When It Rains It Pours

It's amazing how you go from times with little or no activity or commitments to moments of complete chaos. It's those crazy, busy times that organization and efficiency are crucial, and those that have those skills rise to the top.

I'm one of those people who thrive under pressure. I do my best work when I have no other choice but to do it once and do it my best. Some might call that procrastination, like in college when I would write a 20-page term paper the weekend before it's due, but my mind engages when it knows it has one chance to get things right. Otherwise, I think "oh, that grammatical mistake/syntax error/misspelling can be fixed later" or " I'll fact check/fix this section on British Imperialism later." Why fix it later and do twice the work to redo or edit an entire paper when you can perfect as you go? Not that I didn't proof-read I just didn't rewrite the entire thing again. But I digress...
Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I literally had nothing to do. The show I've been a PA for off-off Broadway was dark those two nights and I had no other major commitments, I even had my laundry done and my room clean. I spent my time catching up with my favorite TV shows on hulu and generally chilling out. It was like a snow day without snow.

This weekend, not so much. Yesterday, I had about 7 errands to run: CVS to buy toothpaste, gas station to fill up my car, staples to replace my ink cartridge... (Because, of course, the times you're most busy are the times when EVERYTHING runs out), grocery store, shoe repair, bank... You get the idea. And along the way my car started making strange noises (Murphy's law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong). Luckily, after checking that all tires were fully inflated and nothing was visibly wrong with car, the sound went away. That doesn't mean that I didn't panic for a while. I thought for sure I would have a huge problem with my car rendering it useless and thus leaving me stranded, without a means to get anywhere or do anything. On a larger scale, that meant I wouldn't be able to get to my theater job or drive to Philly for my 3 week film shoot starting Sunday.

However, no car problems (yet) and I got all my chores done in time to get home, grab some food, pack some clothes for my philly-film-venture, and get back in the car to make it to the theater by 6:30pm, too bad there was traffic... We plan God laughs.


Anyway, the show went well, I got out early, caught the 10:15 Path train, and made it to my car by 10:30. I should've been home by 11pm, asleep by 11:45 and had 7 hours of sleep before my volleyball tournament this morning. Too bad there was construction on the Pulaski skyway. Alas, 11 became 11:45, 11:45 became 1am but 6:45 was still 6:45.


I'm on a competitive club volleyball team and we have weekend tournaments about twice a month. For future reference, tournaments usually last 6 hours or so, not including playoffs if you qualify. Completely exhausting, but totally rewarding.


Originally, today's volleyball was supposed to be 25 minutes away and I would have had no problem playing all day, going home, showering, eating and getting to the theater no problem, but Thursday they changed venues... 25 minutes became 80. So instead of getting up at 7:45 for an 8:45 tournament I got up at 6:45 to pack a second set of clothes and food so I could drive directly to work if need be.


Meanwhile, there are always additional things that seem to creep up. For example, my production manager for the film asked me if I could pick up some props from north jersey so I could save someone else a 3+ hours trip. Totally not a problem, as long as I can go Sunday, before our matinee, since I'll be in a gym in south jersey all day.


Prioritizing and flexibility are also key in surviving demands on your time and skills. If I can estimate how long something will take and how crucial it is I can make it fit in my schedule so that everything gets done efficiently.
Like I said, I thrive under pressure. I get such satisfaction from accomplishing everything properly and in good time and I feel like I sleep better when I've actually done something. I just wish tomorrow was another day like Tuesday or Wednesday instead of packing, last-minute/before-going-out-of-town errands, prop retrieval, matinee, set strike, production meeting/conference call with the film crew and completing of last minute details before starting to film early Monday morning.


I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on the goings-on on-set in the next few weeks!

Glutton for punishment or believer in karma?

A week a go I finished a 90 day internship in Times Square that was non-paying. That means I dragged my sorry... self... to Manhattan everyday, spending approximately $20 a day on NJ Transit, then walked 15 blocks just to get to the office (which normally wouldnt bother me but the temperature the past 3 months was unnaturally cold) AND it was during the holiday season so I dealt with more tourists than a travel agent (cause let's be honest everyone just books online these day. Can you say obsolete?). And that doesn't even cover the stuff I endured at the actual internship, which I will be sure to go into detail about at a later time.

Tonight was my second night as one of three Production Assistants for an Off-off-Broadway theater production, and foolishly enough I never asked about compensation before I took the job! So now I'm not sure if my travels to Hoboken to park my car and take the PATH train into NYC (averaging about $15 a day) is worth it. It's true I get out of the house and get to be in the East Village instead of New Providence, but I'm penniless. And yes, like the previous gig I do gain experience, but let me assure you, experience will not feed you or cover your rent (as my parents frequently like to remind me).

I found myself asking myself if I am a glutton for punishment or if the reason I am working and absorbing expenses for no pay is because I believe in karma.

