Lessons Learned in the Land of Fame Excess

1. Be nice to everyone you meet.

You just never know who you’re talking to, who could help you get a leg up, or who you might be working with one day in the future. Way back in March, I sat down at a random table at a dinner for Robert Osborne’s Classic Film Festival, for which I was an intern, and I met a wonderful woman who became my friend for the weekend. Because of that wonderful woman, I was able to meet with the Vice President of Physical Production at Universal Studios today. He was incredibly helpful and gave a lot of invaluable insight into the industry. He will also, no doubt, serve as a great resource in the future — I’m itching to do some on-set work next summer.

Again, you just never know. 

2. L.A. is the only city where it’s actually OK to wear sunglasses inside.

Go head, try it the next time you’re here. 

3. Be prepared to sit in traffic.

Avoid the 405 at all cost; Sunset Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. are a disaster most of the time — dropping down to Fountain or Melrose is a much better idea; the only time you can drive through L.A. with ease is between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and in the wee hours of the morning; no one is going to give you grace on the road, so be agressive.

Driving here is a mess, but you quickly learn the shortcuts and rules of the road. Learning all this will truly make you a Los Angelino. 

4. L.A. is fantastic, but getting out of the city can be glorious. 

I’ve loved spending time in L.A. and getting to know the city, but sometimes it’s just too much. That’s when it’s time to get out of the city.

Two weekends ago, on the weekend of my 21st birthday, I traveled to Denver for a family wedding and to visit my dear friend Jeff Shannon. It was such a fantastic weekend. After picking me up from the airport, Jeff took me straight to downtown bar to put my freshly-legal I.D. to use. The night ended with me riding a mechanical bull and falling asleep on the floor. Success. Getting to see my immediate and extended family was wonderful as well. They’re the greatest group of people that I know. 

Last weekend Rachel and I drove down to San Diego to visit another of our Cannes buddies, Brittany. It was such a nice weekend trip. We had nice dinners, walked to the beach (Brittany lives a block away), and explored the city on bikes.

It’s great when you start to build friend networks all over the place and can go visit people and let them show you their town. Having Jeff show me Denver and Brittany show me and Rachel San Diego was really cool.

5. Don’t talk about yourself; instead, ask other people about themselves.

Hearing people go on about themselves gets so tiresome. There are a lot of people out here who love to do that. It’s way more attractive when someone takes an interest in you and what you’re doing. I’d rather be the attractive one than the one running my mouth ;)

6. Every opportunity is as great as you make it.

As predicted, things have slowed way down at work. Ms. Cyrus and Ms. Moore have gone up to Detroit with the rest of the “LOL” cast and crew, taking my boss and lot of the hectic-ness of prep with them. But that’s OK because I’m still making the most of my time that’s left at DFF. Last week I had my supervisor explain budgets to me and we talked about how to get started and make it in the industry. Today I scoured through production notebook and read script notes, actors’ terms and agreements for signing onto a project, and studies the budgets myself. I’ve been reading scripts and books that my boss sends me to look at. I may not be running around L.A. with actors and our director, but there is still a lot to do.

And I always have to remember, I’m in L.A.!

Living my dream,

Blake