So, I thought I would give my blog readers a little glimpse of what I have been going through over the past few weeks (and offering up yet another excuse for blog slacking). Last week, I applied for an apprenticeship at Rhythm & Hues Studios in Los Angeles. It would be an amazing opportunity to get some experience on the professional "industry" side of filmmaking (uncharted territory for me), and potentially continue on to more industry projects. Don't get me wrong, I've loved working on indie projects and my own work (which falls into the realm of "avant-garde"), but a girl's got to pay the rent. I'd also like more of my challenges to be creative and collaborative- "doing things" rather than "finding work outside of my day job," which seems to be my big challenge after leaving New York. In fact, I'd say that is the greatest challenge when it comes to independent filmmaking, no matter what your role: finding work, finding money, finding talent, finding locations, finding time, finding finding finding... it's miraculous that DIY films can even get finished, let alone end up "good." This apprenticeship is specifically geared toward texture painting, which an obsessive, observant person like myself actually loves doing (for example: though I love the stories and the animation of both Ratatouille and WALL*E, I just couldn't get over how cool the tiled kitchen floors and blocks of trash looked). It would also be perfect timing, as the apprenticeship starts the day after Comic-Con ends, giving me plenty of time to drive straight from San Diego to Los Angeles without flying back to Denver. I pumped up my demo reel to (hopefully) highlight my texture painting abilities. I offer the new, improved version below. Sorry about the bad censor box. I don't want the world to have my phone number, though. :)

It took me a couple of solid weeks of work to get my demo reel, application, resume and cover letter all in order. I dropped it in the mailbox last Monday and waited. And waited. And I'm still waiting. I leave for Comic-Con tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM and I still don't know if I should be packing for three days or three weeks! The frustrating part is that it's not as simple as "you haven't heard yet, just assume it's not happening, kid." The postmark deadline for the application was only a week ago, meaning applications might still even be trickling in! They've really only had a few days to look at all of the submissions. Cutting it close...

But still, until my flight leaves tomorrow or I hear back from the studio, I'm holding on to that slight possibility of getting my foot in that oft-closed door that is the film industry.

(edit: posted later. Not sure why it didn't post the day I wrote it)