Hollywood in a nutshell

As a Singaporean, given the opportunity to step into a legendary, almost magical place like Hollywood, is nothing short of how Charlie felt when he downed that Willy Wonka chocolate bar. You always knew this chocolate existed. The precious coins you had saved to buy that chocolate bar was all worth it, as soon as you caught a glimpse of golden shimmer. A golden ticket to see the man, or in this case, the men and women who made this delight possible. Call it amateur but that was what Hollywood felt to me: a Willy Wonka chocolate factory.

The opportunity arose when the university of Chapman offered me an overseas internship right in the heart of Los Angeles. We were to be attached to an entertainment company and be taught and mentored about how the Hollywood system works. I was initially hesitant at first, because of financial issues, but when MDA came knocking with generous funds, I was more than happy to sign up under their Media Training & Attachment program.

As of now, the Singapore branch of Chapman University is offering a Creative Producing degree in conjunction with Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The degree programme has been a stimulating experience in understanding the craft of film business, and why Hollywood is so good at it. One year on, I realised how filmmaking is a totally different animal than what we usually relate it to. It is much more than just completing a production, assembling paperwork, or even clearing location releases. It’s about finding quality content that you can develop and market. This degree explores the different avenues that we can take in content creation as well as equipping us with the business knowledge of producing a film. This is what really makes the whole programme exciting.

But back to my experience in Hollywood. I arrived in Los Angeles with some trepidation. It was the furthest away from home I had ever been. Five of us were attached to the programme, all granted with MDA funding which eased a lot of financial pressure. In spite of hearing various horror stories of American airports, I was pretty calm when the security officer pulled me aside with the concerns that my Visa forms were not in order. The forms stated that I should have arrived a week earlier. I was taken to another room to wait while the officer called the American embassy in Singapore to clarify the date discrepancy. Unfortunately, being a Sunday in Singapore, the embassy was closed. So with a warning note in hand, he stamped my clearance, and I was on my way.

A slightly gloomy start but finally, I was at the heart of one of the most active film and television industries in the world. Anything was possible here. Somehow Hollywood always seems to emanate opportunities, possibilities and dreams. Selise Eiseman, our local coordinator, escorted us from the airport. She was such a nice lady that she later became our fairy godmother in Los Angeles. Most of the events that I’m going to tell you about were organised by her. Not only did she teach me a lot about networking and pulling strings, but she also helped tremendously in securing our internships.

I was attached to Fremantle Media, a huge conglomerate entertainment brand responsible for a little show called American Idol. Although some internships can be dull, with no work passed to you at times, it was a pleasant place to work in because everyone was willing to share and talk about their experiences. They were very generous and forthcoming to help me learn. They arranged trips for me to visit the post-production facilities they work with, some of which were astounding. Despite their equipment being state of the art, they were still constantly trying to improve themselves in order to stay competitive. My mentor also arranged for me to get front row seats at a live taping of America’s Got Talent. For a moment, I was star struck seeing David Hasselhoff in the flesh. Nick Canon was on the stage and yes; up close, the stage was nothing short of magnificent. I got to learn all about how they distribute their content, who they liaise with and the various types of transmission formats they provide to the world. It was tech-y but an exposure nonetheless.

As a geeky film student, I was particularly excited about visiting the legendary film studios. Paramount Studios is the oldest of the lot, and is the only one still headquartered in Los Angeles. The rest are situated relatively close by; Universal Studios is located in the city of Burbank, north of Hollywood, with a brilliant theme park and preserved outdoor sets like the crashed plane from War of the Worlds. The city is branded as the “Media Capital of the World”, with other media and entertainment companies, such as Warner Bros. and The Walt Disney Company, headquartered in the city. Much like an interesting history lesson, the tours around the studios were enriched with historical facts but it was made better knowing that these soundstages had housed famous actors and sets of huge blockbuster films.

There was never a lack of activity in Los Angeles. We were constantly entertained simply by walking along the streets, hanging out at cafes, immersing ourselves in the environment and visiting the varied shops all over the city. One of the bountiful activities we had during our 3 months was the opportunity to attend various film and television seminars. The Writers Guild of America held writing talks, inviting award-winning writers for Q&A sessions. There were film premieres and screenings happening all over town, and if you hang around long enough before or after watching a film, you might actually notice one or two guys waiting or sitting around with a cardboard in their hands, offering free tickets to watch a film that has not been released yet.

Film events and festivals are happening all the time and you can get news of these from the LA Weekly free newspaper. I got to attend a commemorative film event for a filmmaker, Hal Ashby for his contribution to the film industry. There were big stars that attended the event like Cat Stevens, Jon Voight, Diablo Cody, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Haskell Wexler, who were the panel speakers. His film, Harold and Maude, that was also screened at the event, brought about gales of laughter amongst the audiences. I for one was in tears. It was truly an excellent piece of work.

In a matter of 3 months, I have met more industry professionals in Los Angeles than I could ever meet in Singapore. Many thanks must go to Seliese, our co-ordinator, as well as the Chapman professors. We got to meet Kathleen Turner, our heroine from the film Romancing the Stones, who is a delightful and eccentric woman. She happily shared with us stories and experiences with film directors and the crew. She exudes the air of fearlessness and charisma, which I truly admire. I met the writer John Shiban at The Farmers Market (incidentally a famous tourist attraction and also near the apartment we stayed at). He was one of the writers for the television series Breaking Bad and The X-Files. We also talked with the executives from the major studios and they were happy to share with us their job experiences and capacity. Mr. Bill Daly (Vice President of Post Production at Warner Bros. Studios) had kindly showed us some dailies from the upcoming blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I thought that was the best highlight of the trip. Even though it was just dailies, the quality of the film looks pretty damn good.

True to its name, it’s a Hollywood experience everywhere in Los Angeles. There is always some form of entertainment around, if you know where to find it. And sometimes, it doesn’t even cost you a cent. An almost must-do event if ever one drops by Hollywood, is to attend one of the live tapings of a show. What, like we don’t have enough of those in Mediacorp Singapore, you say? Nay my friends, this is way better! We had the opportunity to watch the live taping of Wizards of Waverly Place and see Selena Gomez up close. Like a fan, we screamed when she appeared and believe me, even the older girls were screaming. The taping however can be pretty long and can drag on for hours but they do give breaks and a pizza too! At other times, you might get tickets to watch Ellen Degeneres show or even Conan O’brien. Just remember to get them early!

So what does a student think of all this? It almost feels blissful, to the point of it becoming unreal. There is always something to do in Los Angeles. The city won’t disappoint if you love exploring and watching films every day. However, it is an expensive place to be in. A hopeful graduate might be in for a rough time to survive there. The people that we got to talk to mentioned the high cost of living, and these are words from a big time producer at Sony Pictures. There are tons of talented individuals out there who are trying to get into the industry but it is a tough business. The advice passed down to us was to go back to Singapore and work there. Build a better industry; make a better future because it’s much harder for a foreigner to work in the States. There are more opportunities back home simply because the industry is smaller and we should make good use of that, stressed the producer.

Well, perhaps there is some truth to that. In a nutshell, Hollywood holds its name as an entertainment city. The current governor of california paints that picture all to well. It is not an easy task to breakthrough Hollywood’s career wall. Although with a different attitude, if you excel at what you do, you don’t necessarily need to go there. Hollywood will find you.