The Comic Man Cometh or better yet Kirkman Comes to Town

Another two weeks at TWD has come and passed, and alas it's dawning on me that this internship wont last forever. It'll be a sad day for me when we wrap up the first season and close down the office; however, that is a long way off yet. So let's not think about it, instead let me dazzle you with delightful details about Robert Kirkman's visit and a teensy taste of living life in California. This last week was spent working in the writers' room with Robert Kirkman. If you've never met Robert, he is a terribly imposing figure, a beast of man who scares the dickens out of little kids; ha, actually Robert is one of the nicest people you will meet and extremely personable. He is super polite and sharp as a tack, watch out for his zingers, because he'll get ya. Robert, being one of the executive producers, gets to do basically whatever he wants, so we made him welcome as he aided in the writing process. That meant his week was spent in the room with the writers, adding his input to the episode they were working on. He has been running around being involved in all facets of the production process so we were lucky to have him. It was a pleasure to spend the entire week with him, and we look forward to him coming back. The production is in full swing now, and I'm beginning to take on more responsibility in the office, exciting I know. I am answering the phone a lot more, and earning a chance to spend more time in the writers room, so remember kids hard work does pay off. I feel that when this is all said and done, I will have the skills and training necessary to become an exceptional office P.A. and eventually keep climbing the ladder (yes that was a shameless plug of my skills as self promotion to anyone looking for an Writers' Office PA in the future). Kirkman's visit basically highlighted the last two weeks, but in other writing news, I have been using my spare time to do quite an overhaul on some of my personal work, and I hope to get some of it out into the world very soon. It's time for me to talk about California in a more general sense. The most exciting part so far, there was an earthquake! Needless to say, it was awesome. My walls rattled in my apartment for a bit, but that was the only indicator of the seismic activity. I actually thought my neighbors were stomping around particularly hard that day, but it turns out the earth was just twitching. Boo ya, experiencing an earthquake is now checked off my list of things to do. Thank you California. I would also like to thank all of the people who drive, for constantly making sure my life is interesting and relatively unsafe. I have now been honked at every single time I have gone through a fast-food restaurant drive through. Seriously, the drive-through; not on the road, not on the highway, in the fucking drive through. Im taking a moment to send out a special message, I want to let the impatient assholes honking behind me know that I'm not the one holding up the line, so honking at me doesnt do anything. I'm patiently waiting on my food to arrive, and if you're honking at them to hurry up inside, you're not going to help either one of us. If they think I'm honking, then I get spit in my food, and if they think you're honking their gonna spit in your food, and take even longer. So do us both a favor, dont honk, and the chill the fuck out. Other than the bonkers drive through honkers, California is a lovely place with a melting pot of cultures that never ceases to amaze and suprise me. It's fun, so I'm gonna go enjoy it. Seacrest Out.

Robbed!

As you can see by the eye-catching title, the office dealt with some unnecessary stress this week when two of our rental lap tops, and one extremely important black trash bin, were stolen during the night. There are a few likely suspects; the carpet cleaning crew that had been there the night before, crack heads/hobo’s who inhabit the area, and/or an inside job by someone with keys (not someone from our office, but from the building). We filed a police report, the officers loved hearing about The Shield, but we don’t expect to find the culprits or the laptops anytime soon. Luckily, one was a research computer and the other used for converting files, so there was no confidential information lost. Also, the production company is fiscally prepared to deal with these things. Well now that the teaser is done, on to my more drab ramblings about the rest of TWD life for the last two weeks. My last post was the long overdue recap of my first two weeks working in the writers’ room at TWD Productions; look below for details… (Done? Didn’t care enough to look? Cool) basically I am the assistant to the office P.A. (not calling myself an intern for the time being as this sounds more professional to me) and I am officially one month into the new job. So far – a tribute to saying it twice in rapid fire in my last entry, hmm, someone doesn’t edit their work – I still love it; especially since the last two weeks have included a lot more time in the writers’ room boarding and interacting with the writers. This is my favorite part of the whole experience, and it’s a blast to say the least. Obviously the specifics of what is said in that room, and more specifically what I write on the board, is totally confidential and not going to be made available in this blog. But, I can say that we are making steady progress and the dailies (daily’s? It’s an industry word, not sure what the correct spelling is) from the pilot have been impressive. Sorry, but I signed my life away, and they will literally kill me if I spill any important show details…literally, and I know Odin wouldn’t hesitate if it meant a raise/promotion; and I doubt he will ever read this but he’s a straight shooter (no pun intended), he would confirm that. I have decided to maintain a certain level of anonymity for the writers, although for those interested I’m sure IMDB.com has all the information, but I will be referring to people on a first name basis only. My time in the room has been with the brain trust of Chic, Jack, Adam, and Michael. They bounce ideas back and forth and develop the story in a roundtable setting, the whole process feels like one long and elaborate conversation, and you almost forget that they are creating an immense world for their characters. It’s amazing how in depth they get, and they develop multi-dimensional characters that would give any serious actor a hard-on, the people acting in the show are extremely lucky to have the talent that they have. This is no effort to be a kiss-ass, I do that all week at the office; these guys are really good at what they do. Chic is the best show runner in the game, in my opinion; he is polite to everyone he encounters, he is a wizard in the writers room, and he handles all of the curveballs and subsequent pressure that comes with creating/ running a show. Jack is, well he is classic Hollywood; he knows what he wants/likes, he is an excellent writer, and he understands the business so well. Adam is a class act, and hilarious to boot, and a genius in the writers room; especially at finding what a story is really about. Michael is the quieter one of the bunch, as he is the writers’ assistant as well, but he often has a strong influence on the flow and relationships within the story. All together they form an unstoppable team, each adding different elements to the conversation, and that collaboration produces multi-dimensional characters. On a subject other than the great writers, I got a hat from AMC, along with the rest of the writers and probably all of the cast and crew as well. It’s a zombie themed baseball cap, with the AMC logo on the back. I definitely feel like I am part of the team now, and I haven’t stopped wearing the hat…I tried sleeping with it on, fail. But, people dig the hat, it’s hot. Ok, I dig the hat, and people will learn to love it like I do. I feel it necessary to mention the last character regularly in our office, and that’s Brian our script coordinator. Bry, B, B-Dog, The Bry Man, making copies, well not really because that’s my job; Brian is the comedian of the office. He also puts in a lot of late hours sending scripts out and editing all of the scripts throughout the process, and generally working his ass off when he is called upon. Odin is someone you know, and who you will gradually get to know better, because it’s more fun for me that way. Looking back, it appears that this week’s post focuses mainly on the people that make the office so great. My duties really haven’t changed, and I continue to take on more responsibility (answering the phone a lot more), and I have heard that I’m doing a pretty good job, so right-on…as I told Odin, I won’t fuck that up. With that R-rated last sentence (or can I pull a PG-13 since I only used one? Truthfully, I just wanted one last parenthetical statement) I bid you adieu.
* Ah yes, the significance of the trash can…well it was the one positioned beside my couch and shredder. Now I have to get up to throw trash away. Totally ridiculous right, I know.

