mrv3000 | (no subject)

God, I love being in fandom. Where else would the gmail ads next to your LJ comments be, in order: 1) Doctor Who DVDs, 2) Free Kitten Classifieds, and 3) Wedding Photography. Bwahahahahaha! Yeah, there are crappy things to deal with sometimes, but it's so much fun. :D
Got rear-ended this morning. (For those who haven't seen the light outside the gutter in a good long while: in the car.) Very very very minor. We were all stopped at the light and all of a sudden *thunk*. Yapping on her cell phone OF COURSE. Teeny scuff though, so seriously not worth repair.
I listened to the commentary for the final episode of S1 of The Riches. Mainly because Eddie Izzard was on it (it was a bit amusing, but still suffered from the boring that usually is the DVD commentary in general.) But anyway, they mentioned their studio was up in Santa Clarita. It made me all nostalgic.

Back in college they were offering semesters off-campus for different areas of interest. Washington DC for political science studies (my roommate went and interned for a Congressman), Chicago for business studies, and L.A. for film study. In a "I'll never get this opportunity again" mindset, I dropped a class in my senior year so I wouldn't graduate and could get in on this program as a 5th year senior. Yeah, I'd have more debt starting out in the real world, but...did I mention the "never get this opportunity again" thing?

We studied film, TV, frequently had to make our own films with 8mm cameras, that included editing and so on. Also, they had lined up internships for everyone. I really lucked out when they gave me the choice internship: working for a producer at the Disney Studios who was gearing up on a movie production - one that was going to be filmed up in Santa Clarita. Ralph Winter - incredibly nice guy. He's no longer at Disney and actually he was in the process of leaving them when I was around.

Anyway, I loved the intern thing. Yeah, I had to get lunch for everyone every day and run errands, but I had pretty much free run of the Disney studios and had fun exploring (no one pays attention to interns). And off at the Santa Clarita studios, the design guys loooved talking about their concepts to me, and the director (and his assistant) was happy enough to have someone else piece together storyboard cards.

There was some drama while I was there - people getting fired, and lots of backstabbing going on - it really turned me off to staying in that industry. There are nice, decent people who work in that industry, but there are also some of the most trample-over-anyone, manipulative people in the world there too. Not enjoyable. And that combined with the very uncertain nature of films in general - you might have a job for 9 months (maybe more, maybe less), and then who knows? You might get work on another project again right away, or you might not. TV is a bit more stable, but even then you're looking at finding a new job after a few years. Just the thought of that stressed me out.

I sometimes think about what if I'd stayed. My life probably would be a bit more "glamorous," even if I never got beyond being a Production Assistant. But I kinda think I'd already have grey hair and/or be chain-smoking. And I think that's not just me trying to cover up regret or anything.

But I am SO happy I did the internship. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.