Alexa Armstrong- Favorite Moments of the Summer

During the first week in Los Angeles, the C&IS LA program was able to do a number of tours including Universal and Warner Brothers. I had been on the Universal studio tour so I was very excited about the Warner Brothers’ tour.







 I have always been a huge Friends fan so, finally being able to see the Central Perk Cafe was incredible. The tour also taught me a more about how sets are used over and over again for several different films/shows.

 When I first started at Young Hollywood I was very excited to see how the studio shoots went. Luckily, I was able to see several in studio interviews as well as a few field shoots. My favorite studio shoot was definitely with Jordan Fisher who has starred in Grease Live!, Teen Wolf, and is now pursuing his musical career. Jordan was extremely friendly and talkative and was happy to meet another person who understood “Roll Tide!”


Field shoots with Young Hollywood were all very different. Sometimes a couple interns were sent to meet up with a host and cameraman and other times interns were sent on their own. I was lucky enough to be about to go to my first red carpet, even though it was orange, and I was able to meet go to a few free concerts.

Outside of interning with Young Hollywood, I was able to experience a lot of events with the C&IS LA program. The first week in June we went to LA Film Fest and listened to Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) and Ava DuVernay (Selma). Hearing from such talented directors was very inspiring and encouraging.





 Initially, I considered not participating in PA Bootcamp. Looking back, I realize that that would have been a very bad decision. If I had not gone to PA bootcamp then I would have missed out on learning about an entirely new side to the industry that I knew nothing about. I enjoyed PA Bootcamp so much that soon after I was working as a PA on a web-series and an overnight shoot for a student film.


I have always been a big Harry Potter fan so when I found out that we were seeing Harry Potter at the Hollywood Bowl I was ecstatic. It was incredible experience hearing the LA Philharmonic Orchestra play the score and they were so good that at times I forgot that the music was live.

 Another event on the schedule that I was skeptical of, was going to the Writer’s Guild. Before coming to Los Angeles, I had never written a script nor was I interested in writing one. At the WGA I saw the pilot script for my favorite show, Teen Wolf, and the script for my favorite movie, Pearl Harbor. After looking at the scripts and being able to visualize how the final products turned out I started writing on my own, just to see what I came with, and realized that I actually have a lot of ideas.

The most important thing I have learned from the C&IS in LA program is that there are several different paths to your dream career and that no one takes the same path. It's important to have a plan for yourself and steps to take to have your dream career but, also know that things will change unexpectedly so be flexible.