Sunday, May 17, 2009

Flashback: Day 1 at Disney Studios

I realized that all of my blog posts from our blog we made on iWeb three years ago while I was working at the Walt Disney Studios were still on our computer. It's been nearly three years since that day and a lot of people still ask me about it, I thought I would post the entries I wrote on our blog for the next couple of days. Some of it is a little embarrassing to read now. I figured out how to get there 10-15 min quicker each day and little things like that pop up a lot. 


Tuesday May 20, 2006

Today has been quite the day so far. I really had no expectations. I felt a little like a freshman and on top of the world as well. I left my great uncle's house in Simi Valley at 7:30 a.m. not really knowing what to expect for traffic. It only took me about 40 minutes to get to the Recruiting building on Olive Ave. (two blocks from the studio lot). They took our forms, double-checked them for us, took our pictures, and then we headed over to the main lot and got our ID cards. On the way to my new location I got to see the wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia. It was pretty fun.


I then went into the Frank G. Wells building and met with Sharon
Dean. She isn't my immediate supervisor, but she seems to be one of
many liaisons between Post and Production. I got to meet with Jayne
Armstrong, my supervisor, and then she showed me my desk, computer, etc.

Jayne introduced me to a ton of people. It was exciting because I
thought I would be some scrap-intern, but in reality, everyone was
really excited about having me there. We went to a meeting with the
President of Production (about 35 people) and talked about the
progress of each film that Disney/Touchstone has in the making.
We then went out to lunch and I actually met a man who was wearing a Mr. Dungbeetle shirt. Having worked on the foley for MDB I went and talked to him. Turns out he knew Bill Nelson and Clay McCaw (sp?). I don't have his name with me, but if anyone wants it, he gave his card to me. Jayne was impressed with my social skills. I talked with her about wanting to get into the guild and get on a show after graduation and she said that wouldn't be too hard for me to do. I guess she really likes me. She gave me a lot of confidence because she noted me as someone who can achieve what they want to because of their hard work. I can tell she is going to be very fun to work with.

 
We then went and saw dailies for two movies they are currently
shooting, Underdog & Wild Hogs. We did this with some administrative/creative people. It was pretty fun. Everyone is being really nice. I start actually going into a cutting room next week. I will keep you all posted.


It only took 40-45 minutes each way getting in. Pretty good- I thought.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Into the Light

I went to Los Angeles this week for a short trip to visit some potential clients and reconnect with some friends at Disney while I had the week off a the LDS Motion Picture Studio. One experience that I had that sticks out in my mind happened right after I met a family friend who is Director of Photography for breakfast. He wanted to show me this editorial house in Burbank where he had always edited his corporate work. 

As we were leaving, one of the part owners (I think) pulled up. My friend hadn't seem in him some time, but the man, probably in his 50's, looked very sad. Bob, our family friend, asked him "Hey, how's it going?"

He responded quickly. "It sucks. My wife passed away 45 days ago."

What do you say to that? All I saw on his face was despair. I don't know what the man has gone through in the past month and a half, but it's had me thinking. 



The next day was Wednesday and I flew back to Utah for my 4th wedding anniversary. Every couple of hours I think about what that man said. I am so grateful to know that my marriage will last beyond the grave. Thank you Nancy for saying yes. Love you, babe. 


And yes, for those of you who wondered what we did. We watched the season finale of LOST. It was awesome.