Griff in LA

Los Angeles was not what I expected, but some of the stereotypes surrounding Hollywood, I learned, could not be more fact-based. This city is crazy to say the least, and this summer has taught me more than anything I would have learned on my own. TCF in LA opened the door for so many opportunities in the future, Los Angeles has gone from scary and intimidating to familiar and useful. I now know I can and will be able to survive and thrive here, but before this class I had no idea what exactly my future held.

Upon arrival we were thrust into the world of film, going everywhere that was a "must-see" for film students. My personal favorite was Warner Brothers (pictured right), it was mind-blowing.










My second favorite class activity was probably CineGear. I had no idea half of what I saw existed, and the other half was better than anything I already knew. It was truly cutting edge stuff and gave me a taste of what I will be working with in the future, and what I should set my sights on, including this Ronin-MX (right) once I get some money to spend.








I got the internship I wanted most - Luti Media. Luti Media a production company based in London that has been nominated for multiple awards and has over 4 billion total views for its music videos, which include Drake's Hotline Bling, Rihanna's Work, and Zayne's Pillow Talk - which is currently the most viewed video of 2016 with almost 600 million youtube views. My second week of work I got to PA on the set thats pictured below, it was the most professional/highest budget shoot I had ever been on at that point and I pretty much fell in love instantly.








The second project I got to PA on the week after that was directed by Daps who has done quite a few big budget music videos. It was awesome to watch him work and learn how he directs, and the set was beautiful of course.






On the beach set I met a guy who was shooting behind the scenes and we discussed working together. A week later he asked me to come drone a video he was directing and shooting himself, for his friend Alex Wiley who just happens to be a rapper I follow on Spotify. I was obviously down for that so I got to go shoot for him and meet Alex. I learned through this encounter the value in meeting everyone you can no matter of their position - it can open so many doors for you.



My next job was PAing on set for Luti Media again, however as soon as I pulled out my camera I was "promoted" to shooting behind the scenes and got to get a lot of amazing footage. I really like doing behind the scenes work, it gives me creative freedom while also being able to learn from those who know more than I do. I love being able to shoot freely and if possible I am going to do a lot of behind the scenes productions once I return to Los Angeles.






My friend so happened to get an internship at a company that put on concerts around LA. This lead to meeting Curren$y which was obviously "chill". Again, it was a friend who invited me, I like the saying "it's not who you know, it's who knows you."










As an experience, TCF in LA has to be the best summer I've ever had hands down, and I wouldn't be surprised if I never beat it. The sheer amount of exposure I had to the industry was more educational than literally any other situation I could've put myself in. I know what I have to do over the next year, the next 5 years, and for the first time I have a clear vision of the path I need to take to get where I want to be. Quite frankly, this course has prepared me for what comes after college much better than college has. This photo sums up what I've learned.