Well now. It was a very educational day yesterday. Just kidding, we had fun, like we always do. It started right in our hotel (what a long hike), where we met with a below-the-line talent agent. That means someone who is an agent for the production people (audio, camera, directors, etc). This guy gets these people interviews, if he brings them on as a client. He did tell us, though, that at this point in our careers, we shouldn't go to him yet. We should wait until after we have more experience. It's good to know that even after we've been here for a few years, if we hit a brick wall, someone will be there to help us get to the next level in our career.

Our first out-of-the-hotel stop was Mandalay Vision, where we met with Matt Rhodes, the president of the company. Everyone has been saying that the Bobcat network out here is so strong, there's so much connection between OU alumni, and here's a little example of that: Matt was running a little late, but when he came in, he was out of breath, and told us that he literally just ran down the hall. The fact that the PRESIDENT OF A BIG COMPANY would RUN to meet and talk with us mere students speaks volumes about how much he really cares about helping out his fellow Bobcats. Another example of that is that when his assistant came in with a message for him, hes just told her to keep pushing back some meeting. Because he was busy with us. What. 

Matt went around the room and gave us all personalized advice, based on what we're interested in. For me, he told me to call as many post houses, editors, and even post-production supervisors, that I can. He stressed the importance of making a list of at least 100 editors we want to call, and cold calling them. You really have to be bold in this industry. When you cold call, Matt told us to have a 20-second spiel about ourselves and how awesome we are, and why the person we're calling should spend time with us, so that's something I have to work on.

Next stop was the Dolby Theatre, formerly known as the Kodak Theatre. You may know this as where they host the Oscars...but then again, you may have never heard of the Oscars...it's not my job to tell you what those are. 

This place was huge! Well, compared to the theatre in Athens it is. The stage is twice as big, unless you count air space, then it's 3 or 4 times as big. I was really excited to go here and meet Jay Thomas, the General Manager, as I have a lot of interest in live audio, which is a lot of what they do. I mean, they are a theatre...but sadly, their internships are mostly given to some odd university in Pasadena. Starts with a B, I think. It was still interesting to hear about what goes on in the production of the Oscars, and how their house works. Maybe eventually I'll get in on that. They close down Hollywood Blvd for a week before the Oscars, then they close down the mall they're located in (owned by the same people) and cover everything with red drapes to make it look elegant. You wouldn't know from watching the show that there's a Hard Rock Cafe right at the bottom of the stairs (which we ate at). It's amazing, really.

We had a little time to be tourists on Hollywood Blvd, so that was cool, but there wasn't much learned there, except that if you don't succeed, you're going to end up putting on a superhero costume and heckling people to take a picture with you.

The film screening we did later, though, was very beneficial. We screened a couple student projects from the last year, and then mingled with each other. There were about 50 alumni there, people that live and work here in LA. Going around, I met with some pretty cool people, got some email addresses, and asked questions. I asked lots of questions, until I ran out of questions to ask, and just hung out with them. They're all really cool, and really eager to help us get on our feet when we come out to LA. That Bobcat alumni network, man, it's really great. 

OU Oh Yeah!