First Two Weeks as an intern

I'm creating the blog as a channel for bi-weekly reports from my internship in California. (Update: These may start coming sooner than every two weeks, depending on how much time I have) To recap, for those that I have not excitedly informed, I am currently working as the intern in the writers office for TWD productions. For those unfamiliar with TWD, it is The Walking Dead, a graphic novel series that is being adapated for television on the AMC channel. Alright here we go,

Two weeks in the books already, and its glaringly obvious that time flies when you keep busy. It tends to move even faster when you're enjoying what you're doing, which is definitely the case here. So far I have loved every minute of working in the TWD writer's office. The people I work with are amiable and awesome, and the actual work is not too hard. So far my duties have been primarily assisting Odin, yes the Norse God, who is the office Production Assistant. I help him open the office at 9 a.m. Mon- Fri, and I usually help him close it down in the evening. Opening the office consists of turning on all the lights and machinery (copiers, printers, etc.), opening the blinds, re-stocking the snacks, doing the dishes, and generally preparing the offices for the writers' arrivals. Once the writers have arrived, my job consists of sitting on a couch, and quietly keeping myself occupied until either Odin or one of the writer's needs me. That is usually about the time I make my first, of often many, trip to Starbucks. They know me by name at the location down the street, and the better/ more caring baristas start my drinks before I even order them. Them being nice and on-the-ball makes my job that much easier, because I have specific coffee instructions including one latte that cannot have foam (which requires me keeping a vigilant eye on the baristas). I also man the phones whenever Odin steps out of the office or is occupied with another task. That includes connecting important people and making sure that I take detailed messages if people leave them. Occasionally, and I'm told more frequently in the future, I get to sit in during brainstorming sessions in the writers room, and I write all of the ideas or beats on the board. These sessions are usually amazing and extremely interesting learning experiences because the writers are brilliant. I have also learned a boat-load solely from being around the writers room, since my couch is stationed nearby. Most of the learning has been about what the process is really like, and how much interaction and collaboration goes into that process. On top of all that, my writing improves dramatically from being in this amazing environment of creative minds. My job also consists of the occasional errand that takes me out of the office (besides coffee), but primarily I'm in the middle of everything, being as helpful and friendly as I can be. Closing down consists of turning off everything, cleaning up tables/ deskts, re-stocking snacks (unless I want to do it in the morning), more dishes, and then shredding hundreds of confidential documents that can't leave the office (drafts of scripts, production notes, etc.). Honestly, shredding all that paper feels like I'm clearing rainforest space for SUV parking. I had to shred Jessica Alba's (yep I am name dropping now) phone number, without memorizing or even really looking at it, multiple times, which has to be a sin. I'm basically a free personal assistant for the writers' office, on top of them having Odin the Almighty. It needs to be mentioned that Odin is a whiz when it comes to his job, going above and beyond the call. All jokes and compliments aside, I love what I'm doing, and I feel like this is the perfect opportunity for me. I will continue to try and make myself and ASU proud by working hard, staying positive, and making a strong impression on the people I work with. Side notes, I have my own parking pass, a good rapport with everyone I interact with, and every day I feel more and more a part of the TWD team; life is good here in Hollywood.