid back and sarcastic. I love it. It’s funny how much you can enjoy something you never pictured yourself doing. God is cool like that and knows us better than we even know ourselves .
That’s all for now. I’m spent.