Will the longer and harder I suffer now somehow be righted by the universe in the future with success? Why don't I take the hours I'm spending on these jobs and go and get a retail or waitressing job? Do I really think these jobs are going to get me somewhere in the future? Or am I kidding myself entirely? Maybe the reason I didn't ask about compensation for this job is because I've resigned myself to the fact that I will not be paid until I've done something remarkable to really deserve it.

Ironically, the temp job I had from July to October paid pretty well but was so mind-numbingly monotonous that a chimpanzee could do it. Plus, I had to field calls from all over the world from young teeny boppers looking for Justin Bieber, so I guess they have to pay you to deal with that.

So, am I an example of self-inflicted pain? Or an advocate for justice and a higher power?

Out of the Blue...

Today I found myself sitting in my room, attempting to organize my life and find purpose ("it's that little flame that lights a fire under your ass" -Avenue Q) because it is abysmal outside and because I am between projects. My non-paying internship ended last week and my script supervising gig doesn't start for another week and a half. I have resorted to organizing and cataloging my sheet music collection that I have accumulated over several years of musical theater, when all at once my phone vibrates and my computer dings. I have an email.

Apparently I applied for a Production Assistant job with a theater company in New York City over 2 months ago and they have an opening. It turns out my application was received after their original cut-off date and so it was filed for later use. Lucky for them because the Production Assistant that they hired just bailed on them to go to Sundance. The nerve, right?

So the Founder and Managing/Artistic Director emails me out of the blue to ask if I am available to work as their projectionist for their current production starting tomorrow through the end of the run and set strike on February 13th.

It's like it was meant to be. I'm bored. I need money and I don't have to be on set in Philadelphia until the 14th!! Perfect! So I immediately send a reply email, so as not to be beaten out by any other candidates, and accept.

Who knew that that email application that I sent out into the "black hole" of internet job applications actually landed on someone's desk, was read by a human being and was kept because of it's merit?!

It's days like today that I know I'm doing the right thing with my life and that there is some higher power looking out for me. I'll let you know how it goes!

Starting Off...

I've kept a journal all through college, especially when I was abroad, chronicling the many antics and happenings of a college campus. I found it therapeutic at the time and now find it remarkably entertaining whenever I go back and read my entries. Now I've decided I would do the same for my post-college life, except in the form of a blog, so the only difference is that I have to keep things marginally 'PC', or at least appropriate for the general population on the Internet.

I'll mostly be writing about events as they happen, but since so much has happened and I learned so much in the last 9 months (actually 2+ years if you include my FoxNews Internship in 2008), I will be flashing-back to yesteryear as well. There will be horror stories, successes, celebrity sighting (because what entertainment blog would be complete without name dropping?), and the occasional solicitation of advice.

Comments, questions and suggestions are more than welcome. I hope you enjoy!!

Nature of the Industry

The most frustrating part of being an intern is trying to become an intern, or even have someone look at one of the numerous resumes you send out.

Things you need to know about applying for jobs:

1) Since the recession, most businesses are trying to get the most work for the least amount of money. Therefore they now hire more interns for no money rather than paying entry-level positions. However, internships are mostly for college students, so the businesses can provide college credit as compensation and don't violate labor laws. In other words, if you have a chance, do as many internships as you can during school, and not just in the summer time because you'll have to pay your institution for the credits outside of the normal semesters. In short, you have to pay to work and gain experience.

2) Employers want to hire people with experience, but the only way to gain experience is to get hired.

3) The best and fastest way to get noticed and hired is to have contacts, but for those of us who don't have an Uncle Steven Spielberg or a friend-of-a-friend Meryl Streep, it's incredibly difficult to build contacts until you get hired.

4) I visit over a dozen websites at least 3 times a week and apply for nearly a dozen jobs each time. Most of the time your coverletter and resume end up in what I like to refer to as "the blackhole". I don't even think that people check these caches of desperation. The chances of receiving more than an automated email message saying, "Thank you for your submission, here's your reference number. Good luck in your job search. Don't reply to this email address" are slim to none.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that there are people that are sympathetic to our plight and eventually something will work out.

Here's my list of entertainment job sites that I keep tabs on. I hope this helps.
1) mandy.com
2) entertainmentcareers.net
3) NBC/Universal: nbcunicareers.com
4) Fox: foxcareers.com
5) Warner Brothers: warnerbroscareers.com
6) Mediabizjobs.com
7) MTV, Nickelodeon, TVLand: mtvnetworkscareers.com
8) Paramount: paramount.com/studio/jobs
9) A&E, Lifetime, History Channel: aetn.com/careers.html
10) Disney/ABC Corp., Marvel, ESPN, Disney Resorts: corporate.disney.go.com/careers/index.html
11) Media Match: media-match.com/usa/jobsboard.php
12) CBS Network: https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/ASP/TG/cim_home.asp?partnerid=25084&siteid=5129