This Is Steph’s Blog

For those of you who don’t know (and I’m assuming that’s everyone because I haven’t touched this blog since last spring), I went to Los Angeles with a group of 13 students and 2 professors for my winter term course.  The course, “The L.A. Experience:” The Business of Entertainment, took us to movie studios, television studios, marketing firms, post-production, trade magazines, and even Phoenix, Arizona.  You may be wondering why we went to Phoenix, Arizona.  I’d like to tell you that Phoenix is home to an assortment of studios and famed Hollywood sets, but that is called lying.  The only rain to ever touch Los Angeles’ soil came down for 5 of the 10 days we were there.  This storm managed to join us in Phoenix, while we had a layover at their airport.  And, that’s how you wind up bringing home a small cactus and pictures from the desert botanical garden (field of cacti).

So, the point of this post was to sum up everything I learned in Los Angeles.  The good news is, by day 3 or 4, we realized we were being given the same advice by every person we met, no matter what field they were from. I figure, if all of them said it, it must be true. Therefore, I decided to share my new found wisdom with the world (or anyone that accidentally makes it onto my blog).

The L.A. Ingredients to Making it in Hollywood

1. Passion, passion, passion. You have to be passionate about you’re doing. Have passion. Please.

2. Relationships. It’s true what they say: it is all about who you know.  But, that won’t get you everywhere.  You have to create relationships yourself and you have to uphold them.  Keep in touch. And always be nice!  You never know who you’re going to meet next.

3. Know what you want and go for it. I know that’s cliché, but that’s what we were told!  You have to be confident and you have to go for it.  If you don’t know what you want, pretend you do and do that until you’re ready to move forward.

Getting that Hollywood job

1. Internships. Yes, I know, no money. But today, they’re the most important experiences you’ll ever have.  You’ll learn what you like, what you don’t like, and employers want to see experience.  If you’re that good, the company you’ve interned at could ask you back.

2. Know the company.  When you go on an interview, they want to know you’re interested in them, in their company.  They want to see you’re passionate about them.  You want to tell them how you think you will benefit their company.  You can’t just say “I’m good at doing stuff for people in places and you should give me money to do things…” (I’ve tried that, it doesn’t work).

3. Have a positive attitude.  No one likes angry people. Or people who complain and make excuses. Be genuine, happy, or, if you’re incapable of these character traits, at least pretend.  These people are considering whether or not they could work with you all the time.

4. Passion. Did I mention to have passion?

Make Yourself an Awesome Intern in 5 Easy Steps!

1. Have..hmm.. passion? Yes, I know you hate me, but have passion and a positive attitude with all of your assignments.  I don’t care if they tell you to shred paper, you’re going to act like you’ve been waiting to shred paper your whole life and you’re going to do it well. (I don’t recommend actually telling people that you’ve been waiting to shred paper your whole life.  They’ll either think you’re being sarcastic or you’re crazy weird).

2. Ask questions.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re confused.  Don’t be afraid to not know an answer to something or how to do something.  You’re an intern, you’re supposed to be learning.  But speaking of, when someone answers your questions, please write it down.  People are happy to answer your questions, once.

3. Relationships. I said it before and I’m saying it again.  You have to create relationships.  You never know who may get you your next job or give you a recommendation.  What if the annoying desk assistant that you ignored and mocked becomes the President for NBC Studios?  They’ll remember that time you took ate their clearly-labeled sandwich out of the fridge.  Also, if you’re a hard worker with a positive attitude, people will want to help you.   Always stay in touch with people you meet in your internship.  And when my words of wisdom lead you to success and fame, call me up and get me a job!

4. Say yes to everything.  “You want me to use the teleprompter?  Which I’ve never done before? Sure!” That was me.  And I became a great teleprompter.  The production assistant loved me.  I did his job for the rest of my internship. My point is, be willing to learn. My supervisor told me that and those important people in L.A. mean the same thing.  At the same time, sometimes saying “yes” could mean agreeing to pick up your bosses dry-cleaning.  It doesn’t matter. It’s a test. Just keep holding on and stay oh-so-positive!

5. Create your own work.  Oh man, you just got a 2-hour lunch break?! You’re so lucky! Yes you are. Because you’re going to spend these 2-hours doing more work. That’s 2 hours that you have to talk to people, ask questions, learn about other jobs in the company, shadow someone whose position seems interesting to you.  You have to ask for more work. You should never not be doing work as an intern.  You’re not being paid to tweet that you’re bored at your internship or to check your facebook notifications.  Most likely, you won’t be paid at all. So, you might as well make the most of it by doing and learning all you can!

Aren’t I brilliant now?  These are just a few of the things I learned from those smart L.A. cats.  If you’re a college kid looking for an internship, just be involved and apply everywhere you’re interested.  Do all you can. And, if you’re anything like me, don’t sit and write a blog about it, just get out and get started!

If anyone has anymore brilliant suggestions and helpful tips feel free to leave a comment.  After all, we’re all in this together…

P.S.  And this is me with a famous celebrity (he also asked for my number, awkward):