Everything Happens for a Reason

For the entire year and a half I have been living in LA, I have been holding on to the idea that my life is unfolding EXACTLY the way it is supposed to.  Though I've had a lot of fun, most of my time here has been frustrating.  But I knew there would be a day when I could look back and see the purpose of it all.  Today is that day.

I received a call today that I got a job...and I start Monday.

I believe that every internship, temp assignment, and my experience at the gym, all contributed to getting this job.  I was able to bring up a lot of what I've learned from those experiences to the three interviews that they called me into.  

For my third interview, I committed the biggest faux pas anyone can ever make for an interview...I was late.  I thought I gave myself plenty of time for traffic, but I had not anticipated rush hour, 10-mile an hour traffic for the entire way.  

Though it was difficult, I kept telling myself not to freak out, and understand that this will all work out the way it is supposed to.  Lo and behold, the moment I was walking in the door, the coordinator from MY VERY FIRST INTERNSHIP was walking in the other direction.  If I hadn't run into her, I would have never known she worked there.  

After my internship last year, she gave me with a letter of recommendation.  I knew she would back me up if anyone asked her about me.  I'm not sure if she put in a good word for me or not, but trust me, I made sure everyone the interview know that I knew her.  

I supposed I'll find out when I start next week.  On Monday at 9am, I will be starting a front-desk/assistant job at a major entertainment studio.  

A Year of Reassessing

At this point, I've lived in LA for almost a year and a half.  I came to LA with a specific strategy to achieve my goal.  When it was clear that progress was not being made, I reassessed my strategy.  I reassessed my strategy about six times in one year.

The first reassessment came in September 2011.  At that point, I had been in LA for four months.  I had two film development internships, one of which I had quit for a SUPER low-paying job as a script reader.  I hadn't had a single interview for a full-time job in the industry.  The experience writing script notes and coverage had proven to be a useful skill, but I clearly needed to do something different.  Especially because this blog as about breaking through the small screen, not the silver one.

I had heard many times that the best way to break in to the industry is through one of the big agencies (WME, CAA, ICM, UTA, APA, Paradigm), and none of the agencies would even look at me unless I had a connection in LA.  Therefore, I decided to start an internship at a smaller talent agency.  To find out what happened to that internship, check out the blog post I wrote about it in October.

At that point, I was feeling tired of working without pay or any real benefit to me.  So, I decided to forget all of the advice I had heard about needing an internship to get a job in the field, and focus on getting an actual full-time job instead.  I got a part-time job at a gym, and started a full-time job of actually looking for work.

Fast forward eight ridiculously long months later...and I was still working at the gym.  Reassessment #4: Maybe I should give the internship thing another try.  The next internship ended up being as dead end as the rest of them, but something exciting happened.  A temp agency that works primarily with Lionsgate hired me on as a temp, leading to reassessment #5.

The temp agency was calling so much, two days of work with them was equivalent to five days of work at the gym.  I still had my job as a reader, and they brought me on as a freelance marketing assistant too.  I was now in a position where I was actually being paid real money, to work at a real media company, doing real work!  And Lionsgate even has a TV department!  Hooray!

I have been a temp for four months now, and I have learned a lot from the experience.  All of this learning has led to REASSESSMENT #6.  Stay tuned to the next blog to learn why it's time for another reassessment, and what my new grand plan is.