(4/1/19) It’s already April, which marks the last of my months in Los Angeles. Time keeps moving quicker and quicker, and though I’m looking forward to coming back to the east coast with a lot of stories to share, I also don’t want this exciting adventure in my life to end. I still have about four weeks, though, and I’m hoping to pack in as much as possible both in my work life and in my traipsing-around-LA life.
This past work week was definitely exciting, and I meant it when I said it a few blogs ago that I really never know what I’m going to be doing on a given day at Disney Channel until I actually come into the office. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were relatively slow days that included me just continuing to work on some long-term projects I’d been given, like going through Descendants 3 behind the scenes, screening episodes of a new animated series called “Amphibia” to help writer/producers brainstorm ideas for the show’s creative marketing, and assist the writers/producers with general work overflow. Thursday and Friday, on the other hand, were really thrilling for me because I got to be on set again! Usually when my department is conducting shoots, they occur at the small shooting location right in our building called the Nook. The shoot from this past week was much bigger, so it had to happen off-site. So, on Thursday and Friday I didn’t go into my office and instead when to a soundstage in Glendale where the crew had to construct three very different sets in a short period of time. The shoot was for Asian Pacific American Heritage month, and it involved a couple of young dancers as well as a Disney Channel talent (Ciara Wilson, who played Athena in the recent live-action Kim Possible movie) who performed choreographed dances to popular Disney Channel songs that had been re-worked to sound like the style of different international music. Thursday was the rehearsal day and Friday was the actual shoot, and though the days were pretty tiring, it was so cool to see these dancers in action on the beautifully constructed and aesthetically pleasing sets. I also found out after chatting with them on set that Ciara Wilson and her mother live about five doors down from me in my LA apartment! Such a small world moment!
This week was pretty busy outside of work as well! On Monday night we had a networking dinner with the Penn State alumni who serve on the board of the Hollywood Program. There were about 10-12 alumni who are extremely well-established in their respective fields, many of which are fields that apply to things that I may be interested in going into after I graduate. It was a really valuable time to make some connections and some delicious (free) food. On Tuesday night we had class, and Hal Sadoff was our guest speaker. I mentioned to him that I was in PLA after hearing that you all had met with him during your trip to LA, and he said that he was very impressed by our group and the program itself. On Wednesday night I went bowling with a group of my friends here, and on Thursday I was able to catch up on some much-needed rest and relaxation before my trip to Penn State for the weekend! I came back for the weekend in order to attend my last College of Communications Alumni Society Board meeting as a student representative, and this also gave me a great excuse to come back (albeit for a short time) and see some of the people that I have missed the most! So, even though I am sad to think about my time in Los Angeles with the Hollywood Program coming to an end, this taste of State College is getting me really excited to come home for good and spend my last year at college with some truly incredible people.
