The festival life
Junior Diem Dang gains a professional opportunity be attending the Beyond Wonderland music festival.
Los Angeles is different from Indiana. The food is more expensive, the weather is amazing, and somehow I’ve developed road rage in short amount of time. It’s not exactly what I expected. But it’s had good effects.
My semester in L.A. has introduced me to Hollywood as a business and as a reachable goal. I feel in Indiana it’s like winning the lottery to get any job in production. But working at my internship at a talent management company and having professors in the industry, it feels more real.
At my internship, I read and see what productions are in the works. I take note of the actors the company represents. I see the hectic schedule the managers have every day. Plenty of people are given chances. You just have to be good and have connections.
Outside of the office, it’s exciting to see how everyone is hustling in the city. I got the amazing opportunity to be a seat filler at the Grammys, and while waiting in line, I struck up a conversation with someone who told me he was from Indiana too. He just moved out five months ago with nothing to his name and is working at a music production company now. He pointed out music producers walking by us and had even worked with one of the artists.
In my classes, it’s fun to hear stories from the professors about who they know and their experiences in the industry. They give great advice on how work ethic is key and to just keep going and hopefully someday something will happen.
These experiences and lessons from this semester have inspired me to keep pursuing my goal of working in the entertainment industry.
In Indiana, the connections weren’t there, and the business didn’t seem as feasible to enter. But moving out to L.A. for the semester has changed all that and has reignited my passion and drive to keep working and see what can come out of my love for film and TV.