Katie's Final Reflection

This summer has been one of the best experiences of my life. I could not imagine having done anything else this summer. It was a lot of work, but there is nothing in TCF or Alabama that can even begin to compare to the experience of going to live and work in Los Angeles. I learned so much, met wonderful people, and got to do things that never would have been possible if I had not gone. One of our guest speakers described the business as a rollercoaster. It’s full of ups and downs and the thing that gets you through it isn’t talent or who you know, though that certainly helps, but passion. If there is something else you could be doing with your life then go do it. If you can see yourself in some other business then do not waste your time. This summer helped me to realize that this is what I want to do. It was so refreshing and almost relieving to be around people who see the movies and television as something more than just something to watch when you’re bored or a terrible first date idea. These people love what they do and they do so many different things. It was amazing to be able to tell someone what I wanted to do and not immediately feel defensive. The people we heard speak and the people I interned for have worked tirelessly their entire lives to do exactly what I want to do. It isn’t a waste of time or a dream to chase to them. It’s something real and tangible and there is no greater feeling than to be surrounded by people like that.

         I took a bunch of notes on my phone while listening to guest speakers and it’s amazing at how much they have to say. Some obvious and some not so obvious. Write everyday (if that’s what you want to do). Don’t do handshake deals. Write more original pilots than specs of current series. Amazon will let you self publish for cheap instead of you arguing with publishers. Get an agent, a manager, and publicist. Passion over everything. Get one project as good as you can then move on to the next one. Defy expectations and be bold. Stand out. Don’t have too much backstory. Have something for people to see; you don’t want to be asked what you’ve done and only have one thing to show someone or say that you’re currently working on it. Be authentic. Transcribing interviews is a great way to learn and work at the same time. Save up money if you want to live in LA because you will be working for free. And all of these tidbits don’t even scratch the surface.

         Looking back on the summer, I would have to say one of my favorite experiences was definitely Disneyland (obviously) as well as the Warner Brothers Tour. It was amazing to see the different kinds of sets and the way they reuse things. You can be in New York and turn the corner and be in the Midwest. You can go sit for lunch and see someone famous or someone who should be famous. We got to go and see where they record the orchestra. Thinking about it gives me chills. We also got to attend the local Emmy’s, which was amazing. No one in our group is interested in the news, but it’s crazy to see the kind of competition even local news can bring out. There were people on stage crying because they won. There was also so much diversity. There were multiple Spanish speaking news groups that won Emmy’s. You don’t see that in Alabama. One of my internships solely focused on reality TV for Hispanic people. We got to experience LA Pride and see Danity Kane perform. It’s just crazy how different everything is and it makes you think about how that shouldn’t be crazy.

         Most importantly, this summer I learned that in order to make it in this industry you need people you can rely on. You need people you can call your friends, and I definitely accomplished that. I started off on this trip not knowing a single person and now I know everyone’s name, where they’re from, what they want to do, and all their quirks. We all became friends and we were excited when someone else got to do something amazing or was offered another job. None of us wanted the summer to end. If we could, I’m sure we’d all still be living together in Los Angeles. This was the singlehandedly best thing I could have ever done during my time at Alabama. Shout out to Dr. Raimist for putting it all together. It was truly an amazing experience.