Stay Classy Westminster

Thinking back on all of my valuable learning experiences here at the 'Minster, I must say that one class that really let me explore myself and learn a lot was my screenwriting class with Dr. Mitchell. In the class we had to write two twenty-minute screenplays about anything that we liked. It really made me hone into writing believable dialogue for different characters and try to perfect the dramatic paradigm. This really gave me the confidence to want to write and get back into my dramatic/creative writing. Because it seems the more I do broadcast writing, the farther away I get from my creativity. It was just a nice little break from hard-hitting facts to getting to embellish and create something more visual.

On the flipside, I would have to say that the best broadcasting class I ever took was the producing/directing class. It let me test drive producing before I really committed to anything and allowed me to fall in love with it Wednesday night after Wednesday night. It also let me field produce and wrangle with talent, which really helped me with my managerial skills. Overall, it was just very beneficial to help me get where I am today.

Now, out of all of this, I wouldhave to say one of the most influential teachers (outside of broadcasting) would be Dr. Mitchell. She has educated me so much on mise en scene, the movie making process, and just a whole bunch of things that I never even considered in lfe. I also recently found out that she was a producer before she started teaching, so that makes me like her even more. She has such passion for everything in entertainment and makes me excited about what she's excited about. Dr. Mitchell is just an asset to my learning process.

Well that's all the gushing I have for now!
It's over.

And then we had a show

Thursday night was the first show of The County Line, and I must say that it went better than I expected. This new crew is already working above and beyond my expectations and I'm really excited to get to know them.

In class we talked about who we were going to interview for our Capstone Alumni Report, as I will call it, and I really REALLY want to get a hold of Tim Kaiser. He's been a producer for some of my very favorite shows and it gives me hope that a Westminster Alumni can make such a big splash as a sitcom producer. Seeing as how I want to follow in his footsteps, I hink it would be very beneficial to talk to him about the process he went through to get where he is today.

I was snooping around online looking at some producer's blogs and I stumbled upon the blog for Last Comic Standing. I'm not really a fan of the show, meaning that I've never been home to watch it, so the first post didn't really mean a thing to me, other than the fact most talent doesn't like their producer. I think it's because everyone lways resents their boss a little bit, even if they genuinely like them any other time.

Well, it's another week, another County Line...and I'm hoping this one is even better than the one we had last week. Cross your fingers!

And then I was excited

After going to class I got really excited for some reason about my future. I've been having quiet panic attacks in the corner about what I want to do, and how I want to go about doing it, but I finally seem like I have something to focus on.

After listening to everyone else's dreams about their future, I really connected with Kirstan's. I mean, I was really thinking about going to law school for awhile, and she's all about entertainment, so I can see the parallels there.

Other than that, I felt a little unorganized compared to everyone else. I mean people had names, call letters, cities, DMI's...EVERYTHING, and I was like, "I'm gonna write something." Personally, though, I didn't want to put a lot of information in my e-mail of the future because as nice as it is to have goals, I don't want to get it set in my head that this is my one dream and that if I don't accomplish it, my life is not worthwhile. I have goals and dreams, but I figure that I can only guide my way as much as I can. For example, I might write the funniest script in the world, but people at NBC might not find it marketable, or it could be killed after the pilot. All I know is that I have to keep working to make myself money and a name, and inevitably what shall be shall be.

On a random note, I scoped out http://trent.blogspot.com/ which is a little celeb gossip page. And I like to snoop around on celebs and make fun of them as much as other people, but I'm starting to wonder why people are so obsessed with celebrities and what they do. Why was there so much of a demand for baby Surri's pictures, but hardly anyone rang the alarm when Bush said ON AIR that he's having a hard time connecting Iraq to the war on terror? I think that we obsess a lot on things that we should only mildly enjoy. But I must digress before I get into a rant that everyone will regret.

Back to why I'm excited. #1 I'm going to Boston over my fall break to visit my friend Lindsay who is a writing/music major at Berklee. She and I have a strange creative connection that just explodes whenever we're together. We're going to co-create the sitcom together, and start to sketch a skeleton of what characters and goals we need from the first script. #2 excitement, is if Kirstan can get me some connections out in Cali. That would be a gift sent from god if she could get me networked to some agents and wokring script writers out there.

Well, I've taken up enough webspace...until next time...

And then I needed a future

With all this talk about determinism and all of that good, deep stuff, it really got me thinking about my future. I have compiled a list of short and long-term goals so that I can see what I need to do and what I want to do so I can prepare for my future.

Short Term
#1. I need to apply/get an internship. This is number one on the list because this needs to happen yesterday. I undertand the importance of an internship and I haven't been putting it off, but I've been getting other areas of my life out of the way before I committed to this. Now that I'm ready, it's time to hit it full force.

#2 Polish my resume/build a strong portfolio. I need to start sirchecking everything, write my script, and start to get really serious about writing samples. I need to make sure I step up my work and always make sure that I am putting all of my work out there.

#3 Learn the digital editor. That one is self explanatory, but to be more marketable I need to be more competent in more areas.

Long term:
#1. Work in entertainment. I want to break out of news and become a sitcom writer/producer. I figure this may not happen within 5 years, but I can work toward my goal and maybe be halfway there when the half a decade passes.

#2 Atleast have a script done. I want to have a pilot and some episodes already written that I am pitching to networks. I want to make sure that I have good presentational skills and a killer idea that someone will want me to produce.

#3 Have a steady place to live. I know this seems trivial, but for some reason i always have a fear that I'm not going to have a place to live. So in five years I want to have a nice lease signed and have a job to back it up so I know I'm not going to be homeless.

So there are my goals for now. They are flexible and constantly changing, but I am pleased with what I have for now.